Rembrant

That truck looks great Rusty!

No sir, there is not, not that I'm aware of at least. Lots of people have been looking for them too. (Are you taking notes Keith???...lol.) I replaced my steering shaft with a used one from a 1987-1991 Bricknose pickup. They had a dry upper joint and the lower rag joint is a bonded/molded rubber.

I have one behind the seat, but it is still in the box it came in and not attached to anything. However, I'll be curious to hear some suggestions as I need to mount it somewhere.

Well that's interesting. Haven't seen these before. They have proven to rust out, so they could be beneficial for certain rehab work.

This is what the 1980-1986 mounting brackets look like FYI. The later ones were cast iron and part of the coil spring seat.

I just had to jump in. I've added "one of the" to your statement above, Cory, because since that part number is E9 there has to have been an E0-prefaced part number, and maybe even another one before 1989, meaning E9. I don't know what it is, but can find out if anyone wants to know. And the reason for knowing is that you might run across one NOS and w/o that part number you won't know what the thing is or if it'll fit.(And if I go find it I should put it in my MPC and on that page so we will know next time.)Gary,Understood on the detail. I don't need any info, but maybe Rusty does. I was just pointing out that the most front swaybars you're going to find on F150's will be interchangeable...assuming one was "Junkyarding"...

By the way, if you look at the part numbers on Gary's Swaybar page, you'll see that this is correct swaybar for both 2wd and 4x4 F150's, all the way up to at least 1989-1990, and from what I've been told, they were also the same right up until 1996. The differences were only in how they mount.

I know this isn't an actual Freewheeling Bronco, but the decals sure do make it eye-catching, if you're into that sort of thing. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193445112747 Same seller that had the 1986 F150 done up to look like a Freewheeler a while back: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/1986-F150-4x4-XL-Freewheeling-w-9000-miles-in-Idaho-tp52197.html

Those ears/brackets that go under the coil springs are the hardest parts to find. Took me two years, and I ended up finding them locally. A friend of mine bought a southern '84 F150 2wd and converted it to 4x4, so the 2wd beams, springs, radius arms, etc were all just sitting there, with just some mild surface rust. My '84 F150 had the front crossmember with the holes for the swaybar brackets, but when I bought my front swaybar assembly, it came with the crossmember still attached lol, so now I have two. My front bar is from an early 90's F150 4x4, and from what I've read and measured myself, it should fit my 2wd truck just fine. I read on FTE one time where a guy had removed and installed about 20 sets of these things over the years, and according to him, all of the F150 4x2 and 4x4 swaybars were the same, all that changed was the mounting points over the years (and the end links between 4x4 and 4x2).

The gauge is the AEM 30-4110 kit. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/avm-30-4110 The first one failed right out of the box, but AEM was super cool about it and rushed a brand new kit to me within a couple days. The one I bought was one of a bad batch apparently. I have it installed in the RH exhaust just past the starter, so it's a little bit close to the last cylinder (and it's at the wrong/not recommended angle) but it seems to work well, and my readings are consistent. I never really intended to leave the gauge installed...it was more for diagnostics to get everything dialed in. It sure is nice though, to see how well the truck is running. Would you guys consider 13.9-14.2:1 a decent AFR for highway cruising? It seems like it is running a little richer now that it has warmed up a bit. Does that make any sense? When I was taking it out earlier in the year when it was still pretty cold, it seemed to be running leaner...more in the 14:7-14.9 range. I might switch the jets back to stock (#66). When we were dyno tuning this engine, the technician ended up installing #68 jets. That was with long tube headers and a more open exhaust. It was my understanding that Holleys usually run rich, but I guess my little 302 was moving enough air to lean it out. Oh...and I still want one of those Summit M2008 500CFM carbs, but that will probably have to wait until things are better economically. In any case, it's all just chatter in my mind at the moment....it's working the best it has ever worked since I've had it, and that alone makes me not want to touch it...lol.

Very cool. It's beautiful in a money-is-no-object kind of way (obviously), but still very tastefully done keeping the overall stock vibe.

Yes sir, it is definitely an accessory display truck if nothing else, and it was indeed owned by a retired guy, but in his defense, he bought the truck this way about 4 years ago and I don't think he added or removed anything. I personally don't like many accessories and would have to remove most if not all of it. I wasn't truck shopping anyway, just cruising around and decided to swing by and see it.

David, the colors are quite different, but it's not the armrest that is the issue...it's the paint I used that is obviously too dark. I was going to send you some pictures. I might paint the armrest just to keep it all uniform, but I don't think there's much left in my paint cans besides fumes... Just wanted to update my project thread with a picture of my "OBD" on the highway today. This was in 5th, at about 65 MPH and 1900-2000 RPM cruising along on fairly level ground. Seems to cycle between 13.9-14.3, so that is not bad. It is working so well now I don't even want to touch the carb...lol. It's a little blurry, I know...but best I could do while driving. (It is reading 14.2 in the pic) The old truck is running really nicely now, and smoother too...both in the engine and wheels. I had all four wheels Road-Force balanced and put the worst ones on the rear, and I think I actually have the engine dialed in pretty much where I want it now.

I took my bull out for drive and stopped to see a little red Bullnose that is parked in the far back corner of a local Honda dealership. Two different people told me it was there, so I figured I'd take a spin by and have a look. I've seen the truck around previously, and was actually going to go look at it back in 2016 before I bought the one I have now. It was almost 500 miles away at the time, and by the time I was able to go see it, it had sold. It's an '85 with a 351/auto. VIN says it's a 300/6 truck.

Gary, Is this the one you bought from the guy in Canada? He finally accepted payment after all?>.. I'm curious to see what is in this thing.

I have one in my work truck (18 wheeler) and I hardly turn it on. I use it mostly when I get to load sites to hear when I am lined up with the load cone for cement. Only a few have radios, others have loud speakers, horns or TV screens you can see for line up. Because of where and what I drive for work, local radio stations work the best 90% of the time. In the last few years o long trips I have not installed one in the DD as you would not hear anything till too late. Dave ---- I never had a CB myself, but I loved some of those whip antennas installed on the old pickups.

That's a great looking truck. Nice find.

Well done!

My first guess would have been that you had better quality fuel in Germany? In any case, welcome aboard Phil. Nice truck. It's very cool to see some of these trucks in Germany. They must be a real head turner over there. I think we have several German Bullnose owners on here now;). Congrats on finally getting her across the ocean;).

No they have not, they're still riveted to the frame. I bought the truck with only about 35k original miles on it, so nothing had been touched. I installed new 87-91 radius arms and bushings back when I had the axle beams out, but I have since gotten a nice set of southern 1984 radius arms (and new 83-86 bushings) so I plan to put those in it when I install the swaybar, to get it all done in one swoop. I'll drill the rivets out of the brackets if I have to, but if I can pull the beams ahead and slide the arms out with the bolt out like Dave says, that will save me some effort.

This thread has me motivated to install my front swaybar...lol. I might tackle it Sunday morning. Since I am changing my radius arms at the same time, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that I can pull the axle beams far enough ahead to get the end(s) of the arms out of the brackets on the frame...

I got my driver's licence early in 1988, so I remember very well when there were loads of these trucks on the road, and I bought my first Bullnose in the early 90's (a 1980 F100 Flareside). I was never much of an accessories guy...and truth be told, as a young fella I probably couldn't afford them back in those days anyway...lol. I forget who said it above, but I sure did like the wagon wheels back then...in white or chrome, and tires with raised white letters...I was a sucker for those, and I still am. It's one of those things that people either love or hate though...much like other accessories. For the full 1980's experience...install a tape deck, and throw a dozen or so cassettes all over the bench seat...lol. I swear I can still see them when I get in my "new" Bullnose almost 30 years later!

The original grill in my bare bones '84 was the grey one, which is the argent isn't it? It just looks like a plain grey now, but it was probably brighter 35 years ago.

Gary, I just remembered that I was also driving around for a while with the vacuum advance disconnected, but I don't remember exactly when or for how long. In any case, I'm hoping to get some good running on it to re-check the highway MPG. 16 around town is decent though, I'm happy with that.

I filled my old Bullnose up today! Finally used up the first full tank of fuel this season. Obviously I haven't been driving it much, because I last filled it on March 21st, but today it took 12.68 gallons to fill, and it had traveled 203 miles. That's a clean 16 MPG. I'm pretty happy with that considering that included a lot of starts and warm-ups, a lot of driving around the city and a lot of 1:1 (4th gear). I'm hoping it'll get back up around 18 or 18+ on the highway if I can get a run in with a lot of time in 5th. Still, not bad for a little warmed up 302 that made 300HP on the dyno. TGIF Bullnosers!