Rembrant

I think you have it all well under control Pebcak! What are your plans for gaskets and seals? Buying a kit? If your truck didn't already have it, a 1pc oil pan gasket is nice. I don't know when they switched over to 1pc gaskets...sometime in the later 80's...'87? Somebody on here will know. I installed one of the Fel-Pro Perma-Dry Plus gaskets...they're like 4x the price of the 4pc cork jobbie...so $32 instead of $8 bucks, but a little peace of mind I suppose. I used the same ones for the valve cover gaskets, and again, they're expensive, but seal nicely. When I bought my '84 w/302 a couple years ago it was really low mile...but the 35 year old gaskets were leaking like the Exxon Valdez!! Something else I did was buy my front and rear main seals from Ford, but had the engine shop install them. I'm sure the aftermarket seals are fine, but somebody fussier than me suggested the Ford OEM seals, so that is what I went with. They're fairly inexpensive IIRC. Probably wouldn't hurt to get the engine shop to check the oil pump when they have the block. They can measure it to make sure it's still within spec. Are you going to be installing the cylinder heads on the block yourself? Check the head bolt holes in the block...specially the lower ones, and see if they're open to the coolant jacket? If yes, then you will need to use a thread sealant on them. This may only be an issue with the 302...I'm not sure, but sometime in the mid 1980's, Ford lightened up those blocks and the head bolt holes went from being "blind" to open. Somebody on here may know more about this topic than me, but it's something to keep in mind. If you're getting the engine shop to assemble the heads on the block, then it's not a worry for you, but you can bring it up with them anyway. If you're going to install the engine at home and do your own break-in, etc, it wouldn't hurt to order an oil pump priming rod. I think they're pretty cheap. When I arrived at the engine shop the day they were breaking in and dyno tuning my engine, they were priming the oil system when I got there. The drill had the trigger lock on and the handle was up against the radiator hose. Just thought I'd throw some ideas out there while I was having my morning coffee (the first cup!). I know this is a budget build and it's easy for me to spend your money...lol, but just some ideas is all;).

I've been pretty happy with LMC too, and I'm getting ready to place another big order soon. I'm a paper catalog subscriber and I quite enjoy them, even for casual viewing when I'm not ordering parts;). The only thing I'd bring up is that there is a mistake somehow in the part numbers for the rear lower cab mounts. I forget exactly what it is, but the lower cushion they have listed for the Bullnose does not fit the upper cushion they have listed for the Bullnose. I had to order the later lower cushion to get them assembled properly. The parts fit and worked great, but there's something screwy in the listing. I'll go back through my notes here and see if I can find the discrepancy.

It caught my eye because I'm doing a 4spd shifter swap on my 5spd, but it didn't look quite right. I have a boot from an '86 with NP435 that's in pretty good condition, but I'd take a NOS if I could find one for a reasonable price.

Another item I came across while searching for parts. Again, this one is in Canada...way out west, north of Montana. I don't know how rare these things are, but I know I had a heck of a time finding a decent used one. Price is $55 CDN (about $40 USD). https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1447668393&requestSource=b

I came across these while looking at other stuff. Says removed from a 1981. They're asking $800 CDN (Approx $600 USD). I have no idea what this stuff is worth, but figured I'd post it in case somebody was looking for these things. I'm sure they could be shipped. https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1432052277&requestSource=b

YES! Every Saturday, Sunday, and a couple days through the week.

Haha, I suppose so.

Not in bad condition for a northern truck imho. To still be this intact, low mileage and parked indoors are a given. Notice the equalizer mounted under the dash...haven't seen that in a long long time. Reminds me of my own truck when I bought it.

I know, right? (As the young ones say these days...lol). Congrats gentlemen.

The shop that built mine did a 0.020" overbore, but I was expecting 0.030". If I recall correctly they decked the block down to 0.005" (it was at 0.014" if I remember correctly...my memory is getting fuzzy on this stuff). What heads are on this 351 anyway? D8? E7? Or other?>..

My '84 302 had the valve Dave is referring to. It was on the driver's side outlet of the exhaust manifold. It would close when cold to force the left hand side exhaust through the intake manifold and out the right hand side manifold. My intake also had a valve in the intake in the crossover on the right hand side that closed off the crossover once warmed up.

Once you get above a 2wd half ton, I know very little about them and wouldn't even notice something like that;).

Oh my is that thing nice and straight looking. I love seeing originals like this. See the pics of the underside and the front diff?....Very clean.

I wasn't paying attention to this thread, but I should have been! I was wondering about replicating the weave pattern, even if it wasn't textured. I have two sets of the 85-86 Burlwood bezels...one in nice condition, and the other set pretty much junk, but good for testing. I also have a spare '85 grey weave radio bezel. I like the look of the Burlwood bezels, but I don't think they will look right in my bare bones truck. I was wanting to convert the nice Burlwood bezel set to either an aluminum-look XLS copy, or a grey print that might match the plain weave pattern. I'll be following along with interest here...

You just reminded me of something I hadn't thought of for many years. I was doing some forestry work for a while back when I finished college and we were driving an F350 diesel dually 5spd every day. It was a cab and chassis truck and I forget what year it was, but it was definitely a Bricknose...1988-1991 somewhere. This happened in late 1992 I would say and the truck was already a few years old. Anyway, we were back in the woods...probably 20 miles from civilization, and the damn shifter snapped off when we went to leave one day. I remember Terry went to push the shifter forward and his hand smacked the dash with the shifter in it...lol. 27 years ago I forget how big that broken stub was, but we used a bunch of extensions out of the tool box to make a shifter out of. It was sloppy as shit, but it worked to get us home. Jon, that truck doesn't look all that crusty in the pics....well, at least not what I call crusty anyway...lol. In any case, not a bad investment imho. Even if you did have to part it out, the bed would be worth what you paid for the truck (in my area at least). I didn't even realize until recently that some of these trucks had fiberglass bed sides? PS: Is that your Jetta in the pics? ALH or BEW? I had three different Mk4 ALH cars, and man those things were so awesome. Consistently in the high 40's for MPG, and if you drove them easy on the highway 50MPG was achievable.

Thanks for the info. So you drilled the pilot holes and then used factory rubber conduits like pictured above? The reason I'm checking into this is that I hope to be sending the truck for paint soon, and both front fenders and the driver's door will be replaced, so it will be an opportune time to install these (and the door speakers of course).

Agreed, and good story too. I'm going to subscribe to this one.

I've had the new LMC catalog for a few weeks now, and I somehow didn't see this until tonight. I already have some aftermarket rubber boots that I bought, and I have another set from a Bricknose that I scavenged from the Junkyard, but for the price of these I may grab a set next time I'm ordering stuff. I took a look at my cab and doors, and they each have a little dimple...almost like pilot holes or locating holes, where you would drill the larger holes for the conduit. For those of you with "fancy" trucks with factory radios, does the conduit connect higher up on the cab almost level with the park brake release handle, and then lower on the door, about 2" above where the door switch hits the door? Does that sound about right?

You know you're a gearhead when you can appreciate a picture of a clean set of SBF cylinder heads;)

$999...that is ridiculous.

Dave, Seeing this truck on Ebay gave me some inspiration for installing an aftermarket system. I still need heat, and defrost for sure, so one of the compact combo units would do the trick, and that is what appears to be in this Bronco. I like some things to stay looking factory, but I'm also OK with some restomod things as well. Locating and swapping/installing a factory system is not really an ideal thing for me to do/attempt. I'd rather go with a new kit and make it work. I think the dash vents could be made to look better, as well as the engine bay area.

Going by how clean his refreshed cylinder heads look, I would imagine that the shop cleaned those holes out...or at least I would think that they would. Either way, they still need to be plugged. Ford did away with those thermactor holes later on. My SBF GT40 heads are from an Explorer and there are no Thermactor humps, ports, or holes. Jegs and others sell Thermactor hole plugs, linked below. I actually bought a set but later sold them with some other stuff when I realized that I didn't need them;). https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/51495/10002/-1 5/8" Bolts are just as easy as noted...and on the back of the engine, who cares what they look like anyway.

It appears to be a universal controller by Vintage Air. If you look at the page below, scroll down to "Optional Universal Components", second row down, last item on the right, I believe that is it. https://www.vintageair.com/builder-series/?subcat1=Under%20Dash&subcat2=Slimline&subcat3=Heat%20Cool%20and%20Defrost I also found this one while searching for other stuff... https://www.restomodair.com/shopproducts/1973-79-ford-truck-x-act-fit-ac-controller/ I wonder how closely it would fit in the Bullnose bezel?...

Gentlemen, Have a look at this picture...there is a vertical switch on the right hand side of the heat/AC control panel. Since this is a Bronco, is that the switch for the rear window? It would either be that or a dual tank switch, and this being a Bronco, I assume rear window...and nothing at all to do with HVAC?

TRUTH! David, I am always aware of the potential backlash of "Why would you ever do such a thing?", so I was just making a point in advance. My "Internet Armor" is well worn, so I'm used to it...lol, but still, we all have our opinions.