Rembrant

Since there are some fairly significant changes between the earlier Bullnoses and the later ones, I'm not really up to speed on all the intricate details of the earlier trucks. I'm more familiar with the later versions. On top of that, my current Bullnose plus the one I had years ago were both pretty plain single color trucks, so I'm not even really good with all of the trims and moldings, various 2 tone color packages, etc. On top of that, both trucks I've had (3, including the one I junked) were all small block V8's, so I have zero exposure to the big blocks or diesels, etc.

Oh...I would never even notice that, but it is interesting how you guys spot little details like that. I just thought the original Explorer package paint scheme was interesting. PS:...I know I've asked this before, but the external tie-downs on the bed. They seem to be really common on west coast or southwest trucks, ya? They seem to be really rare in the east. Were they ever offered by Ford, or are they always aftermarket accessories?

Damn good guess Gary. Just sold for $9088 and is heading to a new home in Nebraska (In case you haven't seen the discussion on FB).

Gary, I found a picture online of what the stripes are supposed to look like (when not faded). I betcha it looked pretty nice when it was new. By the way, on a side note...this truck below showed up in my morning search, and it's looks like it's not all that far from you. I thought it was really nice at first, but it looks like it has a couple dents on the driver's side. Otherwise it appears to be a pretty clean unit. https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/790018987/overview/?aff=atempest&CMP=atempest

Im sure the search radius on my fb marketplace doesnt rea h all the way up to you. Haha...no no...it's not for sale. It was just a couple pictures posted on one of the Bullnose FB groups. I think it's in Michigan or somewhere. Just an FYI on Bullnose log hauling, nothing more.

They must hammer some door stop like wedges under the outer logs until they're tied down?

Well that's interesting. Only the two different rads for the 302 between 1980-1984. Part of the "Extra Cooling" must have been for Auto Transmission, because my 21" "Standard Cooling" factory radiator did not have any ports in it for transmission fluid lines. My replacement radiator did have the trans ports, but my original Ford rad did not.

This truck isn't overly special, but I thought that the original Explorer paint scheme was kinda cool as it has it has some styling borrowed from the XLS model of the same year. It also gets a nod for being a rust free one owner truck with only 100k miles on it...and a 4x4 with a 300 and 3 pedals is desirable to many. https://www.ebay.com/itm/143430247028 The painted in area around the door windows is very XLS. The Explorer decals and strips are all faded but still intact. I think it would be a very cool truck all restored with it's original stripes and decals. Something a little different that you don't see every day.

Oh, that is pretty low priority at the moment! I still need to confirm my issue is the rims. Do tires get flat spots anymore? My truck did sit for months without moving. I didn't think flat spots were an issue anymore, but maybe they are...

Ray, did you see this log hauler on FB this morning?

I've been watching for a replacement shroud for a while as mine has a bad crack in it. By this point and time, I think a lot of them are cracked and broken.

I'm in the chrome camp I guess. Just my personal preference, although the black would look good too.

That is an OEM style DSII distributor...nothing has been converted on it. The vacuum advance canister is in your hand in the picture, and that little rusty arm in there is what pulls the pickup to advance the timing. You need to take it apart further to get into where the springs are. Check these links below. http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/Duraspark_distributor_recurve_instructions_index.html http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/Duraspark_distributor_recurve_instructions_page-2.html Download the Crane instructions if you don't have them... https://www.jegs.com/InstallationInstructions/200/270/270-99607-1.pdf

The radiators were different sizes depending on what the cooling options were. My truck, a 1984 bare bones stripper with no AC just had the small (narrowest) radiator...I think it's around 21" wide. If you had AC the radiator is about 6" wider making it more like 27". Heavy duty cooling I believe was even a little bit bigger than that...like 28-29" wide.

Jim, As you can tell I'm no carb expert, but according to my handy Holley book, my 4160 has "Straight Leg" Boosters. The 500CFM Summit carb I have my eye on (the M2008 series, I believe) has the Annular Boosters. As I understand it the Summit M2008 is a refreshed Holley 4010 or something like that which was a refresh of the old Autolite? 4100. I'm going to pull the carb and have a closer look at it, see if I can narrow things down a bit. I've been absolutely swamped with a couple projects at work, so I don't get as much time as I'd like to focus on this stuff. I'll be back as I learn more.

Hey Rick, Wasn't this trim also on 1986 models? If you look on Craigslist or wherever, you will see 1986 trucks with the trim...unless there was a different trim used from mid-1985 until the end of 1986?

I think I have to agree more with Jonathan's view on this trim Gary. It is probably rare in the sense that it was only offered during 1985 and 1986, but it was common enough that Ford did build quite a few trucks with it, and it still shows up today with some regularity. The old '85 4x4 F150 that I bought and disassembled had this trim. Whenever somebody says that something is rare, at least when discussing Bullnose trucks, my question is always...rare in 1985, or rare as in what is still on the road in 2019? I consider XLS and Freewheeling models rare, and maybe some other options like factory fog lights and fog light switch bezels. Me personally, I'd consider the pressure sensitive trim to be uncommon, maybe like a Victoria 2 Tone paint job or something like that. My 2 cents worth;).

I'll be doing more testing Gary, and I could tell even from the little bit I did this evening that the AFR gauge is going to be a HUGE help with this. My engine is really nothing special, and it will run better than this. For all intents and purposes, it's basically a 1996 Explorer engine with a carb on it instead of EFI. Anyway, I just spent a little bit of time looking at the carb, and I'm going to pull it this weekend for a more thorough look. I put my 1.5x drugstore specs on and looked down the primary barrels with a flashlight, and it looks like something isn't quite right in there. If I push the throttle harder towards the closed position, I can see the left plate moving more than the right plate. It might be due to the location of the internal stop(s) in the carb, and be completely normal, but I'll check it out. I think fully closed, I should still be able to slip a 0.010" feeler gauge between the plate and the barrel, so that is a spec I can check and confirm. Anyway, no big deal. I'll get there. Stay tuned for more later. Thanks folks. Rem

Haha...no, there's something wrong with it. If you could see it and/or feel it, you'd understand. It's no big deal. I'll figure it out eventually. I might be slow, but I'll get there.

Yes, but not so lean that it bucks and stumbles, right? I know that part of my problem is that with the 5spd and 3.08 gears, and having to drive 10 miles at 45 mph just to get to the highway causes me to run at pretty low RPM's....low speed, light load, low throttle, etc. The stretch between 1500 RPM and 2000 RPM on this engine has never run quite right. Maybe it's that stupid cam I picked...I dunno. I guess if any carb is going to run like that, then I won't have much choice but to go with EFI. In any case, I'll keep hunting for a vacuum leak as well.

Good news! My new replacement O2 sensor kit arrived today and it works! lol. Now, I need some carb tuning advice. Keep in mind this is kind of a moot topic right now as I would like to swap out this Holley carb for a 500CFM Summit, but I still need to understand what is going on here. I may very well still have a vacuum leak, but I probably won't have decent time to trouble shoot it any further until next week when I'm on vacation. Ok, so I got the truck warmed up and took it for a drive. The AFR is not that bad, but it was definitely too lean at idle. I adjusted the mixture screws up to 1.5 turns, and the engine now has a warm idle of around 14:1 plus or minus a half a point. That part seems OK. This is where I need help in understanding what is going on inside this carb (and I will go read my Holley books again tonight too!). Cruising down the road a very light throttle...the AFR is OK, basically about the same as when it is at idle. Usually between 13.5:1 and 14.5:1 I'll say. If I start to apply any light pressure to the throttle while there is a load on the engine, it immediately goes lean for a second and will then settle back down a bit into the 14.5:1 to 15:1 range or there abouts. Not sure if I am describing this well enough... If I run the truck through the gears, and increase the RPM's slowly with light throttle pressure, the AFR will stay pretty good. If I put a little extra pressure on the pedal, it will go lean...sometimes on briefly, but enough to stutter and buck a bit. If I push the pedal even further, the AFR comes back to normal again. WOT AFR is fine. It's just that transition from very light throttle with no load to a light throttle with a load on it, and it goes lean and runs like poop. Above 2000 RPM it seems fine, and in the lower gears it seems fine...but cruising along in 4th gear at around 1800 RPM, it doesn't like it there and will stumble and miss until I push it up above 2000 RPM. Am I making any sense at all? What adjustments do I need to make to help with that lean transition? It seems like idle and light throttle low load is OK...and WOT is OK, but everything in between is bad...lol.

I got the link/recommendation from you in the first place, so I have to give all of the credit to you for finding them in the first place.

I'm looking forward to it actually. What about jets and parts for the Summit carbs?...do they use the same style jets as the Holley carbs? I was thinking about buying a jet kit...with the O2 sensor I'll be able to get the thing dialed in pretty good, or at least that is my plan.

It would bolt right up, yes...but be mindful of the flexplate...even though they will all bolt up the same, they are engine specific and cannot be swapped around. (I guess the old 28oz 302 and 351 would be the only exception?, at least in the SBF and inline six group). I know most people do auto to manual swaps, but doing a manual to auto swap would present some problems with shifter linkages, etc. I guess you could do an aftermarket floor shifter.

These are the ones in my picture above, but the seller has them in several different colors/shades I believe... https://www.ebay.com/itm/80-86-Ford-F100-F150-F250-F350-Truck-Gauge-Cluster-LED-Dash-Kit-Ice-Blue/273534768705?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649