Rembrant

NPT is the standard for USA and Canada. When it comes to pipe work and plumbing in general, Canada still uses all of the American sizes and standards. I deal with BSP (British Standard Pipe) and JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) on a fairly regular basis as it is common on the marine world...well, common on all of the vessels that are built in Europe and Asia, which most are these days. However, NPT is still the standard here for everything on land.

Gary, I will probably do just that. I think the only vacuum required from that port will be PCV and the air cleaner assembly, so I can do that with regular fittings. It looked like 3/8" NPT.

Hey Gary, Yes, I did look in there, but I was really looking for aftermarket replacements. The OEM part numbers are great for hunting down NOS parts, but this truck doesn't qualify for that kind of spending, not yet at least...lol.

Gentlemen, I'm getting this old 300 ready to attach to the transmission and drop into the frame/truck. See the items circled below. I'm not seeing them on Rockauto or LMC, etc. Are they NLA? Are they just regular NPT pipe thread? If so, I'll just make my own fittings and be done with it.

I don't think so. I replaced the u-bolts on my 1984 Flareside (with standard threads), and I think I just used regular nuts and lock washers.

Sorry Dave I missed this. Main reason is rust which means broken bolts and the stupid intake actually has rust holes in it (exhaust side). I bought another set of manifolds and the intake had already been welded where mine has holes lol. Common issue maybe? So I fixed up the new/used one and rewelded the bad spots (previous welds were not great). Got everything cleaned up, drilled our broken bolts and cleaned gasket surfaces. I think it’s all ready to go back together now.

Only plans for now are to make it run lol. If everything going ok maybe I’ll do some upgrades later on but right now just aiming for the bare bones basics!

Good day Gary I am ok with the pilot bearing there is none to removed. I just had to wire wheel the rust out of the hole. What I was curious about was rear main seal removal. I guess I will make a tool like Eric did.

Dave, I meant to order a set of core plugs for it and was planning on changing them. One of the plugs on the back of the block looked really rusty but when I hit it with a wire brush on the drill it cleaned up nicely. The plugs behind the exhaust manifold look pretty rusty, so I probably should change them out. Good call.

So I finally dug the old 300/6 out today and loaded it up on the engine stand. This thing hasn't run in years...and I have no idea how many years. The truck had been sitting somewhere between 3-5 or 6 years, and it wasn't running when he bought it. I'm guessing it has been a decade or more, but who knows. I started scraping the rust and dirt and grime off it, and will yank the manifolds tomorrow (fingers crossed for no broken bolts...ugh). Before bolting it to the trans and mounting it all back in the truck, I'm going to change the oil pan gasket and rear main seal. I need to order a pushrod cover gasket as well as intake & exhaust manifold gaskets, carb gasket, etc. I have a new pilot bearing for the manual trans (engine was on an auto trans), as well as a new flywheel. Question for you guys: Best way to pull the rear main seal? Put screws in it? Is that how you guys do it?

Excellent! I love the sound of it on the dyno! I just started working on my crusty 300 today...I hope it awakens from it's years long slumber as well as the engine in the show. Thanks for posting.

That's a fair price.

Oh I bet that thing would ride like a brick on a roller skate lol. Cool though just the same!

Oh, and to explain I welded in a 1/8” plate on the underside and then filled in the open area on the top with 16ga steel. Welded, ground smooth, and threw some paint on it so it wouldn’t flash rust. Strong as new.

Took care of the core support mounts this morning (it is Canadian Thanksgiving today so long weekend!). This is not glamorous work lol, and nobody will see it when it is done. I will be cleaning up the rest of the rusty frame when time allows, but trying to focus on the areas that need repair first.

Yes, good point...I must check if it is there. I've only seen them at the top of the firewall and the fronts of the beds, but the front of the bed is long gone from this truck...so I'll check the firewall and see if it shows 3D and 3B... I haven't updated the old '80 on a '95 Flareside project in a while, but I have been working on it almost every weekend....grinding, needle scaling, rust treating, and welding. As of today, I have the middle of the frame all fixed up. I welded in three patches today, installed the cab rear crossmember, and the 300/6 engine perches. I know it doesn't look like much yet, but it's a long way from where it was. I have some new cab and core support mount parts on the way from LMC, and I just received a bunch of stuff from RockAuto (300 flywheel, M5OD slave cylinder, 300 rear main seal, various gaskets, etc). Oh, and I also just received a hydraulic pedal set from Scott, thanks Scott! Oh, and the crusty old 1980 cab and front clip collecting dust in the corner of the warehouse. So the plan is to keep working on the frame until the new cab mount cushions arrive from LMC. I still need to rehab the core support brackets on the frame (they are welded to the frame on the '95, not riveted like the Bullnoses), and graft on the '86 frame horns I have so that the Bullnose front bumper can be installed. The good news is that as of today, I can now set the cab on the frame. I almost said "back on the frame", but it never was on this frame...so I can't say that. Still need new cab mount cushions, but they are on the way. I need to start getting the old 300/6 cleaned up. Rear main seal, oil pan gasket, etc. I also have a new trans mount, and a front input seal for the M5OD. So, I'll drop the engine and trans in there all in one shot, and then set the cab on afterwards. This should all happen this month...so fingers crossed. I still need to work on the rear of the frame, but that will come after. I have new spring hangers, shackles, leaf eyelet bushings, etc. That's it for new news. It's a long and dirty project...

They look good. I have a woodgrain set from an '86 that I was going to try and paint...not sure how that will turn out though.

Rick, Yes sir I sure did and they fit great. If you are going to order them order directly from Osborne and even better speak to the owner (David, I think?) and explain the situation. I’d be worried that there are still some of the incorrect fitting ones still in circulation with the resellers.

Excellent! I added a wire to mine also, when I rebuilt the bed and installed new lights. The factory grounding method was sketchy at best in my opinion lol. I believe some of the later models had a wired ground, but it’s not common.

Gary, The Flareside taillights are grounded by the 3 mounting studs, so they ground to the mounting brackets, which ground to the bed, which grounds to the frame. I recall somebody saying that sometime later...maybe 85 or 86, they ran a separate ground wire to the frame, but most Flareside tailights are grounded only by the 3 mounting studs to the mounting bracket. It is a crummy ground, to say the least (imho). On my '84, the only thing in the rear that had a factory ground wire from the front of the truck was the license plate light.

As far as I ever knew, it was a decent engine outside of those initial issues in '97-'98, and there were a lot of trucks sold up here with them.

They sold a lot of F150's with that engine up here in Canada (The Miserly Canucks like their cheap trucks...lol). The first bunch of them in the 1997 trucks had terrible issues with intake manifold seals leaking coolant into the cylinders. I had to change the intake in one for a friend almost 20 years ago now, and it was a well known problem at the time. Edit: Maybe it was only on the Canadian models, so disregard for USA... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Essex_V6_engine_(Canadian) Ford experienced problems with this engine for the 1997 and 1998 model years. These included issuing all 1997-1998 engines made at the Essex Canadian plant with a bad front cover gasket. The lower-intake manifold had a bad reputation for cracking at relatively low miles. Ford resolved this problem by using a thicker gasket for 1999 model year, and 5 years later in 2004, it was modified again with a redesigned gasket that later became "industrial" certified as ESG-642 for Ford Power Products. It also served as a new and improved base engine for 2005+ F-150 regular-cab.

It's either for the 3 speed, or auto, or both. I know where it goes in the 3spd, and I assume it is the same part used in the auto.

Well done Eric!

Lookin' good Ray!