FuzzFace2

I don't know it he got the area where the duck bill is cleaned out so water will pass thru to drain and why the water was coming in the vents. Nice work on the floor covering seal. Dave ----

Even with out the over drive and not lugging I was getting the same MPG. I believe it is the carb that the PO messed with the high speed rod that can be adjusted. I hate the CVT in the wifes Subie I could not tell you the last time I watched a race because of that crap that's not racing! Dave ----

Not a 400 but my 300 six also runs cold on the gauge but the motor & hoses feel hot and the heat is great. When I painted the needles I am sure there were no spiders in there LOL I think I did ground the wire when I first put the truck together to make sure the gauge & wire was ok. I will have to ground the wire again to see if it will fix my gauge LOL. Think I will also run wires to the oil / temp to swap them to see what out come that gives. I knew of this but forgot I could use it as a tool. Dave ----

I would have to make sure but pretty sure both of my 81's a Custom & Ranger it was on the left side. Cant say driver or passenger side as the down under people drove on the right side no? Dave ----

Yesterday I checked fluids under the hood, been a bit and I have seen a puddle under the truck when I take it to work, it looked like coolant. I thought I tighten up a heater hose clamp a while back but checking I had wet spot on the heater core bypass valve. Took up on it again and will keep and eye on it. My son was helping so I had him check if the bypass valve was working. At first I thought it was not but forgot I have the later HVAC control and the bypass only works on MAX AC Topped up coolant, 1 qt oil and a little washer fluid as it was low but don't remember using it so wanted to check for it leaking, it was not. I also checked if the choke was closing as the fast idle would only work if it was cold out when I took it to work when I got out. Truck rest in the house garage so some what warm and why I though it was not coming on. Well it was not really cold and the truck not been running for a lot of hours so it should have closed. It did not close all the way just a little so I adjusted it so it closed and the fast idle did work. I need to test it some more before calling it good but did not take the truck out today so maybe tomorrow, have to see as I am on stand by for work. I also adjusted the idle mix and got the idle RPM to come up a little. It may be to high for my liking but again needs more testing to be sure. Wife wanted to go out to a burger joint next town over and being the truck was out for the carb adjustment we took it. As normal it ran great there and back. Oh burger place was drive thru only, think they went back to this on the latest numbers out as we could eat inside with spacing last time there. So we had to eat in the truck under the parking lot street light next door, not like candle light but close Dave ----

Definitely not white. To this day I don't know what Ford was thinking with that color. I always wanted to paint them brown to match the upper and lower colors on my 1980, but ended up installing a tailgate panel instead. I have all the parts, or did 4 years ago from my parts truck, to install a spare but the wheel I should get one some day and 5 lug nuts as my after market wheels use a different nuts. My 02 Durango should still have the factory spare under it and never on the ground. I say "should" as I don't get under there to check to see if still there or not. Old age and having AAA / towing I don't see the need LOL Guess that is why no rush on the pick up spare tire and I have flat bed towing with that truck. Dave ----

I think the weights were pretty close, how much can 2 more holes weigh on a v8? You didn't do anything with the front suspension that I remember did you? You did roll it forward and back as that helps if you had it up in the air. I seen them straps for testing your welds on the frame horns and why I say that Dave ---- https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/338625-how-much-does-a-300-six-weigh.html

Wonder why it did not work with the jumper Then again if the PO did all the wiring mess then I can see it not working Dave ----

I have not had this problem but do you have 1 or 2 door switches? IIRC some trucks only had 1, left door. Have you tried to push that button in more with your finger to see if that made a change? Same with the other side if you have a switch. The one that is not turning off all the way I would unscrew it and check it out. It could be the switch is rusted and making just a little contact. Oh last thing how old it the head light switch? Have you tried to rotate it back and forth to turn on & off the dome light to see if that is the cause? I have seen green stuff build up on the rheostat to cause issues. When rebuilding my truck I just replaced the head light switch as I did not want to have to go back in to replace it later. Dave ----

I am a little late but welcome. If you have the freeze plug behind the flywheel leaking I would also do the ones behind the manifolds. When I got mine back running after years of rebuilding it from the ground up I had 1 leaking. When I started looking where the coolant on the floor was from I seen there was also a rubber type plug installed. So besides the rubber and the leaking one I found 1 other that was thin so was good I replace them all. As for the gasket for the manifolds to head I used them as I did not hear of the heat issue on the exh manifold. Now I also have to say I am running EFI split exh. manifolds and Y pipe for better flow so don't know if they have the same issues or not? I am running the stock factory intake & carb. As said nice trucks Dave ----

I have used CO2 with my MIG and it works better than flux wire but not a clean as mix Argon at least for sheet metal MIG welding. Cory looking good. For me when I started putting body panels back on the truck it was a big change that I got something done. Dave ----

I thought you would like the head light harness just by its self. With it in place the new bulbs will also get full volts. Cant wait to see the pictures when you get time to post them all. Sorry cant help on the shaking but you have some good help from others. Dave ----

17 MPG I hate you I hit 15 MPG once most are mid 14's and I am all stock other than EFI exh. manifolds. Thats shifting at or just below 2000 RPM as I dont see the need to run it up much higher. It does still pull up to 3000 RPM but again don't see the need to. With the over drive even on the high way at 70 MPH I am spinning 1800 RPM. Pushing the wind out of the way at 80 MPH is 2200 RPM. I have been looking at making a AFR meter but everything I find on line don't show how it gets wired so maybe Santa will bring me one. I would like to see what the AFR is before I go making any changes so I know where I started at. Have fun on your MPG drive Dave ----

As said nice job. Did you wet the floor down? It would also keep the dust & dirt down. I also covered everything in my garage with sheets of plastic from about 8 feet up the walls to the floor as I had a work bench down 1 wall that I cleaned the best I could but knew it still held a lot of dirt. The other wall had 3 stacks of tires & wheels and a bunch of other stuff I had no place to put. Dave ----

Not after you just got through painting the truck after 4 years of rebuilding. Or was that on the wrench Dave ----

The mirrors I got from LMC used the bolt & nut to set them in the doors. I was able to use them on the lower bracket mounting bolts but not at the top. The tops had a backer plate that was tapped for the bolts but the PO's striped them out. I was able to get longer bolts with the right head and after starting the bolts was able to get lock nuts on them. That was a show with the glass installed and getting tools on the nuts Dave ----

On the shroud how does the radiator bolt to the core support? I think the early trucks had 2 rubber "U" cups at the bottom of the support the tanks sat in. Then up top also had 2 rubber "U" cups in a bracket that used 2 bolts and a support bracket over the top and bolts to the upper core support. I think the later trucks had a different radiator where the tanks had2 bolt holes on the sides that bolted to the core support. I say this based on what I found between the 2 1981 trucks, mine had the later radiator held in with wire and 1 bolt as the core support was for the early "U" cup brackets. My parts truck had the right radiator but the PO lost the brackets when he pulled the motor to sell. I also did not have a shroud. My truck being a non-AC truck would not of had one just a little "shroud" over the top of the fan so you would not put your hand in it. Parts truck did have AC but come time to get the cooling system together I could not find it or I never got it with the truck? Now if you look up a 4.9 fan shroud on LMC you need a part number and how do you get that when you have none! I did a lot of looking at other sites for parts and what Gary posted above for the core size to come up with the one I have but I had to mod it to fit but not a hard job. Now that I think of it the 2 different types of radiator mounting may not be an issue. I say this because I think mine was for a 90's truck with a 4.9 as the size was right and think the mounting would work at the time. The mod was I needed to trim a 1/4" off each side to the shroud would sit flush on the radiator and then all the mounting points lined up like factory. I have pictures on my web site and think in my build thread posted where I got it from, DC or NPD? I can get the part number off the box, I bought 2, they were dirt cheap, thinking I could cut and plastic weld them together to make it work but did not need to so I got a spare for the next project. Dave ----

If a deer wants to kill its self no light will stop it! I almost got a 6 to 8 point buck this morning with the work truck, 80K TG I was only doing 30 MPH, limit was 35 but it was 430 and dark no street lights. He also jumped out of the brush when I was going around a curve. As for the head lights may I ask you to try the relay kit with the light bulbs you have now 1 or 2 dark runs just to see the difference. Then add the H4 bulbs so you / we know what the difference is between them all is. I think I ran the standard halogen sealed bulbs with out the relays and they were ok. I then added the relays and it was night and day. I like the pattern on both low & high beams and puts light down the road where I like it. It puts my 02 Durango head lights to shame. I would like to see what you think between the 3 different setups is all. Dave ----

Job well done I had my stock intake & EFI manifolds installed and running great and then had to pull them to fix leaking freeze plugs. When I got it back together I also had a intake vacuum leak. The manifold slid down a little before I got the bolts tight. Had to loosen the bolts and lift it a little and tighten them back up. I think its ok now as its been running that way for many many miles now. Dave ----

If you went with poly bushings you do not need to remove the outer metal shell. Don't even need to remove the beams if you didn't want to. Drop the beam and burn the rubber part of the bushing out. Clean up what is left and hit it with a little paint if you want. Install the poly bushing with the grease they give you and fit it back up into place and install the bolt. Repeat the same to the other side. I have ploy pivot bushings and radius bushings and I don't think it has a harsh ride because of them. The truck gives a nice smooth ride even over bumps. Dave ----

When I lived in CT I spent a lot of time in the valley, camping with mom, dad and my brother & sisters. Little older, boy scout camp and then racing cars at the Air Force base. When you said you had 2 trucks and was going to make 1 good one it reminded me of me. I did the same thing but used a long bed style side for parts and went a little crazy, others may say I went a lot crazy And you have 2 flare sides I am also a fan of flare side trucks as I have an 81 F100 that I did a 4 year cab off frame rebuild using most of a parts truck to make 1 good truck. Kind of what you have planed with your 2 trucks. Mine looks stock but I have a few custom touches that the factory should have done to the flare sides, metal ribbed bed floor and dual tanks! Cant wait to read your project posts Dave ----

Welcome to the forum. My wife's uncle lived in Asheville for a bit and we loved the area but at the time we both needed to work (computer / I.T.) and there did not look to be much at the time. We also looked at Charlotte and did not like the area so the next big I.T. area was Raleigh. We live about 30 min from there in Angier and as life would have it neither of us were in I.T. when we moved here in 2015 That's a nice looking truck you have and should do good to / from work. I used mine for the same thing and trash runs on Saturdays when I got it on the road last year after a 4 year rebuild. Dave ----

On the choke housing the black cap there is not a spade to plug a wire on to? Got any pictures of this carb? As for the vacuum ports only 1 maybe 2 are used. 1 should be ported, no vacuum at idle but has vacuum when you move the throttle, this goes to the dist. vacuum advance can. The rest on the carb can be capped for the most part. On the intake: Hose going to power brake booster. Hose for the PCV Hose for HVAC controls Hose to the factory air filter to temp switches on the lid or side of housing to work the flapper in the air filter snorkel That is about all I can think of off the top of my head. Again pictures work help on this also. Dave ----

Are you painting them or decaling them? I think the dark color of your truck would look good in the tan area for letters. Thing is I don't think that color or close to that color comes in a decal? At first I was looking to paint mine on like the factory did, with a rubber roller, in white to match the white on the truck. Thing was it had to be done after the red went on and if I was to mess up the with the white I may have needed to repaint the red on the gate. That is why I went with decal in white reflective that is close to the white on the truck. Google FORD decal letters to see what colors they came in as I was looking for white reflective. Dave ----

I had 90% typed up last night and got side tracked Pictures do help a lot Dave ----