FuzzFace2

Any one have a Love - Hate relationship with their truck? Well maybe hate is to harsh lets call it Love - Dislike at times? I am in the dislike part right now. Over the last 2 weeks when I got to start it I get a clunk from the solenoid. Just 1 clunk not a bunch of clicks like you might get with a poor battery connection. I have no clue what truck this came from or if it is a Ford part or not? Think this week end I will hit NAPA and pick up their top of the line solenoid. And yes all the cables & connections are only a little over year old so dont think they are a cause. The other dislike - the AC stopped working again! It was in the low 80's yesterday, going to upper 80's later this week, when I got out of work and no AC. I was so pissed when I got home i just parked the truck. Well my son took a look at it and (I hope) found the high side fitting going into the condenser was hand tight and blew the charge & dye all over that area. He said it still had some pressure so he tighten the fitting, put some charge in and checked with a bubble mix for leaks. He ran out of 134 but is was blowing cool air but not cold so I gave him the credit card to get more 134 so will see how this goes. I also have a gas leak at the rear filler hose when filling I need to track down & fix. The oil leak is a lot less now that the oil pan is tight LOL Dave ----

Mine has been ok at 175+ psi It is at the other end of the shop so if it splits its only air. I had 1 of my loop line fittings , compression type, come apart just made a he'll of a noise from the air rushing out. Dave. ----

It does suck about that flare Base board fin dose make a good compressed air cooler Yes mine is after the tank but some put it between compressor and tank. Dave ----

Amen! I'm no chemical engineer, but I have spent a bit of time working with the process to distill petroleum - enough to know that the "light ends" evaporate/distill quickly. When those are put in a mixture they won't go away if you add something else. All of those molecules are still there waiting to evaporate whenever the right temp is reached. So the only way adding diesel fuel to the mix can cut down on the evaporation is if there's enough diesel to significantly reduce the percentage of volatile molecules. And adding a small amount isn't going to do that. From what was posted it did not mask or cover the "light ends" from evaporating it makes them just a little heavier to slow it down. Well I guess it does then? If I was to have this hot start issues I would give the diesel a try as I would not have anything to loose at that point. Dave ----

I was going to say the same thing its a later glass with the border. Glass work you have to go vary vary vary easy with, not to end up like you did. I was lucky as the tape had dried up and did not stick on 1 side and someone used a sealer so once I got the sealer off and the chrome trim it only took a little cutting with the tool. I removed the rear glass from my truck and installed the rear myself and had a hand on the front as it was to large & heavy for me alone. Now years ago I pulled the front & rear glass on my 70 AMC Javelin. You can not get the rear glass any more so that had me puckered up till it was free. Front glass back years ago all you could get was only tinted. Dave ----

I think I know of this thick gasket you talk of, it has plastic spacers at the bolt holes so you cant tighten down the carb to much ans warp or crack the carb base. If you can use that and the heat shield plate with a thin gasket might work and worth a try. As for lowering the octane when diesel is added do you think adding say a qt to 20 gallons would cause that? What about starting with a pt and see what that would do? They say you only have to change the properties of the gas a little. Dave ----

Yes I did, my 81 was a factory system with a York compressor. Thing is I went with a later (84?) compressor and it takes different hose ends that what I had. Well IIRC only 1 hose was different or was that 2? the hose from compressor to dryer was the hard one as the newer hose fit a different drier and the newer drier would not fit the evap. So it was the 81 drier & think 81 hose that I used to the compressor. The hose runs across the valve cover and not to the firewall like on the later trucks. The other hose from compressor to condenser worked from the later system. I had to re-use the high PSI hose from condenser to evap as I doing think I could get one at the time and it looked good so I went with it. As for pre & after charged. The way I was told is if it had service valves it was a pre-charge system, mine had valves both the York & the later compressor. As for the oil I also went around & around on what to use and how much! I would need to check the bottle to see what I used and notes, think posted here on my AC thread, on how much I used. It should be added to each new part un-less it said it was pre-filled. Some compressors come pre-filled. I had a used compressor but was told to add oil or they would not take it back if it was bad. Had a new condenser, drier, hoses and flushed out the evap. so system was about empty. I added a little to each part before I pulled a vacuum. I also did not want to hydro lock the compressor if oil was added to just it. I think I used a blue valve as that is what came out but I also know its been posted to use the red valve. Now most that say use the red is on a big cabin car or truck, I have a single small cabin so did not see the need to change colors. Now if it was a Bronco then I think I would have gone red valve. Also I could not check the high side PSI when I did my system, it has a different fitting than my gauges has. I had a leak at an O-ring and lost 97% of the charge so I was able to swap the O-ring out, pull a vacuum and recharge and iw working again. My son helped this last time, he has done HVAC would before, so he went off supper heating / cooling numbers and the temp of the system when charging. He also thinks this new fitting size is what the newer cars & trucks use, I forget what he said it was and will try and get a fitting for it so I have it, but so far my system is running cool again. Lets say OAT of 80* fan on low, max AC and coldest temp setting going down the road at 50 MPH/1300 RPM I was getting under 25*f out the vent. If you need more information I will see if I can find my post & notes. Dave ----

Little late to the party On the hot restart do you have a spacer between the intake & carb and if so what is it made of? It sounds like what all us carb motor guys run into with today's gas blend. It is made to vaporize easier and that makes it boil, read heat up, easier also. When it boils the vapors come out the vent tubes and because they are heavier than air they fall into the intake floor and causes a flooding issue. I have seen it posted to help fight this issue is to use a spacer between intake & carb that will not transfer heat (plastic?) and to add something to the fuel. They say a little diesel helps but I have not tried it. Add a qt to no more than a half gallon to s tank of fuel at fill up. Start little and work your way up. Now if you have a cat on your truck then I would not do this. Why I say I have not done this is because when I drive my truck its to/from work or the dump (dump is only a few miles down the road so motor dose not get that hot either) with no stops in between. One or 2 time I have it has "flooded" so foot to the floor ans it starts up with a little more cranking. Dave ----

On the AMC's you MUST USE the "turkey pan" (even it it said not to) and move the little pan / cover from the stock manifold to the after market one or you have and oil use issue. The PVC is at the rear of the intake with rubber grommet and if the 2 pans are not used the PVC sucks up oil vapor. You don't see any smoke out the tail pipe but you go through a lot of oil not knowing where its going! You sometimes get this when the PVC is in the valve cover (after market mostly) and there is not a baffle used under where the PVC is installed. No smoke but the oil is going somewhere? Dave ----

On AMC v8's we also throw away the rubber "wall" gaskets for the same reason. The AMC uses a pan gasket that I bend to fit to the heads before any sealer is used. After a good cleaning, I do as Jim does, we run a bead of sealer on walls and let it skim over a bit. Dont forget to clean the intake the same as you did to the wall. We must use Hi Tack on both side of the pan gasket for the head ports and RTV at the water ports. By the time you get this done the wall sealer has skimmed over and you can place the pan in place then the manifold and tighten as needed. I have not had a leak on the wall doing it this way so I think if you let it skim you would also be ok. Dave ----

When they leak that bad they are easy to find My oil leak is not that easy to find Nice job Dave ----

Even easier cut 1 side for 1 truck and cut the other side for truck #2. Could do this for the IGN key so you only need 1 key for each truck. If the key does not turn pull it out and flip it and try again. Dave ----

WOW a 19 gallon tank dented to 16 gallons Yes best to hold out for a good one. I am guessing you have other things you can do to the truck while waiting for the tank? As I posted a small can on the fender to run the motor works great, did it for years that way till the truck was ready for a test drive. Dave ----

Coming home from the weekly trash run about 5 miles away. I just missed a head on not a 100 yards from my house. Had to drive in the ditch on my side of the road to miss the SUV. SUV ran down the ditch on my side of the road, across a driveway and into the air, took out a mail box, more ditch before coming to a stop in another driveway! I turned around to check on the driver, who had a little one in a car seat in the back seat. Driver choked on a hash brown and passed out a little. Thankfully all were ok but the mail box & post but it could have been UGLY! As you know it can happen in a second! Dave ----

You made me look Dave ----

Let try this again, had something typed and lost it You will need a 12 volt test light or a meter, I like the light. In the fuse box key off check to see what has power, take note. Then with key on and take note. You need one that has power only when the key is on. If it has a fuse you will need a fuse tap to tap power from it. This will be your 12 volt with key on for the tach. (edit) the slot just above the 5a dash light fuse may have power with key on but check to make sure. You will also need a "tap" to hook a wire and fuse to it. For the dash lash light wire can be a little harder to find. You might find something in the fuse box? Did you find a fuse that did not have power to it? Maybe it was marked "dash lights"? Turn on the head lights and see if it has power now and if so see what happens if you turn the dimmer down? This may be where the "dash light" wire gets hooked to. (edit) maybe the 5a fuse at the bottom center? The ground can be to any metal part of the truck. The wire to the coil gets hooked to the NEG. side of the coil. On the HEI dist, there should be a place to hook this wire to and marked as such. Think that should cove it. If you need help post up Dave ----

So what if it took a little longer than you think it should as long as it was done right. That looks good, nice job. when I wen to look at my truck before buying it 1 side of the master was empty! When I got to the rear brakes they were missing springs, leaking wheel cly. and ebrake cable were either frozen or broken, it was a mess. Dave ----

That long tank can hardly fit in my car. I am glad they deliver to me. Hopefully the replacement is less beat up. I noticed the fuel tank in the truck has similar dog ears from shipping damage. I think the tank is not the original. Also the filler neck does not look factory due to the type of clamp. Some tanks from the factory I have seen the corners bent. It could be so they did not hurt who ever was installing it or easier to install? On the foam I did not want to use anything that could hold water like a sponge. Having it between the tank & strap it may never dry out and rust the tank where it is. The factory stuff was more like thick tar paper. The tar would not hold water. I found a roll of fake outside grass rug cheap, plastic so will not hold water, and is what I used. Think others have used a bike inner tube cut and glued to the straps. Dave ----

The security system is explained in this thread: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Installing-A-Code-Alarm-ca1155e-Security-System-td90983.html#a91039. But it isn't up to date as the discussion about door lock motors isn't complete. DO NOT BUY the ones shown there. They are JUNK and do not have enough power to operate the locks. I wound up using old Ford door lock motors, which are much stronger, and using the boots from the ones off Amazon to cover them. The on-board air system is a 110v compressed air system for airing up tires. It is run by a 3KW inverter, and will be used at the end of a Jeep trail to bring the tires up from 15 to 30 PSI so we can hit the road safely. EFI is going on for several reasons. I'm passing the truck on to my kids and want something they can maintain, so I'm going to install Ford's EEC-IV system so there's an OBD-II port into which they can plug a scanner. But the EFI system will provide better economy than a carb, and it'll provide better performance across the wide range of altitudes that I plan to take the truck to. I bought my truck to do weekly trash runs to the dump, trash smalls bad in the vary hot summer in my SUV! Well when I got it home I took it completely apart for a rebuild over 4 years. I did not rebuild the motor as it ran good before the work started, or the rear axle, but everything else was gone through. When I got it on the road, first road test it failed big time but just made it back to the house. A week later the fire drive was 35+ miles to my work for a car show they put on for 60 years in buss. I found the T18 transmission was junk so I found a used NP435 and bought Advance Adaptor over drive unit to install with the swap. I also got the AC working late last summer but had a leak I hope just fixed. I have a oil leak that I need to find and fix and I am still tweaking the carb / timing for better MPG. With all the work I have done to it there is nothing more I want to do other than enjoy driving it. It was done to be a nice looking driver, back up to pull my car trailer, and hit a car show or two. Had 2 people at the gas station and 1 today at the dump say it was nice looking truck. I do drive it to work a lot, 35+ miles each way, and use it weekly for the trash runs. Someone calls it the "garbage truck" LOL see the trach in the bed? Yes I did all the work. Dave ----

My wife said the same thing about my $800 take the trash to the dump truck when I started to do some work to it. Well a few days after I got it home I pulled it all apart as in a cab off frame rebuild! Then it was a real MONEY PIT! It was not till almost 4 years later when I got paint on the truck that she then started to like it a little LOL I am afraid to go through all the paid bills I have in a bag to see just what I got into it. I do love driving it over my 02 Durango 95% of the time. Dave ----

Sorry I cant help on the dist. if good or not. As for wiring the HEI dist. someone posted somewhere you can use the same 12volt keyed power wire on the fender to power the HEI and not wire in a relay but I dont know how true this is as I have not tried it. So with that said you would take that same 12volt keyed power wire on the fender to turn on / off the relay. The relay would get a full 12 fused volts from the battery. This is what supplies the HEI the 12 volts it needs to work. The switched power wire listed above to turn the relay on / off. And you would have a ground wire on the relay to make it work. The relay & pig tail you should be able to get at any auto parts store and most come with how to wire them up. As for a new harness you better get good at wiring as no one makes a complete harness for our trucks so you would need to get one that fits everything, mostly GM, so it makes for a lot of fun. Dave ----

Well that put that way I can under stand it and the reason too! Your IR gun has to be better than mine (HF cheapy) if it has the probe. Yes I do remember Omega IIRC had a uncle that worked there for a bit. Dave ---- ps just got the blue or tan or .... Guess as long as you use the same color all the time, me I think green as it is on my paint masking rack.

I also want to say 3/16 on the vent hose / roll over valve but it has been a few years since I did my fuel lines & vent. I think I used 3/16 gas hose at the valves, I have dual tanks, and might have used vacuum hose at the "Y" where they meet up under the bed / cab corner. when you replace the tank it will be a lot easier if you can remove or lift the bed up to sneak the filler hose / vent assy. out & back in. On the filler you only see the outer hose there is a plastic inner hose that fits into holders at the tank & up top at the filler opening. If this plastic hose is not in place it will take for ever to fill the tank at the pump. Here you can see the plastic hose in the holder at the filler opening. The tank has the same holder. Your plastic hose will be all 1 piece this is what I had to do to add a rear tank to my flare side as they never came with a rear or dual tanks. 2 filler doors on my flare side, 16 gallon front / 19 gallon rear using all factory parts to look the part inside & out. Dave ----

Thanks, I will pull it off for now. It is bugging me looking at what I did. OUCH! As long as the front bumper is left in place it acts as a cross member you can run with out the one you bent up. Now if you have access to a press or maybe the weight of the truck? you can bend it back into shape. If using the truck with the member off place wood blocks on the ends on the bottom and use a bottle jack placed where you bent it up and start jacking and see what happens. In a press you would do the same thing just that you would be standing when jacking and I would think if the truck is not heavy enough it will start to lift before the bend is out, not so with a press. On the fuel system: As for tank size that looks to be a side tank or mid ship tank and a easy way to know the size it how long the bed is. Short bed trucks / flare side have a 16 gallon tank. Long bed trucks have a 19 gallon tank. And yes the sending units are different for the 2 different tank sizes so check before odering sender you have the right one. I think some places list the same part number for the senders and this is wrong. I am with Gary on get a new tank & sender as you will never get any rust that may be in it out. Besides that filter you see between the pump & carb you may also have a filter that screws into the carb. I had to open my carb up and found rust in the bowl. This was a little over a year after getting the truck on the road. Tanks looked good before I installed them back in the truck with new senders as part of the 4 year rebuild so was a little shocked on the rust. Anyway my truck had 2 filters, one like you pictured and a screw in one. When the carb was apart I backed flushed both and the first (like yours) was pretty bad with crud. I had to take the carb apart a 2nd time and the rust was not too bad but I replaced the first metal filter (like yours) with a plastic see through and ran 2 rear tanks through it and I dont see any rust. I just started to run on the front tank and will run 2 tanks to see what one if either gives me rust and go from there on a fix. If you want to run the motor and move the truck under its own power while you get the fuel system fixed get some 5/ 16 hose, you need some to replace it on the system anyway, to go from the pump inlet to a small gas can you can place on the inner fender and run the motor from it. I did this for years as I did not know how long it would be before my truck was on the road and did not want gas in the tank(s) going bad from sitting. You can see the gas can on the inner fender. Dave ----

Playing "catsup" LOL Jim I got to ask why the masking on the housing before taking a reading with the IR gun? Just never heard of doing this before. Dave ----