Rembrant

I quite like these seats, but they're way out of my price range considering the exchange rate and freight charges I would have to deal with. I think they would look great in a restomod type of truck along with an aftermarket steering wheel and aftermarket gauges. I guess the big question is, I wonder how comfortable they are. They look like they'd lower the seating position, at least a little bit, which may not be a bad thing depending on how tall you are.

I was told that Ford used that style rotor button very briefly in the 80's, but I have no idea. It is the only one I've ever seen like that. As for the Factory vs "OEM" terminology, I do try to use the correct terminology whenever I can, but it is usually understood what one is talking about one way or another. I know people like Bill/NumberDummy scoff at using unofficial terminology, but I think the majority of the general public are usually OK with generic terms for things. Steve83 gave me crap one day for calling the start relay the starter solenoid....but everybody and their dog calls it the starter solenoid, even the companies that manufacture and sell them...lol, so I think it all just depends on one's own POV;). The one acronym that I do not use is OBS, and that's only because it is not really clear to me what trucks OBS refers to...lol.

Yes I am Gary, but I had had notifications for it turned off. I messaged the guy yesterday but still no replies. I've been playing a bit of a waiting game lately on the AC parts. I have collected a bunch of parts already. So far I have the pump and all factory mounting brackets for my 302, the 3 groove crank pulley, and assortment of dash vents that Scott sent me, and a grey weave instrument bezel from a truck with factory AC. I'm getting there, but still need the crucial equipment for both sides of the firewall. I have been in contact with two different guys locally that have factory AC trucks they will be parting out. One an '84 and the other an '86. They're being held up because of the weather. I expect once it warms up I'll start getting my hands on more parts. I'm intrigued by the dealer-installed system though. If I could get all of the required parts for it, I'd give it a go if it meant an easier (and less intrusive) installation.

That thing is still very well intact for it's age. Original and unmolested Bronco's seem to be really hard to come by. Bidding already at $13k, it's doing well.

The OEM Ford wires on my 1984 302 were grey with black boots. Since my truck was such low mile and had been sitting in a barn for god knows how long, it still had a lot of original parts on it when I dragged it home. I was told that a way to identify the original factory installed wires was that they were numbered, and mine were. Thew new Ford replacement wires I installed looked very similar to the originals, but were not numbered. My truck also had a funky looking rotor button in the distributor, which I was told was also original. Odd looking tip on it that I had never seen before.

Not sure if this truck was posted before or not, but it popped up in my IG feed today and reminded me of Rick's red Lariat. Sure is pretty. Claims to have 11,000 original miles and to be unrestored. Apparently sold for $20,900 this past fall in Texas. https://www.mecum.com/lots/DA0919-383232/1986-ford-f150-pickup/

Gary thanks I will check it tonight when I get home. Slipped over the US briefly today to pick up a load of truck parts! Is it on EBay or craigslist?

The brown seats were new in the last catalog or the one before it, but I don't think any of the others were there...they must be new. Looks like nice stuff. I love the seats. I know everybody howls about LMC being poor quality, but I've had OK luck with their stuff. Maybe my standards are lower...lol.

Gary, I wish I had been paying better attention, I probably could have warned you about this. I ran into the exact same issue with the M5OD-R2 5spd swap in my F150. I guess the same issue exists with the ZF-5. For some reason, Ford changed the crossmember and rear transmission mount in 1994 (I believe). My M5OD was from a 1991 F250 2wd, so I just ordered a new rear mount for a 1991. My transmission crossmember I believe is a 1994. When I went digging into the part numbers on Rock Auto, I could see that they changed the rear mount in 1994. All the prior mounts had wider studs. 1994 Rear transmission mount: 1991 Rear transmission mount: I wasn't in any kind of rush when I was doing it, so I just went to the auto parts and swapped my mount for a newer version. The transmission side of the mounts are all the same. Picture of my crossmember... You can actually see the difference between the two below. The 5spd crossmember holes are a little narrower than on my old 3spd crossmember. Those mounting holes had been the same for a long time, so why they changed them in a 1994 I have no idea.

Gary, I wish I had been paying better attention, I probably could have warned you about this. I ran into the exact same issue with the M5OD-R2 5spd swap in my F150. I guess the same issue exists with the ZF-5. For some reason, Ford changed the crossmember and rear transmission mount in 1994 (I believe). My M5OD was from a 1991 F250 2wd, so I just ordered a new rear mount for a 1991. My transmission crossmember I believe is a 1994. When I went digging into the part numbers on Rock Auto, I could see that they changed the rear mount in 1994. All the prior mounts had wider studs. 1994 Rear transmission mount: 1991 Rear transmission mount: I wasn't in any kind of rush when I was doing it, so I just went to the auto parts and swapped my mount for a newer version. The transmission side of the mounts are all the same.

Found a picture on Google, but the link was dead unfortunately...

My 1984 still had the original plug wires on it when I bought it back in 2017. I replaced them at the time with brand new 8mm wires from Ford. They very much looked like the originals that were on the truck. The main difference was that the original Ford wires were numbered. If you're wanting to look original, I'd go with FoMoCo 8mm wires.

Has anybody looked at this Ebay seller's stor by any chance?... He has quite a collection of nice looking Fords for sale, and some big money trucks too... https://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-Ford-F-350-7-3L-4X4-69K-MILES/283745452205?hash=item42108c00ad:g:yCQAAOSwI-heHuoz https://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Ford-F-250-44K-MILES-4X4/283739024321?hash=item421029ebc1:g:RxcAAOSwncJeFvl0 Link to the Ebay Store below...quite a lot of low mileage nice condition trucks there. https://www.ebay.com/str/tifjeslil?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

I thought so. Is that a state by state thing, or nationwide? They're available over the counter here, with some mild limitations (I think you can only buy one bottle of 100 every 8 days or something like that). Tylenol 3's require a prescription here, and they're much harder to get now than they were a few years ago. If you had a good doc they would let you have a prescription for emergencies. Not so these days.

Oh...in that case I wasn't paying attention. I thought Gary's truck was a factory hydraulic clutched truck to begin with. He removed that and installed a modified ZF5 with a mechanical clutch mechanism? Seriously?... I must go do some reading.

Jim, Are Tylenol 1's (with codeine) a banned substance in CT?

Oh...that never even occurred me. If I was doing a manual trans swap, I would go hydraulic, and I also recommend a 5spd (which can only be hydraulic anyway). If you already had a donor truck sitting there with all of the 4spd manual trans parts you needed, and it was a mechanical clutched truck, then sure, by all means use it. You can modify or fabricate a shifter for a 5spd so that it looks like a factory 4spd...that's been done before. However, the hydraulic clutch master cylinder might stick out like a sore thumb in the engine bay if one was trying to keep a truck 1980 original. So, I guess there are three options: 1. 4spd manual trans with mechanical clutch (Would be original to 1980-1983) 2. 4spd manual trans with hydraulic clutch (Would be original to 1983/1984-up) 3. 5spd manual trans (ZF5) with hydraulic clutch (original to 1988-1997) The 1980 cab should have a hole in the floor already for the mechanical clutch (With a rubber plug in it). Hydraulic clutch would require drilling holes in the firewall (maybe not preferred).

Gary, It was difficult at the time because the cab bolt mounts were all rusted and seized in place and I didn’t get to replacing all of that stuff until long after the transmission swap. The transmission swap was done partially out of necessity as the 3spd had a cracked case that was causing it to flex away from the bellhousing. Yes I welded little extension on the brackets and redrilled the holes to work with the existing bolts. Finding the crossmember was a challenge enough I was not able to get my hands on a pair of the offset brackets.

I was holding off on buying the switch because I didn’t know where it mounted.

Mr. Gary, SO interesting that you brought this up! I was just digging into this myself in the background! I was digging around and searching for factory cruise control parts, and I came across the switch below on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-Ford-E4TZ-9A837-A-Speed-Control-Release-Stop-Switch-1984-87-F-150-350/184086206149?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 And just this past weekend, I dug out my spare pedal set that I removed from a 1986 F150 at the junkyard last year (Which by the way is identical to what is in my 1984). I was curious where the cruise control switch mounted when the truck had factory installed cruise? I'm guessing the cruise switch mounts on the back side of the existing bracket on the pedal set pictured above? My 1984 is exactly the same. By the way, on a side note, if you look up the part number for the clutch with with dealer installed cruise, you will find all kinds of them on Ebay as they fit many other vehicles besides the trucks.

Gary, that freshly painted transmission looks great! I love the look of new parts! For my M5OD-R2 swap, I obtained the correct crossmember for the trans, and I had to drill new holes 1 3/16" further back to install. I forget where exactly the mount bolts landed in the slots in the crossmember, but I'm pretty sure I centered them or close. I actually modified my offset braces to fit the new crossmember location. It wasn't pretty, but it was the quickest solution I could come up with at the time. The upper bolts could not even be removed without lifting the cab on my truck, and I didn't replace the cab mounts until a year or more later on. The mounts are good and strong, and even if they are a bit ugly, nobody can see them anyway.

I believe this is for mounting the spare under the truck IF you have the AFT fuel tank. Gary has a page on spare tire carriers, and you'll see it on there...it's like a drop down extension for the driver's side? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/spare-tire-carriers.html I do not have an AFT fuel tank, and I do not have this part on my truck.

Welcome aboard, and nice truck. There are a few of us on here that have 5spd swaps...in my case a manual to manual swap, but either way the process is mostly all the same.

Rob, It took me quite a while to get my '84 302 running decent, but then I pulled it out and did it all over anyway. Mine was idling high also and it ended up being a vacuum leak causing it. If you need the 1984 Factory Service Manuals I can send them to you via email. I usually use the EVTM right here in Gary's documentation, but for deeper dives I do have the full manuals.

Great project Rob! Looks like it is all intact and mostly original under the hood? If you haven't replaced the windshield yet, heads up that most shops will use the glass for the newer 1987-1996 trucks, and they have a black strip that will hide the VIN on a 1980-1986 truck. It may not matter where you are, but if it does, ask the question about the glass when you buy/order it. Can't wait to see the progress on this.