FuzzFace2

Thanks That was a great fathers day gift even before the truck was done. I then had to get the plate to say the same thing. When people ask who did the work I say look at the front plate! Dave ----

I used green LED's for the gauges and clear LED's for the warning lights and I think it matches the factory color pretty good to the radio, HVAC panel, ash tray, head light / wiper. Dave ----

I am just catching up on this but wanted to add what is on my custom made front bumper. My son gave me a fathers day gift tee shirt with a picture of my truck, what it was to look like as it was not painted yet. Note the dual tanks Dave ----

10-4 ON THAT! If you open the door you have 3 screws (#8 in the picture) around the metal filler tube. This holds the metal tube to the plastic "bucket" so if you undo them the metal tube will disconnect from the bucket. Now from the under side follow the tube to the tanks and you should find a hose clamp holding the fuller tube assy to the bed floor, you will need to un do this before the bed comes off. note the below screws can be rusty and may snap when trying to undo them! The other thing you can do to remove the filler tube is undo the 2 screws (#2 in the picture) holding the door to the bed side and the other 2 screws on the other side, 4 total. This will disconnect the bucket from the bed side then follow the tube down to the tank for the hose clamp holding the tube to the bed floor. Dave ----

If you switched the turn signal bulbs to LED, did you not have to address the flasher? I did all of them across the top. Love the bright turn lights, 1 stops working at times, the hi beam is behind the wheel so it is partly blocked so not a big deal for me and I do use the hi beams a lot at 2am going to work. I don't run, at this time, any other LED bulbs other than in the dash so I did not need to change out the flashers. Because I am old I forget but I think the replacement tail lights for the flare side were not painted white like the factory ones. I used shinny metal heating duct tape to line the inside of the light housing and the normal 1157 bulbs and it seams pretty bright. Because I have just the 2 little lights with reflectors I did not think that was enough for night time driving that I do a lot of because of my work hours I did the FORD tail gate letters in reflective to help see me in the dark. Dave ----

It's been about 4 for me and I don't remember how it was on the style side truck, my flare had no (good) wiring for tail lights, heck it hardly had tail lights LOL I also cant remember how I ran the harness I made think less than a year ago, its sad when you get old Dave ----

I think on the leaks it would be nice to know where they are coming from for 2 reasons. I you know just were it is leaking from and weather you can fix it or You know where it is leaking so when the shop gives you a BS place it is leaking you can say "can you show me please" to see if that is where it is leaking from. If the diff cover is leaking that should be an easy fix, new gasket & gear oil and done. Now if axle or pinion seal then he may want to farm it out. Trans could be a pan gasket, again easy fix with new gasket & ATF but if it is the shift rod seal then maybe farm it out. Oil leak could be an easy to change gasket, valve or side cover on the 300 he could do but oil pan yep farm out. I have an oil leak and think the pan gasket that I installed is leaking, I am afraid to go looking Dave ----

If so I think it can be undone easy from the frame, unplug from the frame rail harness and be taken off with the bed. He should be able to look at it to see just how it is done. I would think it would be to the bed, this way it comes down the line with the lights & harness on the bed, drop it on the frame, tighten the bed bolts and plug in the tail light harness and it moves on, no? Dave ----

As for dirt in the paint here is a trick you might be able to use. With the truck out of the garage if you can. Sweep out the area with a fine hair broom. Then blow off the work bench area and any rafters. Let the dust settle and sweep again. If you have an area you paint in see if you can cover it in that cheap plastic you can get to cover things when painting inside the house. Then wet the floor down as this will also keep the dust down. I did all this but I used heavy mill plastic to cover the walls up as high as I could, about 6 feet, but still keep about 2 feet on the floor. Part of the wall had my work bench and the door into a work room where I mixed the paint when I painted my truck. Here you can see I pulled the plastic back on the right side so I could get in / out of the work room before paint started. To my back in that picture is my sons apt. things and a car I also covered with plastic. I had vary little dirt in my paint job, more bugs LOL My area is big enough when I did my panels I did not get crazy with the plastic or wetting the floor. I did have the garage doors down and no fans running. I also sweep the floor most of the time when done working on the truck, body shop thing LOL As for what order to do things? I think it depends on what you plan on doing and how far you plan to take it but there really is not one. I did not plan on a frame off rebuild but once I got my truck and parts truck home and found mine run good and the work it needed to get it on the road and be safe is when I went ape and pulled the whole truck apart. I did the needed rust repair on the cab when it was on horses. I painted the firewall and the bed lined the under side& top of the floor before I put it back on the frame. I also had the frame stripped down so I painted it and slid it back under the cab. As each part got put back on or in it was checked, repaired or replaced as needed. Body work was done to the doors and the inside of the cab, inside doors & jambs painted. I then fixed the dash, someone cut it to get the radio & HVAC controls out, and painted it and got it & wiring back in. Before the fenders went on I installed the motor & transmission. Did the same with fenders, body work done and insides painted before put back on the truck. I then did the rest of the body work to the cab. By this time I could move it under its own power in & out of the garage. I then went to work on the bed as I made a custom metal ribbed floor to replace the wood the flare side came with. Once the cab & bed was ready for paint I pulled the bed off to paint the cab then pulled the bed apart to paint it. It took me 4 years to rebuild mine into a nice driver from a pile of junk, it does not happen overnight LOL That just a really quick run down of how I did it. I never drove my truck other then a bad test drive before I bought it and did not really know how bad it was till I took it apart! Dave ---- ps yes I did the rubbers & seals after it was painted.

Yes on the hex bolts for the pocket and the clamp that supports the filler hose to the used side of the bed. Follow the filler hose and you will see the hose clamp that goes over the bed frame bracket. On the lights the lights can stay screwed to the bed and no need to mess with the sockets. By the left rear corner of the frame / bed there should be a plug that plugs the frame harness into the tail light harness. Unplug the 2 harnesses there I just don't know if the tail light harness is held to the bed with clips, I think it is, or runs across the frame and held with clips? It has been so long I cant remember about the tail light harness how it is clipped but I am pretty sure about that plug. I forgot my trailer light harness plugs in between the frame harness & tail light harness. I had to use the style side trucks tail light harness to make a harness for the flare side. This is the flare side harness I made and it plugs into the frame rail harness. BTW the frame rail harness has a plug under the brake master /booster by the frame rail / floor board. Dave ----

Yep mine popped the fuse a few days ago and I wondered why the front tank level was not going down? FYI the 3 hose TSV defaults to the rear tank with out power. So what Gary said of having power on the wire when on rear tank is wrong. THe wire should have power when on front tank. FYI II when looking for replacement 3 hose TSV look on Amazon as that is where I picked up 2 just in case mine was bad before I found the bad fuse. I could not find the 3 hose TSV on line at any of the "local" parts stores, only the 6 hose ones. Dave ----

The only thing I had fall off was 1 of the brackets that go between the main block bracket and the compressor and made 2 new ones from alum. plate. I don't have / never had that hose bracket, if I ever come across one I will snag it. Good to hear you are getting the AC system running. Them hoses can drive you nuts. Dave ----

Yep a little proof of 1 side Only good thing was it was not driven on the road, farm truck project, other than to teach son to drive stick and I don't think that was much as the son did not like the truck. I tried to send a picture of the truck when done but the number is no longer used. I knew they were moving and why they sold it. That is why when it is new to you you go thru the brakes really good! Dave ----

It was in his video. The fact that the shifter is back close to the seat means that it is either the SMOD or SROD. The later 4spd/OD shifter base is closer to the dash like the T-18, T-19, or NP435. The fact that the shifter says "push" for reverse means it is the SROD (T170FS-RUG-SROD). That's why I said earlier that it is sort of a unique configuration as the 4x4 shifter is to the right of the transmission shifter. I believe Ray Cecil's '82 is the same. I don't know if it's considered rare or not...but I think it's fairly uncommon. Sounds like a cool project and will be following. I think some of the things in the phases will be moved like the brake over haul. If you are there to get brakes on the truck you might as well go thru the whole thing rear to front. It would be a shame to say replace a leaking brake line get the system filled and the next week have a heel cly. leak. Heck you are going to pull the rear drums to make sure the shoes are good and cly not leaking so just replace the parts when there. Up front you may not need or want to replace the calipers and only the pads if the rotors look good. I would replace ALL rubber brake hoses, 2 at the calipers and 1 at the rear axle. A master is cheap and being the rear wheel cly., rubber hoses are new you can do a flush of the brake fluid and know the brake system is good to go or should that be stop LOL. Even if you need or want to replace the metal lines it is not hard to do. BTW when I got into the brakes on my truck I found long shoes on 1 side and short on the other, only 1 ebrake cable, master was empty on 1 side and front brake pads vary low. The only thing I did not replace was the metal lines as they did look good. I know the brake system is 100% now and don't worry about it. Brakes are not something you want to only do a half azzed job on. Sorry for going on so long Dave ----

Hope he posts what he finds if anything with that carb. Mine runs great other than the bad MPG and I really think someone messed with the Rod & Seat adjustment because everything else was messed with, sheet metal screws use in some holes and no screws in others, choke hot air was missing a fitting, just an over all MESS! When I rebuilt the carb the paper did not list an adjustment for the R&S so I did not touch it, who would right? I want to run 2 more full tanks at 70 MPH and see what that gets me, last 2 were at 65 MPH as that is what I was doing with out the over drive. Then I will check the timing & and look deeper into the R&S adjustment. Dave ----

I edited my post to speed / RPM of what I got on the ride home from work today. I did 40 - 55 MPH direct and 45 - 55 OD, I did not check the other speeds / RPM's as they seam to be ok. The first tanks fulls did not get the MPG higher (@65 MPH) but I will run 2 more tanks fulls just to make sure. Then I will run 2 tanks fulls @70 MPH to see what that gives me, nay be lugging the motor at 65 MPH? I also feel the carb is really out of wack as it was really messed up when I rebuilt it and I think the rod / seat (main jet set up) has been jacked with and it running way to rich to only be getting high 14's to mid 15's Dave ----

The only difference on my 81's were 1 had no AC (small opening) and the other with AC (large opening) for the condenser. If he was to get a large opening support he could then run the larger AC radiator. He could then add AC if he wanted down the road as it would have the larger opening for condenser. I think the supports are made to hold both radiators but the openings are different sizes and the smaller can be cut to open it up. Oh also note there was a change on the radiators and how they bolt in. Early sits in rubbers at the bottom tanks and brackets up top on the tanks that bolt to the support. The later years use bolts thru brackets that are part of the tanks on the sides to the support. I would have loved a 5sp in my truck if it had a low enough first gear for pulling loads. It sounds like a nice little truck you are building. BTW what you going to do with MVI when the VIN on the frame don't match the door & cowl? Then again maybe they are like here and no one from DMV even looked at the truck to get the plate. Dave ----

So true. I don't get that a lot of places say you need XXXX miles / years over the road going FORWARD! before they will hire you? Just got a call, woke me up, and my loads have changed. Getting up at 2am for 3 loads of cement to a paving company. We pump it into a spreader truck and they put it on the ground and mix it in with a big tiller and then roll it out. Gives a solid base to put the black top on if not the ground flexes and the black top will break up. I think I will have a lot of backing up to do tomorrow at the site. On the shift work we did get differential pay depending on what shift, got more for weekends and holidays got even more. I had 1 guy that worked 3-11 and always worked most holidays so I asked why? He would work 3 days and got paid for 5 and he still had 2 more days to work and 2 days off in that week! Dave ----

At Greenwich Hosp. my dept. (HVAC) did not do rotating shifts (Boiler room did, I hate them) but I did have to work all shifts 7-3, 3-11, 11-7 with a double if someone called out sick or short staff. I liked the 7-3 like normal people, then the 11-7 as you had no one around, you did your job given to you for the night & rounds and had the rest of the day to do what ever you needed to do. 3-11 was in the middle of the day and just messed you up LOL. By law we could not work 3 shifts in a row and would split shifts to spread the OT. Could not "cat nap" if cought out you go! so was best to keep busy. Tomorrow I am on cement (fly ash) because it is 2 hour drive each way and maybe an hour load time, they open at 12am after closed all weekend, and the 8am drop is why I am up early. I like the LP loads because most of the time they have no time for pickup / drop off. So I can get into some tight places and not worry about traffic running into me. I know of 3 drops I have been to I have to back in off the street and 1 we back across the street from a parking lot. Down here they have deep ditches for rain water run off and small drive way openings makes for fun pulling in or backing in. The life of a truck driver! Dave ----

Yep I think she got my goat Dave ----

Last week I have been up between 12am & 2am EST depending on what loads I had that day. Looks like I will be starting the week getting up at 12am again. Have a 5 hour round trip for a load that has to be dropped at 8am. The 12am get up is to SSS, drive to work and pre-trip the truck & trailer before hitting the road by 3am. After I off load, about an hour to 2 depending on the site setup, if I have time call in to dispatch to see if they have anything else before I can park the truck 20 min from the off load site. Fun day ahead. Now to jump on the tractor and get some grass cut Dave ----

When the wife told me they were the same I like For the 50 to 80 MPH in direct was first when I got on the high way. Then went into OD and did the 80 to 65 or 60 and did the rest of the drive on the high way at 65, speed limit is 70 MPH there. On the way home I took "local" roads with the speed limit of 45 to 55 MPH so I did the 40 to think 55 in direct then shifter to OD to do the rest of the numbers. I will have to recheck them numbers as something just did not add up. I should have rechecked them when we were out but we were just enjoying the ride. I also was showing her were I have made some LP drops and on roads I had not been on before. Figured I would post what I found so others would know "ruffly" what I was getting in what gear. Dave ----

It was coming thru the vents and blowing on my leg. My point was Jim said to seal the plates and screws so water would not get in. Dave ----

My 81 was factory AC York compressor. My system did not have a check valve on it and I can tell you the 81 & 84 hose I ordered were different. IIRC the hose fit the condenser, where it looks this check is, but not the other end. I don't think the York had service valves but the JY compressor did and I think I ordered hoses for that system. Dave ----

Yes it does just wished the MPG were up a little bit. After the next full tanks I plan on doing the speed limit of 70 MPH for a few tanks to see where that gets me. Dave ----