FuzzFace2

That shroud is made for a factory 2-core (as thick as the tanks) radiator. You can imagine that, if the core was 2x as thick, the shroud would be perfect. That shroud is made for 1995-1996 Trucks not an 81 Ford truck so the radiator is totally different for the 1995-1996 Trucks . The early trucks did not have a 2 core radiator they just made it wider and the support for the AC & supper cooling trucks. This core is 27" the other I think is 24" and mounts top & bottom the 1995-1996 Trucks mount side to side. Dave ---- Drained the water from the cooling system and flushed the system as it had a little rust and refilled with anti-freeze with hope it will stop the rusting. I picked up longer bolts for the bottom of the condenser & center brace of the grille mount as the factory ones were to short after I had to use spacers to fit the condenser in. Went looking for driving lights to fit the front bumper but did not find anything I liked or in the size I need. Going to try some places after the holiday. Also hope my brother put the last bit of body filler on the hood so it can setup a few days before I sand it down. In prepping for the hood sanding my shop air had a leaking PSI regulator so I had to run a bypass pipe and the system is up and running as it should. Dave ----

That shroud is made for a factory 2-core (as thick as the tanks) radiator. You can imagine that, if the core was 2x as thick, the shroud would be perfect. That shroud is made for 1995-1996 Trucks not an 81 Ford truck so the radiator is totally different for the 1995-1996 Trucks . The early trucks did not have a 2 core radiator they just made it wider and the support for the AC & supper cooling trucks. This core is 27" the other I think is 24" and mounts top & bottom the 1995-1996 Trucks mount side to side. Dave ----

And why I could not work at a place like that. I look at that car and say "why not pull the other good parts then crush the frame & motor"? Dave ----

Do you mean the core tubes in the radiator tank? That could be from the t'stat NOT being open; or radiator blockage; or reverse-rotation WP. Yes radiator tubes. Now the t'stat is new and yes I know new could be still bad. But the factory temp gauge is not going to the HOT side, again I know not the best to use. The old radiator I cleaned and with the water hose had good flow out the tubes and yesterday I installed the new radiator and the reason for this post. As for the pump I think it is working "some what" because when I first started the truck and felt heater hoses, 1 got hot and the other cold till it went thru the core & intake, I have EFI exh. manifolds so have a water heater plate on the bottom of the intake. I will keep an eye on this but right now the truck only runs to move in / out of garage. Thanks Dave ----

He joked with my wife and said that he felt bad that she'd be spending Christmas all alone...lol (because I'd be in the garage) which is only partially true...lol. Funny my wife said the same thing to one of her friends a week back because my brother was coming (is here now) and we would either be talking cars or in the garage. So far she is right, if not in the garage we are talking car stuff, he does body work for a living. She is doing her animal rescue thing she does on Saturdays so she will not have to put up with us for a bit LOL Just don't over do the work thing on the truck and get hurt, truck will be there when you heal. Them bed side panels can be heavy and cumbersome, I know, been there done that! Dave ----

Yes it is. I was surprised how well the shroud fit after we trimmed the lip on both side, like it was made for it. I was also worried that the shroud would be to thin and flex. One of the reviews said just that and when running the fan sucked it in and ate it. This was not the case with the 1 I used as I did not open the other box. For the $15.50 I paid it would be more to return it so I will hold on to it for now. Now I get thinking this was for the wide radiator used with AC and think supper cooling. I wonder if the other shroud listed for the same year trucks 95/ non-AC would fit the smaller non-AC radiator for guys wanting to run a shroud on them? That would be something for "them" to check on as I don't have any of the small stuff to get measurements from. Dave ----

I know the 4.9 / 300 six has 2 different water pumps. One for V belt and the other for serpentine belt. One spines 1 way and the other the other way. What would be a sign of using the wrong water pump with the wrong belt system? The reason I ask is this motor is not from this truck, I don't know what it is from and being it has a van PS pump that is V belt I am guessing it has the right pump ..... but ........ When running with the new radiator and even the old one I have not seen water being pushed out the tubes like I have on other cars & trucks. Just idling the motor temp does not get up to half in the factory gauge. There is no sounds of it getting too hot. I do feel the heater hoses get hot pretty fast compared to the temp gauge & radiator & hoses. Thanks for any insight you can give. Dave ----

It does work well on the test I did both a paper to the condenser, it held there and I placed my hand in the center of the condenser and I felt air flow so thinking all is good now. I was pretty surprised it went together so well and easy. I was sure I would have to cut both of the $15.50 shrouds up to make 1 to fit / work. I had to look up who I got the parts from and the numbers as I knew down the road some one would ask and the gray matter just does not hold all that information in as it once did LOL I hope it will help others. Dave ----

We have success, AC condenser & fan shroud! 1981 F100 w/4.9 300 six and factory AC. Parts used: Rock Auto Radiator SPECTRA PREMIUM CU558 27-1/2" Core Length w/ Air Conditioning or Heavy Duty Cooling AC condenser APDI/PRO 7013605 With Factory AC NPD Radiator Shroud Fan Shroud Repro F5TZ-8146-C #F-8146-18 FOR 1995-1996 Ford Truck So I first tried the new shroud on the truck with the old radiator and for the most part it looked like it would work as the fan opening and mounting tabs were in the right places but..... I then pulled the old radiator and tried the shroud on it to see how it would mount and found the shroud did not fit close to the core. Then tried it on the new radiator with the same results. My brother that was helping said to trim the lip on either side of the shroud so it would fit past the tanks on the sides. Well that was the ticket as it now sit close to the core and was then able to use all the stock factory mounting points. Sorry I did not get a picture of this not in the truck. Here it is installed, I had to tweak the upper radiator mounts a little as the tanks were a little wider but the bottom mounts fit fine. Now before doing the radiator & shroud I installed the AC condenser. After reading many posts on the new ones not fitting and trying to get a Ford factory one was even harder I sucked it up and got what I could. The 2 posts I seen on making it fit was to re-bend the mounting brackets or space it out at the bottom to clear the radiator support. I went the easy way, space the bottom out. I also had to space the center grille support out a little to clear it but all looks good. I still need to get longer bolts yet but it should work just fine. I did the paper pull test on the condenser at idle and it held tight and you can feel the air flow. If I find air is not being pulled thru the condenser I will use foam pipe insulation to fill the gap as needed. Dave ----

We have success! 1981 F100 w/4.9 300 six and factory AC. Parts used: Rock Auto Radiator SPECTRA PREMIUM CU558 27-1/2" Core Length w/ Air Conditioning or Heavy Duty Cooling AC condenser APDI/PRO 7013605 With Factory AC NPD Radiator Shroud Fan Shroud Repro F5TZ-8146-C #F-8146-18 FOR 1995-1996 Ford Truck So I first tried the new shroud on the truck with the old radiator and for the most part it looked like it would work as the fan opening and mounting tabs were in the right places but..... I then pulled the old radiator and tried the shroud on it to see how it would mount and found the shroud did not fit close to the core. Then tried it on the new radiator with the same results. My brother that was helping said to trim the lip on either side of the shroud so it would fit past the tanks on the sides. Well that was the ticket as it now sit close to the core and was then able to use all the stock factory mounting points. Sorry I did not get a picture of this not in the truck. Here it is installed, I had to tweak the upper radiator mounts a little as the tanks were a little wider but the bottom mounts fit fine. Now before doing the radiator & shroud I installed the AC condenser. After reading many posts on the new ones not fitting and trying to get a Ford factory one was even harder I sucked it up and got what I could. The 2 posts I seen on making it fit was to re-bend the mounting brackets or space it out at the bottom to clear the radiator support. I went the easy way, space the bottom out. I also had to space the center grille support out a little to clear it but all looks good. I still need to get longer bolts yet but it should work just fine. I did the paper pull test on the condenser at idle and it held tight and you can feel the air flow. If I find air is not being pulled thru the condenser I will use foam pipe insulation to fill the gap as needed. Dave ----

Brother came in late last night. I only 1 of the shrouds showed so far, tracking said the 2nd should be here to day so we will see. I have not tried the one I have to see how it fits yet. Heck I have not even pulled the radiator out of the box yet. I have all kind of notes of sizes of radiators & shrouds for the years and wouldn't you know the dog ate it! So I am going to try the new shroud on the old radiator (brass / copper) just to see how it fits, then see what is needed to fit the new radiator (alum / plastic) so stay tuned. I did ask my brother on plastic welding and he said he has a welder, same type I am looking at, but he has not used it yet. He did say you should make sure you use the right plastic rod to weld with or could lead to issues just like any welding. Dave ----

Now that is a great Christmas gift. So what you doing with the wood cut and are you going to cut more? Dave ----

I thought E85 was to be used ONLY in newer cars/trucks, flex fuel? Heck I will not use E15 in my 02 Dodge with EFI and the pumps says it is ok. What kind of MPG you getting between the E85, E15 and what most can get E10 and if you can the good old stuff? They say the higher the % of E the worst the MPG? I would say if you are going to run that tank thru it in 1 shot, say long trip, I don't think it would be an issue then go with normal fuel. The reason behind it is the fuel is not sitting in the bowl eating away at it it is just passing thru. It is the "E" in E15 or E85 that does in the older fuel systems both the rubber & metal parts not made for it. Just my take on it. Dave ----

Suspensions have come a long way since the 80's when I raced 4x4 off road on motoX tracks. All you could get was thick leaf springs and hard to compress / extend shocks to use on street and what we used off road. Multi shocks were used because it was thought 1 shock would over heat and not work so adding a 2nd would take part of the load and the 2 would take longer to over heat. We would only run 10 laps max, with 10 trucks, so over heating I don't think was ever an issue. Now days they use progressive coil springs, part is soft to take up the smaller bumps and the other part is stiff for the ruff stuff. Shocks now have reservoirs so they have more oil under pressure so they don't over heat ... as fast? If you watch some of todays off road racing on TV and see how they "jump & land" is just amazing from outside & riding along. No none of ours landed like them remember the heavy leaf springs & shocks! I also did not like "getting air" its just not right putting a 2000- 3000 lb. truck in the air! Dave ----

Sorry I am late with the picture but here this is what my 81's had. The smaller line on the bottom is rear brake line. The larger line is the fuel line from the tank valve just out of the picture to the left. That line close in the picture is the speedo cable and you can see it goes up to another type clamp that is also holding the wires going to the rear of the truck. Dave ----

Dave, Picture below kind of explains it. Look at the rear shackle. Items #21 and #25 (Plastic 2pc bushings) were used on the 1982-1985 2wd half ton trucks (maybe not all, but some?). Apparently 1980-1981, and then 1986-1996 all used the regular old steel sleeved metal bushings. Not sure if there was ever a TSB on them, but for some reason or another, in 1986 Ford switched back to the old original style bushings and kept using them for many years. The bushings are the same OD, so I assume the main leafs were the same. Problem with the plastic is that they allowed the spring eyes to rust badly, and when I had it all blasted out, it opened up the OD and I lost the bushing fit. Ok got it now. Is #20 an inner sleeve that the bolt goes thru? Being on the back side of the spring it is not too big a deal like if on the front. Could you use shim stock to take up the spring / bushing gap? Maybe thin sheet metal used a shim stock if you did not want to buy brass shim stock but sheet metal only comes in gauge thickness where shim stock comes in many. Could be cheaper than new springs if that is the only thing wrong with them. Another option I think of is poly bushings. If you can find them in the right ID for the bolt and a little larger for the OD to fit the spring eye and as wide as you need. If too large of an OD you could put a bolt thru it and chuck in a drill press and "sand or file" down the out side to fit. For the ID you might be able to drill it out? Dave ----

Jonathan, I got your email thanks. I will get the pictures of what I have on the truck now. I also have the other type PS pump from I think the parts truck. It's been so long I an beginning to forget what came with what truck and what I used on the flare side. I think for now that cooler will be ok. I think it came on the parts truck and the flare had none when I got it. If I ever get to a JY I will look to see if I can get the larger one or when I get the truck on the road and if I find the PS fluid turning brown I will look into an aftermarket cooler. Thanks again and take care of the family Dave ----

That spoiler / deflector looks like the same thing as the hood / cowl seal ... garage door seal! That spoiler / deflector is different than the radiator lower air shield from what I gather. The spoiler / deflector can force more air thru the radiator / condenser when at speed but it is keeping air from going under the truck and causing turbulence & drag and why the more MPG. This radiator lower air shield I would think goes between the bumper & radiator support or the support & first cross member to keep hot air from going between this and back thru the radiators. Also based on what I see posted the part numbers between the 2 are also different. I would like to see this radiator lower air shield and how it is attached to the truck, I may need to make one for my truck with AC as it did not have one. Dave ----

The water pump (which carries the fan) is centered above the crankshaft, and the radiator is centered on the frame. But the engine (crankshaft) is always offset to the passenger side an inch or 2, so the fan is always offset in the shroud. Steve, they do make 2 different radiators, 1 is wider, as they also do on the radiator support opening that is bigger. I do know the support & radiator is the wide ones so the shrouds will have to be made to match. I just don't know how much work it will take to "make it work". I think the new shrouds are an inch shorter top / bottom based on information I have found but we will see when I get them. Thanks for the offer of looking for one and may take you up on that if this does not work out. Dave ---- So even if I have not done any work on the truck I have been thinking of things I would like to do. One is to add driving lights to the front bumper. No not bolted to the top or bottom but in the bumper. So last night I pulled the 2 bumpers in off the to keep pile to give them a look over. They are both bent and they are a little stronger than I thought and because of that I gave up on 1. The other I was able to get back into shape. It is not perfect but for what I want to do with the bumper, lights, I think it will be good and never be seen. When I get into this custom bumper I will take pictures along the way but need to come up with the lights so I know where to place the holes. Dave ----

The water pump (which carries the fan) is centered above the crankshaft, and the radiator is centered on the frame. But the engine (crankshaft) is always offset to the passenger side an inch or 2, so the fan is always offset in the shroud. Steve, they do make 2 different radiators, 1 is wider, as they also do on the radiator support opening that is bigger. I do know the support & radiator is the wide ones so the shrouds will have to be made to match. I just don't know how much work it will take to "make it work". I think the new shrouds are an inch shorter top / bottom based on information I have found but we will see when I get them. Thanks for the offer of looking for one and may take you up on that if this does not work out. Dave ----

Brother has not come up with any AC brackets but I also have not asked him in a year. He will be here for Xmas so I will put a little bug in his ear to see if he can come up with something. As for fitting I think the main bracket that bolts to the block with the PS bracket uses spacers between them. The only thing I am not sure is front / back spacing for belt line up but I am sure I can work that out. I also have the other style pump but this set up was on the truck, I knew it worked and why I went with it. As for the "cooler" the fluid looked good but I also don't know how long the truck ran at any time as it was only used in the small yard. Now between the 2 trucks only 1 had the cooler and now after the above I cant remember if the cooler was on this truck or the parts truck? I just felt it was best to use it over nothing. Now as for the bigger cooler you said was from a v8 was that also a 4x4 truck? I have seen 4x4 truck have HD parts that could be used on the 4x2 trucks. I will look for the larger cooler if I ever get to a JY and that is the problem as I don't have the time when they are open to go. Also I have not seen our year trucks in JY's when looking on line and the parts trucks on CL the wife would kill me if I got another one. Pictures always help. I have 2 newer truck shrouds coming. Yes 2 as they were $15.50 each and thinking I can cut and glue them to make work. The only thing I saw on the review was they were thin and flexed so thinking they would need a little work anyway. I also have a shroud from something that was in the bed of the parts truck I can use for "parts" if need be. Stay tune Dave ----

No they did not lay them in the snow, it was all gone by the time they got to me. What I meant was when we get any snow even an inch the state shuts down. Where the FedEx depot is they got up to 8"+ inches. Driver said they did not go out for 2 days because drivers were getting stuck so was better to not go out. I measured the 4 blade fan last night and got 18.5" so that is what the parts book said it should be so that's a good start. I am waiting on the 2 shrouds to show up so I can see what I have to work with. Dave ----

It's to bad we have to cover up the frame with the cab & bed after we do all that work to make it look great. What bushing did you go with rubber, plastic or poly and is there a metal shell used with what came out and going in? I kind of got lost in the posts of what you started with (plastic I think?) and ended up with. Up front on mine I went poly and you have to reuse the outer metal sleeve. Depending on what you are using maybe you need the outer sleeve? Dave ----

But if I read it right they kept the power brakes? Would that not add the weight of the booster? Then again the brakes are different front & rear for power / non-power and it is a wash? I also would have guessed they all would of had the OD stick trany but not the heavy T8. The 3 speed would be a light weight tray but the OD I don't think would be much more? Other than the flare side my 81 F100 custom only had power steering, T18, manual brakes and the large mirrors based on bolt holes in the doors. Wonder if that is the pony option? When looking over the cooling side it used a 15" fan, less drag, all others an 18" fan. Anyone have a picture and / or part number of this spoiler? Dave ----

You cant put everything in all at once then you would have nothing to do but work on your trucks When something is not in the "bible" you make short order to get it in there, thanks. Yes 2 for that price I felt it best. I am sure anything I would have got I would have to modify to fit / work so I could not see going for the $30 ones and I would of only got 1. With the 2 I can use both to cut & glue to make one that will work for my setup. I have not measured my 4 blade fan yet but I am thinking if it is too small it is an easy fix as we can get different size fans with more blades and spacers to work. I hope they show up before the holiday as I took some time off from work and hope my brother & I can spend some time in the garage. He was the one who sent me the flare side tail gate, tail lights w/brackets, fender fuel door & hose assy. and a few other things all the way from CA. Dave ----