Rembrant

My old 1980 F100 Flareside that I bought back in the early 1990's had a spoiler on the back of the roof that was somewhat unique at the time. I did see a couple of them around back in that era, but not often. Oddly, there was a company here in central Canada selling two NOS unpainted units about 2 years ago. Below are the only pictures I have of the spoiler. It was on the truck when I bought it in or around 1992.

Well I made out OK today. Only "big" thing that failed was the drag link...has a little play in it. No big deal...I can change that out. A few other little odds and ends I need to fix up, but overall not too bad.

I really want to replace the shocks, front swaybar bushings, and steering stabilizer. I think it would make a world of difference in how the old girl handles. In a straight line she's fine, but it feels like it's going to roll over in the corners...lol. It needs an alignment also. The shop I took it to does not do alignments unfortunately, and the shop they recommended won't do it .They are refusing to service RV's for time being due to Covid-19 issues (Since they don't know where they've been). It might get a Rembrant with a piece of string alignment at home;).

That's a good question. Most heavy shops have hoists at least big enough to put tandem axle semi tractors on them...so the weight wouldn't be an issue with this thing, but the length might be. This thing feels like it's long as school bus...lol.

Hahaha!

I hear ya. I do about 40k miles per year, and a big chunk of that is highway driving for work, but that's been in diesel Volkswagens getting between 40-50mpg. Driving in the 65,000 mile per year range, and an old truck that gets how many MPG Angelo?...holy cow...I bet they all know you by name at the gas station(s) too Angelo?..ha! With the price of gas up here, I couldn't do it even if I wanted to...lol. As for seeing an old vehicle go, I have normally lost all attachment with them by that time. I get bored with them after a while anyway. However, I have had a few over the years that I sold for various reasons, and either regretted it, or missed them terribly. A little blue F100 Flareside back in the early 90's was one of them, which is why I am here today...lol. Shortly after that time, back in the early 1990's, I bought one of those "Iraqi Taxi's" from my uncle. Are you guys familiar with these? It was an '81 Chevy Malibu with a 3.8V6 and a 3spd manual floor shift. Anyway, this thing was mint...my uncle had owned it since new, and he sold it to me for next to nothing, and it was a great little car. Friend and I were doing donuts with it in the fluffy snow one night, and smacked a curb sideways with the rear end. Bent the rear axle, bent all four rear suspension links, and shifted the body on the frame in the rear. The car was sold for parts. What a sin too, because had I not been screwin' around, that car would have lasted for years.

You can tell when somebody doesn't care about their car when they pile a set of rims on the hood for a for sale picture, haha.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm taking the RV to a truck shop today for it's first MVI. Part of the problem is that this thing came from out west where they don't have any vehicle inspections, and now that it is here, it has to pass an MVI every two years, and that means everything gets checked, from the brakes, to glass, lights right down to the licence plate light, exhaust, body, etc. They currently do not do emissions testing here, but they're big on safety. This thing is 27 years old and it has never been checked.. However, it does have only 74,000 original miles on it. The reason I was curious about the brakes on the DRW Dana 70 is that if it needs brake work, obviously they will quote me to do it. Otherwise, they slap a Rejection sticker on the windshield, and I'll have X-amount of time to do it myself...10 days or 2 weeks, or something like that. If the brakes are easy enough to do on this pig, I'll do them myself. If not, I'll let them do it while they have it on the hoist. Either way, I just needed some education on the topic so I knew enough to say whether I could do them myself or not.

I can get the info off the rear end once I can get under there and remove the tag. I just can't read it where it is as it looks like it was installed backwards or upside down.

I am guessing, based on some pictures I've found online, that this is a Dana 70?

OK Dana experts... I have an appointment for an MVI on the RV tomorrow, and I'm curious about rear brakes on this thing in case it needs any work. The certification label says that it is a Dana rear diff with 4.10 gears, but that is all it says. The rear end tag is still intact, but I can't read the numbers on it where it is...I think the tag might be on backwards, not sure. The fuel tank hangs really low in this thing, and it is about 2" behind the rear end cover, so it's hard to get good pics, but I'm assuming this thing is a Dana 60 or 70? It is a 1993 E350 (31ft cutaway). I guess what I really need to know is, would I need any special tools or anything to do any brake work on this rear end? Or is it just a bigger version of the regular rear drum brakes I'm already used to? Second, Rockauto shows both 12x3 and 12.125 x 3.5" rear shoes for this thing. Is there any way to tell what it would take without disassembling and measuring?

I'm still in my 20's and can't stand the music of today. When I'm older I'll be playing the same music from the 80's and 90's that I listen to now. You guys and your fancy trucks with radios in them...lol. I'll be installing my Kenwood soon. I'm getting ready to finish up some little Bullnose tasks. In all seriousness, I rarely ever listen to music in vehicles anymore. These days I mostly listen to Podcasts, and I currently use a battery operated Bluetooth speaker in the truck when I drive it. I'll finish the stereo installation soon. Mrs Rembrant has had me busy working on the RV, so the Bullnose to-do list has been on hold. Still, as David said, things are good, and life is good overall.

Well said David! I took my old Bull out today to the DMV and after that to the RV shop to get some parts, and it is working so good this year I am really pleased with it! The "new" sliding rear window is a real treat, as is the smooth running 302 (no vacuum leaks now) and the tires and wheels (properly balanced, I think...lol). I had a guy pull up beside me on the highway to give me a thumbs up on the truck, and another guy outside the RV shop told me how awesome it looked, so those little gestures so do make it all worthwhile in the end.

Sold for $12,600 not too bad.

Yes they can. I've read on FTE where guys have gone to the junkyard, and pulled both front and rear bars off a 1993, or 1995, whatever, and slapped the whole works on a Bullnose. As far as I know, yes, but you'd have to get Gary to confirm. I'd almost guarantee that they are the same up to 1991, but after that I am not sure. in 1992, the frames got the front crumble zones, so they may be different. Keep in mind that all that is specific to the 9" rear end is the brackets that mount on the axle tubes. That is all that changed between the 9" and 8.8 rear ends swaybar assemblies...the swaybars stayed the same, as did the end links. See, brackets for the 9" rear end were just little pieces of channel cut to fit only on the axle tubes. See snippet below from Gary's Swaybar page. That is what the bracket looks like. When the 8.8 rear end showed up in 1983, Ford changed the brackets slightly and added an extension that fits on a little nub that is cast into the pumpkin. It's really just a anti-rotation protection, to keep the brackets from moving on the axle tubes. What I'm getting at is, you can probably grab a rear swaybar assembly from a 1996 with an 8.8 rear diff, and make the brackets fit the 9" by just cutting part of the brackets off. Not sure if the axle tubes are the same diameter or not...but even still, you could make the bracket easy enough out of a piece of channel.

Ray, they are from North Carolina but had been sitting outdoors up here the past couple years. It's just surface rust...they cleaned up very nicely. Even rusty, they're "Mint" compared to what they look like up here. I have since painted them black, but they were like were like new under the brown scuzz...lol.

Gary, I don't know of any virtual truck shows...I guess you're venturing out into new territory here. I was look at this Canadian truck club below, and they posted pictures from various events and shows...obviously after the fact, but you could do something similar as the main event. Just pick an event in the Club Event Photo Gallery section linked below. Some nice old Fords there too. http://www.fordtruckclub.com/PhotoGalleries.html

Oddly, there are aftermarket replacements for the 1992-1996/7 trucks, so I'm curious why they don't fit (Maybe they do?). The steering boxes stayed the same throughout, so obviously the difference is at the upper end (if any). https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Ford-F-150-F-250-F-350-Bronco-Truck-1992-1998-Lower-Steering-Shaft-425-350/124044865460?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Somebody would have to grab one of these from a junkyard to see what the difference is in them. Sooner or later Dorman or similar company will start selling replacement shafts. I believe they are available for 1979 and older, and 1992 and newer, it's just the black hole of 1980-1991 that is currently not covered...

Well, until somebody starts reproducing the 1980-1986 shafts, a used 1987-1991 shaft is the next best thing unless one wants to spend the bucks on a Borgeson aftermarket shaft ($300 bills?). The Bricknose shaft is superior to the Bullnose shaft imho, so it's a worthy junkyard part upgrade. The only issue I had with mine is that the slip joint on this Bricknose shaft was sloppy (the flat metal spring inside was broken) so I welded a couple nuts on the tube and used set-screws to snug it back up.

The steering shaft I have is from somewhere between 1987 and 1991, but I don't know exactly when...I was just told that it was a Bricknose shaft, and it has an integrated lower "rag" joint that is completely different than the Bullnose lower (traditional) rag joint.

Hard time these days finding one that isn't cracked...

Yes, the 1987-1991 shaft is a direct fit. I have one on my '84, and a friend of mine has one on his as well. That upper rubber boot fails eventually, and there are no replacements for them currently. Borgeson is a common shaft guys use, but they are fairly expensive. https://www.borgeson.com/xcart/home.php?cat=46 For fixing the stock 1980-1986 shaft, I was thinking of making something out of a shock boot...or a boot off the end of a steering rack. It would just need to be fixed on there somehow. They check vehicles here...sort of a mechanical fitness test. They don't specifically check things like steering shafts, but if they happened to notice one with a torn boot they'd say something.

Gary, No sir, I do not. I bought the one I have from Steve83 a while back for $15, along with a bunch of other parts. They are really hard to find around here...and when you do find one it's usually too rusty to even remove (or use, for that matter).

Ha!

I think I've only heard them called wagon wheels in recent years, but I couldn't say exactly when. I know in the 80's, around here we just called them white spoked wheels, or chrome spoked wheels. As for the cover over the truck bed, myself and most people I grew up around called them caps, but I've heard them called everything under the sun and always knew what the person was talking about. Canopy and Camper Shell were also somewhat common.