Rembrant

Oh man, is this thing a PEACH...currently at $22,500 with a week to go. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1985-ford-f-150-lariat-4x4/?fbclid=IwAR3ocd7ugsxM8sKigvXqV27iSUKjeOzAqnwS8S7ZPbr4i7r1e7EgZV-ECrQ

No Corey, there's truth there and that's what I'm looking for. It would break my heart for my truck to burn in front of me. Prior to having the truck painted, I only had public liability insurance on it, which would pay nothing in the event of a fire. I reluctantly put Hagerty Insurance on it after having the body all done...and I say reluctantly only because of the limitations they put on the use of the vehicle. The good thing is that it is currently covered for what I have invested* in it. It's bad enough that the street value of the truck is only 1/2 of what I have invested in it...or if I was power ball lucky, maybe 2/3 of the value, but when and if I sell it, that is fine as it will be my choice and I'm OK with it. To see it burn in a parking lot and turn into $0 value in minutes would be a tough pill to swallow.

This stuff actually worries me a bit. In the past few years, I've seen a half a dozen or so Bullnoses on fire (via the Facebook groups). On top of that, I've seen several more on Craigslist for sale that had engine bay fires and were for sale for parts. Locally, I've also seen a couple classic cars catch fire randomly. At one of the car shows I was at this past summer, a car started smoking just parked...it wasn't even running. It was one of those late 70's Mustang II's or whatever they are called. It was clearly an electrical fire. Anyway... Something I've noticed a lot on the Facebook groups, and in pictures on Craigslist are rubber fuel lines laying all over the place...loose, too long, not fastened to anything, and just laying on engines, etc. I mean no offense to anybody on here with one of these fuel lines, but they are something that would cause me a bit of stress if not secured tightly. I now carry a new (decent size) fire extinguisher behind the seat, and I was thinking of adding one to the passenger side as well. Another issue is electrical. One that I've heard of that is somewhat common is heater box fires. The box gets filled up with leaves and debris (or critters, building nests), and the blower fan resister is wide open in there to ignite them. I think it's worth it to make sure the blower fan housing and heater box is clean inside. I think a good thing to do with these old trucks is to make sure the wire harness(es) are all fastened in place where they are supposed to be, and not loose. Make sure all grounds are nice and clean and the wires are in good shape. Sorry...I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching...lol.

Time for a straw hat and a corn cob pipe!

I had a semi-productive day wrenching on the old '80. Seems weird to say...but this truck is now forty-one years old. If you go by the build date and when it arrived at the dealer (October 1979), it's technically 42 years old. Anyway, I had been waiting several days for a new water pump to arrive. The shop lost the original new pump they ordered so then ordered in a reman pump for me, but I did finally get my hands on it yesterday morning. Grabbed a bunch of hose clamps, and some 5/16" copper tubing to make new fuel line with the really optimistic hopes of possibly cranking the engine over this weekend. Then I pull a bone-head move and bust the thermostat housing. So stupid too, because I had just spent an hour breaking the long pivot bolt in the alternator loose. Anyway, I'm not sure what happened...the surfaces seem flat...maybe the thermostat slipped out of place and lifted the lower ear off the head. It's not a big deal...the stupid things are worth something like $10 bucks, but I have to order from RockAuto so it will be a week or so getting here. It's a blessing in disguise, because I need a little time to prepare anyway. Spilled milk. I did get the core support back on the frame though, and that also turned out very good. I rebuilt the bottom of this core support, and installed a used 2 core 1994 radiator that I was worried would not fit. Turns out it fit perfectly, and as wild as the radiator angle looked in the core support, it appears to be perfectly parallel to the radiator fan. All good. I still need to shim it and tweak it a bit, but I ran out of time this morning. I'll pick at it tomorrow and try to get it ready to fire up next weekend. I also need to order some other little odds and ends....bushings and clutch and brake pedal covers, etc. Still, all in all pretty good shape.

I think that white plastic piece comes with a new booster, so I assume it is not available as a separate item?

Cool. It's a very worthwhile swap in my opinion.

Happy New Year gentlemen. It was pretty quite here. Mrs. Rembrant and I were in bed by 10pm after watching Peaky Blinders. Boring bunch, eh? In any case, best of luck in 2021, and I'm happy to call you all my friends.

Lookin' good Ron. Now that's a real project...not rebuilding a body, but actually building a body! Happy New Year Ron. Keep us posted. Is the old Flareside just collecting dust these days?

Right you are, Jim! Did you see the picture I posted in the Lounge for you? So, check out this oddity... This old '80 has a gauge mounted in the instrument bezel. It absolutely kills me because the 1980 instrument bezel is a one-year only item, and the rest of it is in pretty nice condition. ATM gauge? As in Atmospheric pressure, in units Bar? In other words, a vacuum gauge? It just seems really odd... Anyway, there was a clear plastic tube attached to it, that ran through the firewall but was just loose. Original engine was a 302, which was removed long ago. If I can't find another bezel for a reasonable price, I guess I'll just have to install a more functional gauge in the hole.

Cool stuff John! Can't wait to see how you like it!

Right you are, Jim! Did you see the picture I posted in the Lounge for you?

Right! By the way, I just finally got that hydraulic pedal set installed today! So awesome!! The truck now has 3 pedals again! The pedal box that was in the truck had the same cast aluminum piece...I guess I didn't realize that they were the same. This truck originally had a T-18 4spd in it, but at some point was converted to an automatic...and then the auto trans was pulled out for reasons unknown. So it had the wide auto trans brake pedal, but it had a bunch of back yard butchery done in the pedal box to make it fit...bushings made out of PVC pipe barbs...lol. So I had a good couple of days while I was waiting for my new water pump to arrive. Converted auto column to a manual column, installed clutch master with firewall reinforcement brace, hydraulic pedal box, 5spd tunnel cover and shifter, and finally installed the 1995 4x4 shifter (in the floor, beside the tunnel cover).

You out there Jim?? This old red thing showed up in my Instagram news feed today. Couldn’t help but reminded of you, and this one is in CT, too!

Gary, Yes sir, installed. Working from my iPhone here so not sure it this will orient properly but here’s a pic: I had to notch the steering column mounting flange so that the bottom nut on the master cylinder can be accessed. The factory hydraulic clutch trucks are notched here, but this one being an ‘80 was not. It would be a cruel joke to play on a future owner to have to pull the steering column to change a master cylinder LOL.

Gary, It’s not pretty but it’s functional and used materials on hand. The firewall needs it. It’s rusty and cracked, even though it was a mechanical linkage clutch truck originally.

Shaun, The manual collar can be swapped in with the column installed for sure. Not sure about removing the long shifter tube though I think the column would have to be out for that.

Me too, Gary! Fingers crossed. Engine history unknown. Last running when, unknown...lol. Another couple days of wrenching and she'll be ready to flash up.

So I got my column swap done today. I've had these darn Bullnose columns apart so many times now I swear I could do it with my eyes closed. Anyway, I didn't document all that much, but I had saved the plastic collar from a floor shift manual that I grabbed out of an '86 at the junkyard a couple years ago. Auto collar and manual (floor shift) collars side by side: Only glitch was that the manual collar has three screw tabs, and there was only enough room to use two. It's still fine, so I'm not worried. Second glitch is that someday somebody will realize that the key release button is not there...lol. Oh well. All finished and ready to re-install. Nobody will know the difference. Leftover autotragic parts: I also made a nice firewall brace for the hydraulic clutch master today which I will show some pics of tomorrow. I'll get all of that installed tomorrow as well as a hydraulic pedal set, and the steering column. Getting close to turning this old pig over!!

Awesome video! Great story to watch that shows just how much work is involved.

Thanks for the reply Scott. My brother in-law just happened to call right after I posted this, and he is a technical guy (at work, and at home) and he said that he ran 14ga wire...like the rest of us, lol, because he had it on hand, but he said he also tested it at the same time. He said that the relay only drew about 2.5amps (in rush) and once closed was even less.(That was not on a Ford starter, but a similar GM starter...could be completely different for all I know). The reason I was curious is that the factory trigger wire on my '84, and this '80, is really small...maybe 18ga? Anyway, I understand that bigger is certainly better. Maybe I'll run the 14ga that I have and test it myself and see what the meter says. If 14ga is not enough, it's no problem to change it out. Heck, I don't even know if the engine will run, but I'll probably give the starter a good workout trying.

Gents, I'm just wiring up some loose ends on my 1980 F150 project, and that includes the PMGR starter that I scavenged from a 1996 F150 at the junkyard a couple years ago. I noticed in the instructions here on the forum that a #10 wire was used for this. Is this size wire required? I will buy some if I need it, but the reason I ask is that I have a roll on hand of 14awg 600v TEW wire, and was wondering if that would be sufficient for the trigger wire?

Gary, my question can wait months...lol. I was just curious as I'm collecting parts to install an aftermarket cruise kit later on.

Gary, While you're in the middle of all this, maybe you can answer/confirm something for me. My truck as you know was originally a 3 on the tree manual, which I swapped out for a 1991 M5OD-R2 5spd. I was very lucky as the trucks original speedo cable reached the hole in the new 5spd, so I simply plugged it in and it worked just fine. (I was even luckier in the fact that the speedo drive gear in the 5spd was for a 3.08 rear diff, which I already had, so my speedo stayed correct). So, the driven gear in my truck, which is the original 1984, will it swap over to the trans mounted VSS? Or, will I have to buy a new/different driven gear that fits the VSS?

I like it!