Rembrant

You just reminded me...I'm pretty sure the decals had "3M" on the backing. I actually screwed up my "F" when I was applying them and had a local shop make me a new one. Whatever they did it was exactly the same. In any case, I would have gladly purchased heavier decals from a forum member that was making them, but these were what I found when I went looking at the time.

Looks like you are missing a digit. The VIN should be 17 digits. The 1 after the 6 is supposed to be a capital I. It looks like the Check Digit is missing between the I and the G. Are you sure the X26 is not X25? Check the title, the windshield VIN tag, and the Certification label on the cab inside the driver's door by the striker post. 1FTHX26I_GKB59882 1FT - FoMoCo USA H - GVWR 9001-10,000 lbs. X26 - F250 4X4 Supercab (Check to see if it is X25) I - 6.9 Diesel _ - Blank...should be a digit here? G - 1986 Model year K - Built at Kansas City manufacturing plant B59882 - Sequential serial number.

Dave, You have the upside on this one for sure. As much as I like the wood for showcase purposes, I sure do like the idea of your bed floor for utility purposes. After all the work I've done to mine...I've basically lost the ability to use it as a truck. I honestly don't mind wrecking the plywood...it's not expensive...but the freshly painted bed and all new steel is what bothers me (the risk of scratching/scuffing/denting it). I'm watching Ken's progress here very closely. Can't wait to see what he does and how it turns out.

Dear Reamer, You suck. Best regards, Rembrant. lol. Just kiddin'...sort of... I would love to take my truck out.

I bought a set from this seller on Ebay and they fit quite nice. They were identical to the originals. https://www.ebay.com/itm/TR102-1980-86-FORD-STEPSIDE-FLAIRSIDE-TAILGATE-LETTERS-F100-F150-F250/291414322034?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D351052681ebe410097ba54e4776c450f%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dsb%26sd%3D291414317897%26itm%3D291414322034%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 I believe they do other models, but thought I'd chime in on the Flareside stuff. I would have gladly purchased them from a forum member at the time, but figured I'd at least mention this seller so you don't go too far in making them.

That bed floor is in pretty decent condition for it's age. The fact that there's still some silver paint on there is impressive in it's own right. I dunno Ken...if I was in your shoes I think I'd be pretty torn over what to do. I look at that and part of me likes it looking original like it is, and part of me would want to see some new wood and strips in there. If it was my truck, I'd probably lose sleep over it...lol.

You tried the fancy rotation trick and it overlaid your text. Sorry, that happens. But I eliminated the pic in the quote so I could see the text. Wow, that's quite an accomplishment for one day! What EFI system are you going to use? And do you have just one tank or two? Nice!!!! Very nice! I would love to have one of those roller cam 351's...such a nice engine!!! As small blocks go, I think that one is the way to go if you can get one. A friend of mine has one in a 1997 F350 parts truck and if I didn't already have a 302 I dropped way too much money on I'd be all over that 351 like white on rice!

Cool. I like these.

As for machining something, are you thinking to replace the cup and the red piece? I think I'm going to have wait to pursue this much further until I get Big Blue's column apart, but I'm wondering if we couldn't 3D print something? Gary, Yes sir, the "cup" is the second item from the left. It is a little rubber sleeve that fits over the outer race of the bearing in a captive way (There is one on the column upper bearing as well). The o-ring pictured fits in the groove inside the inner race of the bearing, and the red piece fits inside the bearing...the o-ring is what keeps it in place. The white washer is what holds the bearing in place inside the black housing. There are three little barbs on the ID of the plastic housing, so you drop the bearing in place and then press the white washer down on top of it and it snaps in place on top of the rubber cup. See the end of my steering column below, you can see the two ends of the red plastic piece. I assume all steering columns have this part? The plastic piece is held in place by the friction of the o-ring, and the flat sides make sure the steering shaft turns the bearing. See why that bearing is a difficult item to replace? If I had the ability, I'd just make a whole new housing that took a normal size bearing. You could make it out of delrin or aluminun or whatever, but the section for the shifter tab (between 9 and 12 in the picture) would not be easy to recreate. It's not required for a manual trans, so it would be easy for that.

Gary, The bearing has no markings on it at all. It is actually kind of rough little thing...it doesn't have the polished surfaces that a regular bearing does. And it is an odd little thing...not going to be easy to find a replacement for unfortunately. The outer race is 1/4" thick, and the inner race is 3/8" thick and has in integral o-ring. Dimensions below for reference. As for the red and black parts...both are required. The black "cup" goes over the outer race of the bearing, and the red plastic piece goes inside the inner race. The only picture I have of all the pieces together is below. These are all of the parts that make up the $148 item being sold on the website linked earlier. Somebody clever (a machinist) could probably make a replacement for this piece that took a more standard off the shelf bearing. It's not all that difficult to remove this stuff for anybody that is in the mood. Doesn't hurt to clean the bearing and re-pack it with good grease.

Gary, That particular bearing is a real weird one. I replaced mine when I rebuilt my column, but I saved my original. At the time JBG was selling replacement bearings, but to be honest they were either very old NOS or simply used bearings that were cleaned up and repacked with grease. The one I received was really in no better condition than the one it replaced. Still...I kept my original, sealed in a baggie in case I ever need one again. It was one of those things that I said I'd try to locate a replacement for someday, but like a lot of other little projects, it's very low priority. By the way, I just checked JBG and can no longer find that bearing. Maybe they are all gone now? The upper bearing (Non-tilt), which was still available from Ford a couple years ago, is part number F23Z-3517-B. I also kept my old one here too as it was in good shape. The oddball lower bearing is part E0TZ-3517-B, at least according to the bag mine was shipped in. The lower plastic housing...the one listed in the above steering column website for $41, was also still available directly from Ford only 2 years ago, and was only $10 Canadian, so probably only $7.50 USD. Just FYI in case anybody is looking. Check with Ford. I believe they were all over Ebay as well. If somebody clever in the parts making business wanted to make a new lower housing that accepted a more standard bearing, they could probably sell a few. The problem is...that plastic housing also serves as a shifter guide on the auto trans columns (and 3 on the tree), so that would have to be taken into account. On a manual trans steering column, it is only a bearing housing, and nothing else. It would probably be easier to modify the pre-existing housings to accept a different bearing. And that's only half the issue...lol. Figuring out how to deal with the ID of the bearing would be the more tricky part. It has a groove on the ID for an O-ring. Anyhow...didn't mean to be so long winded, but I did burn some calories thinking about this back when I rebuilt my steering column...haha.

Welcome aboard Dee.

So do I. Severely. As for the Milkshake part, I don't have a solution, but wasn't that a known Ford thing back in the day? I pumped gas at a Texaco for a few years in highschool (late 80's) and we always joked about all the Fords and their milky dipsticks and oil filler caps. They were usually all cars like Crown Vic's and such, but still.

Hi Aerocoupe, where are you located? I have no real idea what it is worth, but at a glance, the only parts that are specifically from the 1980-1986 trucks are the fenders and the steps. All of the steel parts of the box itself are not from the 1980-1986 trucks. The tailgate is from an older f-series truck, and the sides and headboard are either from a different truck, or they were aftermarket/homemade replacements for a different truck. I've seen some original 80-86 Flareside beds for sale recently. One in California (I think) for $900, and another in Michigan that was rusty and missing the tailgate for $300. I have heard that the fenders and steps go for pretty decent money if you find a buyer. Good condition steel parts are either impossible to find or are very expensive aftermarket.

Gary, I will do just that! I think it looks relatively authentic...at least to the untrained eye. My swap... And factory 4X2 blue Bullnose interior with NP435 shifter... My floor hump/tunnel cover would be a little higher, but I don't think anybody would notice.

Exactly! I have to admit that I was also driven partly by nostalgia here. 25+ years ago when I had my original 1980 Bullnose Flareside, it had the NP435 trans and the curvy stick, and it also had an aluminum Hurst T-handle shifter handle (actually, I think it was a B&M, but whatever...you know what I mean). I have been wanting to recreate this ever since I bought this truck, so I will likely try a Hurst shifter on it at some point. There is a kit you can buy specifically for mounting those handles on the splined sticks, but they are out of stock at the moment.

I finally got around to finishing this little project last night. This shifter has been tack welded together and was laying on my work bench for probably a year or more. With my 5spd swap I used the shifter from the donor truck (1991), and it always looked kind of out of place to me in my 1984. It wasn't a big deal, just one of those minor pet peeves. Anyway, using an NP435 shifter from an '86 Bullnose, I shortened it, and then grafted it on to a 5spd stick bottom to that I could install it on my 5spd. It took a little measuring, but I wanted the shifter knob to end up in the exact same location as where it was with the stock '91 5spd stick. So I finally finished welding it last weekend, and had the stick blasted and powder coated in satin black this week, and then reinstalled it all last night. It's just one of those little things I've been wanting to do. Simple minds, simple pleasures. Most people didn't even notice or pay attention to the 5spd stick, but every once in a while a Ford truck guy would comment and ask me which 5spd I had swapped in, etc...so this will now leave them guessing.

Ha! Gary, I have both the 1984 and 1985 factory service manuals in PDF on my PC, so that is usually where I go for this stuff....I'm not sure if it's quicker or just habit, but I can zoom the PDF and then grab the image. My wife got me using the Windows Snipping Tool, and now I use it every day...usually multiple times, for work stuff and Bullnose stuff. I'm getting better at linking to your website...especially if info on a whole page is required...like paint codes, etc...but my default mode is to go directly to my own PDF's for smaller images.

Gary, I think for all intents and purposes, the ZF-5 and the M5R2 5spd swaps are pretty much the same, just two different transmissions. I guess you could have a page dedicated to 5spd swaps, and then list the potential candidates for transmissions. I have noticed in the FB groups that there are quite a few guys running the M5OD-R2 transmissions in 1/2 ton pickups, and we have at least one member on the forum here with one of the Tremec 5spds (Mustang trans). I know the ZF-5 is the defacto premier/HD 5spd and is probably the most desirable, but it's not something you see swapped into 2wd 1/2 ton. I suppose it could get fairly convoluted with the various ZF-5 options...small block, big block, diesel, etc. For us 2wd guys, transmission selection is important because of the speedo cable. You are limited to using a truck 5spd from 1988-1991. Obviously, this isn't an issue for the 4X4 guys. There are little quirks and whatnot with these swaps as you recently found out with the rear trans mount, and Reamer had some issues with his slave cylinder and lines. If you're going from an auto to manual, at least with the small blocks, then you also need to do a starter swap. That is what I was thinking, but only because I'm probably in an extreme minority of people. I'm still running my original 1G alternator and fender mounted voltage regulator, and I don't really have any intention of doing a 3G swap...at least not in the near future. It's in the back of my head, but very low priority compared to other things I need and want more. However, I do want to do that voltage gauge mod. So that is where my head was at...you don't need to change anything. Now that I know where the info is, I can go there to read up on it. I don't mind helping with some info on the M5OD-R2 swap in a 2wd. I can throw some stuff on a Word doc and email it to you. That way you could copy and paste it.

Swap stock amp gauge to voltage gauge Swap in new steering shaft (Borgeson aftermarket or later 87-91 Brick shaft) Delay wiper module Slding rear window latch upgrade (or upgrade to later style 1995-1996 sliding rear window) ZF5 transmission swap? (HEY! What about us lowly MTOD-R2 guys?...lol. Just kiddin' Gary) By the way, another neat upgrade or mod is to swap in an Explorer aluminum diff cover. Now this only applies to those of us with 8.8 rear ends, but these covers can be found in junkyards for under $10 (I paid $7.95 for mine). It looks kinda neat...as in it is a knock-off of the much nicer covers available aftermarket, but it IS functional in that it has a much easier to access fill plug, and a drain plug. Factory Ford part too. https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/modifying-an-explorer-aluminum-cover-to-fit-any-8-8.653880/

Swap stock amp gauge to voltage gauge Swap in new steering shaft (Borgeson aftermarket or later 87-91 Brick shaft) Delay wiper module Slding rear window latch upgrade (or upgrade to later style 1995-1996 sliding rear window) ZF5 transmission swap? (HEY! What about us lowly MTOD-R2 guys?...lol. Just kiddin' Gary)

There is a little plug there...I think I can see it in your picture. This was so that it could be disconnected when removing the seat. Those wires were probably disconnected on lots of trucks back then. The buzzers get removed too;).

I don't know that I've seen two tone grey on a Flareside, but I'm sure I've seen it on a Styleside. I was looking at this one on Christopher Lott's IG page the other day. I really REALLY like grey and/or silver trucks. Don't get me wrong...I love blue too...lol, but I'd love to have a grey one. He mentioned that this one is Solid Smoke Grey (1986?). It is a gorgeous truck.

They would be the wires that went to the switch in the driver's seat belt buckle. The switch is normally closed, and opens when the seat belt is buckled (Thus turning off the seat belt buzzer). Check the wire colors to confirm. Lower RH corner in the picture below.

Do you have a link to the single relays? And can you confirm that the 7v from the Alternator will pull in and hold the relay closed OK?