Rembrant

I usually stay out of these 8-Lug discussions LOL, but this one made me curious so I had to take a look myself. According to the suspension pages, the front lower shock mount only had one mounting "ear", or tab. Looks like this was the case from 1980 through to January 1985: And then from February 1985 and on the lower shock mount had two ears, or two tabs. I assume the shocks stayed the same regardless, and just the bottom mount rotated is all, but I'm no expert when it comes to 8-Lug stuff;).

Cool truck. I love seeing these time capsule fire trucks. There's lots of them out there.

My 1985 FSM is the same. It shows the Dana Model 60 section 36 in the menu, but it doesn't exist in the manual. I searched the manual and all other mentions of the 60 are in the rear axle section.

Welcome aboard. I had to go check the map...I visited Marengo Cave back in about 2005/6. I had some time to kill on my way north out of Louisville while on a work trip.

I don't think so Gary. I also use Teams on my Samsung S51 work phone, and I just checked and I see I have the Teams app installed on my iPhone XR as well, although I don't think I've used it on my iPhone. I usually use it on my PC laptop in my office, but I have used the Samsung phone on occasion, and some of my coworkers do the meetings on their phones all the time. I'll try to test it on my iPhone sometime soon and see if it works OK. Just throwing it out there as an option at least. A virtual meeting is easy enough to set up. All it requires is emails to send invites to, and then people join in at the set time. We've been using it since just before the pandemic for meetings and training, etc. As long as everybody has a decent internet connection, it works fine.

Haha, good point. Just for the record, since it was me that posted this, I do not follow the guy, but because I'm always searching for automotive stuff, his videos often pop up, and when I saw the Bullnose I couldn't resist.

Gary, This would be very cool during the dinner. I use MS Teams for online meetings almost every day of the work week, and find it easy to use. I think the most we've ever had on a meeting was 12 or so. I could probably set that up as all it involves is sending email invites. If you had a laptop or computer screen with a camera near the table or wherever you're having dinner, some of us could join in remotely. If you're interested that is. I could even get some BBQ take-out and eat along with you guys;). As for something during the show, I don't know how that would work, so I can't comment there, but if you wanted to do something during the dinner I'm sure I could administer that for a few forum members.

I believe they are 1/2"-20 with 60 degree conical seats, but somebody will correct me if I'm wrong. You can buy them anywhere. I'd get the deep acorn style. Amazon is full of them, and you can get a full set for under $20 usually.

Do any of you guys ever watch Scotty Kilmer's videos on Youtube? LOL. I don't...but they pop up as suggested videos all the time...I guess that happens when you're always searching for and watching truck stuff, but anyway...here is one with a Bullnose if you haven't seen it already:

Interesting, I just noticed that this truck has the wide radiator, which must have been the Super Cooling option? The Extra Cooling doesn't seem to be option, and the truck doesn't have AC. Seems like an odd option for an otherwise base truck, but anything is possible.

Right. I didn't have the foresight at the time to remove those lower radiator saddles. When I pulled the whole body off the 1995 F150 I was only concerned with the chassis at the time because I thought I'd just buy the correct radiator for the 1980. Later on, deep into Covid I found out that you couldn't buy the 1980-1984 radiators anymore...they were double the price from a year or before, and they were all out of stock anyway. So I bought a used 1994 rad from a friend and that was all he had left of that truck, so I had to make my own lower saddles.

Jim, Click on Radiator Support, and once in there you'll see the tab. I'm on a PC though, so maybe it's not working on a mobile device. Right. You need to add the two stationary nuts up top...just cut a couple slots to slide them in. You can scavenege the lower saddles from a later truck, but I made my own with 16 gauge sheet metal I bent up in the vice. Worked like a charm. I installed a used radiator out of a 1994 F150 into my 1980.

Welcome aboard, and nice little truck. Your truck is fairly unique with that transmission and engine combo as late as 1984. The three on the tree was much more common in 1980-1981 and it tapered down over the years so that by 1984-1986 they were starting to get pretty rare. They showed up on a few 84's, but hardly ever on the 1985-1986 trucks. Also, the three on the tree was most commonly behind the 300 inline six, but did show up every now and then behind a 302. Truck looks to be in decent condition and the interior is nice, which is rare these days. I see a shiny new alternator and what looks like a newer brake booster, so that's a few things that you don't have to do. Be gentle with that three on the tree shifter. They have a few well known weak points in the steering column that wear and break, and the parts for them have been obsolete for 25-30 years now. If you plan on leaving it in the truck, keep your eye open for spare parts on Ebay or with guys parting out trucks. It's not a matter of IF, but when shifter components will break. These trucks also had a well know issue with the firewall cracking/splitting around the hydraulic clutch master cylinder, so much so that Ford had a TSB to add a repair bracket/brace to strengthen the area. Yours doesn't look like it has one, but it's hard to tell from the engine bay pics. Do some reading on the topic. You can buy a repair bracket from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. You don't need to do it right away, but look into it. In any case, it's a great looking little truck. I like 'em just like that myself, without all the bells and whistles as they say.

The 1980-1984 radiators have been a problem for several years now. I bought a replacement for mine a few years ago, but since about the beginning of Covid they have been really difficult to find from any supplier. On the Bullnose pages on Facebook, it is a weekly occurrence that somebody is looking for (and cannot find) a 1980-1984 style radiator. I don't know about Quebec where BigBrother-84 is located, but out here on the east coast, the radiator shops have all but quit rebuilding the old radiators. I asked a few years ago and was laughed out of the shop. The guy told me it would be $500+, and the only people doing it are the ones with the big money number matching restorations. If you have a 1980-1984 pickup, the best option in my opinion is to swap in the 1985-1996 style radiator. They're much cheaper and much more readily available. It's a minor retrofit on a Bullnose. I did it on my 1980 a couple years ago.

I'm pretty sure vicp21 is asking how to swap their small pattern 9" to 5 on 5.5 to match the front hubs and turbine wheels. A pair of 9" axles can be had for as little as $250, but I don't know the length or how many splines on the inboard end. DOH...my bad...I misread that or misunderstood it, or both lol.

The 8.8 almost always came with either 3.08 or 3.55 gears, all the way up to 1996. I've read where people said that they did come with other ratios, but I'd say it was rare in the f-series pickups. It was pretty common to find 3.55 gears in 8.8's when behind an AOD in the pickups. I think the only way to convert your 9" to the smaller bolt pattern would be to find another whole rear diff out of a 1980-1982 with that small pattern. They didn't exist before or after, so they're relatively rare I'd say. As far as I know, and Gary or somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but the small bolt pattern went away in 1983 when the 8.8 was introduced. I'd be slapping that 8.8 in if it was me

Cool! My uncle was a hardcore Jeep guy and he had one of these Commandos back in the 70's. I remember riding in it on the beach (back when when we could do that kind of thing). He replaced it in 1981 with a now equally Rare CJ-8 Jeep Scrambler. Thanks for sharing.

I prefer the fat 10's, but they both look good! I may have asked before, but is that a Jeepster Commando in the background??

Oh...haha. Last time I saw bubbles coming out of an engine it was bad news. Funny story, when I met my wife 25 years ago, she was driving a little 1990 2dr Cavalier. The car was only 6-7 years old at the time and her mother had purchased it brand new. I was doing something under the hood while it was running...can't remember what, but probably checking transmission fluid or something, and I noticed little bubbles blowing out of the side of the engine....slowly, like the little bubble would slowly grow and then burst when it was about 3/8" in size. I looked down a little closer and they were blowing out between the block and the head, so I got an early warning sign that the head gasket was ready to retire at the young age of only about 7 years old, with about 50k miles on it. Bugger. That car was such a heap of junk, OMG...I spent every weekend working on it trying to keep it on the road, and it wasn't even 10 years old. Anyway, point is, I can say that I saw it with my very own eyes that an engine can blow bubbles;).

Fixation? lol, what did I miss?

Good morning folks, I follow a Facebook page called Old Dealership Pictures, and the picture below showed up in my feed today. Johnson Ford-Mercury-Lincoln in Marble Falls, Texas dated 1985. Couple little short bed Bulls sittin' on the lot. I love seeing some of these old pictures, and occasionally local pictures show up for me as well, which are even more interesting. Anyway, thought I would share. Anybody know if this dealer still exists?

What length bolt do you have in there? Any chance it is bottoming out before tightening the exhaust manifold to the head completely? The factory used studs, but most of us use bolts when replacing.

I can attest to that. I swapped a 1980 F150 on to a 1995 F150 4x4 chassis a couple years ago. Welcome aboard. Great bunch on here with a huge amount of knowledge. Don't forget me Jim! I'm currently Bullnoseless, but the complete drivetrain in my '52 pickup is a Bullnose/Aeronose hybrid!

That oval hole was there even without EFI. Without EFI or feedback carb, there was usually just a rubber plug in it. My '84 had it, and I want to say they showed up in 1983, or it was a mid-year change in 1983. But yes, definitely gone in 1987. I think it's a Bullnose cab with the 92-96 windows somehow grafted on. The ad says it's original paint, but there are no fender badges, and no holes either, so aftermarket fenders likely. Oddly though...the cab looks like it has the high tunnel cover that showed up in 1988 with the 5spds. Maybe not, but that's what it looks like. If he swapped in a later model carpet, he probably had to also swap in the taller tunnel cover. I dunno. Oh well, something changed somewhere along the line;).

Ya, since it was my first time doing them, I was pretty careful at first only adjusting my reamer very minimally each time I made a pass. I got the bushings so that the pin fit snugly in each one, but I then couldn't get the pin in both of them at the same time, so that's when I used the sand paper. I rolled up a full sheet, and then ran it back and forth through both bushings at the same time until the pin would slide through both bushings at the same. Not ideal, I know, but it worked with what I had on hand for tools and supplies. The reamer was only about $20 bucks on Amazon, and for what it was it seemed to work OK. The sand paper actually gave them a nice smooth finish on the inside as opposed to the reamer. Even with the reamer they weren't bad, but the sand paper smoothed them out nicely. We'll see how they do on the road though Dave, maybe they'll wear out in no time I don't know lol.