Rembrant

Cool truck!

Man, brand spanking new, $112 bucks, not a huge fan of the "CUSTOM" moniker but having a bezel that precisely fits a new radio would be nice(and has all the tabs lol). Pre-owned, for less: https://www.ebay.com/itm/80-86-1980-1986-Ford-truck-Bronco-dash-radio-Delete-bezel-trim-Black-Custom/174114409924?hash=item288a070dc4:g:H44AAOSwpJRd5cE~ I'd like to find a 1984 grey weave radio delete for a decent price, or possibly a 1985-1986 grey weave. There was a nice 1984 bezel on Ebay a little while ago, but it was expensive and it sold quick. I have one myself, but I don't want to cut it...lol.

For the record, the delete bezels make the best radio bezels since you can cut them to fit! I haven't done this yet, but I want to...lol.

Those stripes are busy...they were dealer add-ons I assume? Or something the owner had done? The stripes are throwing me off...it's reminding me of an International Scout or something...lol.

Those of you that go to the Junkyard on occasion will appreciate this.

I seem to recall there being a 25 year age limit for importing non-USA market vehicles into the US. In Canada it is 15 years. What other limiting factors are I'm not sure. I know the European and JDM stuff are really common imports here...but they're starting to crack down on the right hand drive JDM stuff...at least the insurance companies are. I've looked into importing vehicles from Europe and the boat ride is $2000 CDN, and I believe about the same from Japan, although it takes a lot longer. I never see anything imported from South America though. There is some cool stuff on that webpage. I'd rock one of those V8 Mavericks.

I guess this improvement helps prove the point that the initial subsidies and tax breaks will provide a good ROI in the long run. I hear that the charging network is not keeping up with the car production though...something will need to be done about that soon. https://www.thedrive.com/news/31274/more-teslas-on-the-road-meant-hours-long-supercharger-lines-over-thanksgiving

Cool piece!

I was talking to Scott at Parkland last night. He has my new distributor all dialed in and will be shipping it out today. I can't wait to get it. I asked him my vacuum questions, and he said to absolutely use ported vacuum, and absolutely no to any kind of delay or restriction on the vacuum advance. Depending on the weather, I may not have much opportunity to test this thing other than running it in my garage. Stupid winter!

I think an upgraded steering box is one of the most (or THEE most) valuable upgrades you can buy and install on these trucks. Congrats Dave. I'd swapped those boxes so many times now I'm sure I could do it all by feel. Keep us posted. PS: If you still have the old C2 steering pump, be careful when you fill/burp it or you will end up with oil all over the floor like I did...lol.

Interesting. And the 351M and 400 were just 1980-1981, right? Does that mean that the 300/6 and small blocks were the only options for 1982? Sorry for the Hijack. I'm following along with interest. I quite like the Explorers as well.

Ray, we used to joke about the German engineers (when discussing VW issues). "They do things because they can, not because they should". I'm not much help, I know, but good luck with the project. I'll be watching along.

Dave, I have a pedal set out of a hydraulic manual trans truck that you are welcome to have. The cost of shipping them might put them out of reach, but if you have any trouble finding a set let me know. I think you can do a PM through the forum.

I walked by a 2010 F150 at the junkyard a few months ago, and it was rusted badly. Bubbles all over the area above the rear fender arches. Rotten cab corners, and rocker panels. Frame and underside rusted bad too. It was a work truck obviously, so it was used and abused, but to be sitting in the junkyard all rusted out in only 9-10 years is bad. It likely also had a bad mechanical problem...engine or trans maybe, and with the rust wasn't worth fixing.

Welcome to the forum. Nice truck!

That frame looks so nice. They rust and break in two here...lol. Many of them by the mid 1990's.

Finding a 4x4 ZF5 with the SBF bellhousing is the hard part. It is my understanding that they are somewhat rare and decent used ones are expensive. Reamer has one in his Flareside...I'm sure he could tell us what they're worth. I thought the 460/diesel ZF5 was much more common, but maybe Gary can comment on that. Plus, with Ray's truck being an '82, there'd be a fair amount of extras required to install a hydraulic clutch transmission. Still, anything is possible... On a later Bull with factory hydraulic clutch, it's an easier swap for sure.

You have the 4spd w/OD now, right? An NP435 swap might be what you're looking for...that's the work transmission if there ever was one.

I hear ya! I haven't really made much in the way of plans for my electrical yet, and I'm in no rush to, but I am going to need some under hood power connections, and I want them to be neat and tidy. My truck is still rockin' the original 40amp 1G alternator as well as the original starter, fender mounted relay and voltage regulator. Since the truck was such low mile and was unmolested (except for the RUST), my factory wiring is in very nice condition...so much so I'd prefer not to disturb it where/when I don't have to. I don't mind alternator and starter upgrades to better and more modern stuff, but I don't have any plans to touch the factory fuse box and internal wiring if I don't have to. And besides...I really don't have any requirements for big power usage. I need to power a radio/head unit, which the truck was already wired for, and other than that possibly an aftermarket AC system, and upgraded headlights, etc. Maybe a couple dedicated charging outlets in the cab....and I should be able to use the cigarette lighter wiring for that if necessary (my truck did not come with one, but the wiring IS there for it). I used a Fuzeblock FZ-1 on my last two motorcycles, and I found it to be very handy. https://www.fuzeblocks.com/ It has 12vdc pos/neg, as well as an accessory "on" trigger for the 30 amp main relay. It's compact and tidy and will fit anywhere on a Bullnose. The circuits can be 12v constant or switched, depending on where you put the fuse.

It does sound good and the price is great imho. You can buy something like this with a lot more confidence when you know it has been owned by an enthusiast!

I've been thinking of doing this exact thing for when extra power is needed. My truck being a bare bones stripper didn't have much extra anything. I've installed auxiliary fuse panels in motorcycles before for adding all of the accessories...mostly heated grips, heated vests, cruise control, GPS, etc. I hadn't looked into it much yet, but was thinking of buying one of the motorcycle or marine panels to mount under the hood. I've also had my eye on one of those power-on-only relays that Rostra makes. That would be handy for something like carb choke power, etc. Could also be used to trigger a subpanel main relay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rostra-250-2951-SourcePWR-Plus-12V-7-5-Amp-Intelligent-Accessory-Power-Supply/123077949915?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I see some contractors around here using enclosed utility trailers, mainly in the heat pump installation business, and sometimes carpentry. It allows the contractor or sole proprietor to buy whatever pickup they want for personal use, and then the truck does double duty as a work truck through the week. Otherwise they all use vans. When phone company or cable company unloads a bunch of old white vans they end up as handyman vehicles! Ray will correct me if I'm wrong as I assume he already looked into this, but I'm guessing 10-12 ft single axle trailers are in the 1000 lb range when empty. I'm also guessing that day to day cargo weight would be 250-500 lbs, with a 1000 lbs being an occasional peak weight? Ray? Ya know, if you were to stick a 750 lb lawn tractor in one with a few other tools, you'd hit 2000 lbs total pretty easily. On a side note to the Windsors...there is also the rare 1982-1983 only 3.8 V6, I believe it also had the Windsor bolt pattern? I only know this because I was reading recently about the 4.2 V6 that replaced the 300/6 in 1997. It apparently also had the SBF bolt pattern until it's last year in 2008. Interesting little pushrod engine that was used right along side all of the modular Triton engines. It was like a small small block. There was a guy on Facebook last week that had purchased a 1997 F150 transmission to install in an early Bullnose with a 3.8 V6, a swap I didn't know was possible. I wonder what other later 1997-2008 transmissions would work? There are some of them that you can buy stand alone electronic controllers for. As for the C6 from the Bronco being swapped into Ray's 1982, yes be aware of the flexplate differences. A 300/6 auto trans flexplate would be required, and I assume the crossmember from the Bronco. Might also need to come up with a kickdown rod for a 300/6, or was that done by cable? Also need an auto trans steering column...unless the one can be swapped over from the Bronco? I believe I've seen Bricknose columns in Bullnose trucks, although the steering wheel looks a little out of place.

Never mind...I see it's actually a vacuum delay valve. Delay in one direction, full flow in the other. Dave, Sorry for the HIJACK! Carry on folks, I'm good!

Never mind...I see it's actually a vacuum delay valve. Delay in one direction, full flow in the other.

OK, gotcha. I was looking at my vacuum diagram on the truck, and it just shows a line straight from the carb to the vacuum advance. I don't remember what port it was on...the original 2bbl is long gone, but it was just a plastic line with short sections of rubber at each end. That was the factory piece at least. I'll carry on then. I was just thinking of some things to do to get this set up when I get my distributor back. Out of curiosity, what are these Ford "Check valves" for? https://www.summitracing.com/parts/smp-dcv1 I can't understand how that would work if it actually IS a check valve. I DO like the idea of a restrictor in the vacuum advance line. That would address my concerns perfectly.