Rembrant

Hahaha...I forgot about this statistic...lol. Is it still even true today? I live 330 miles EAST of the closest USA border crossing (That's the town of Calais, Maine). Gary, did you mention bacon and maple syrup?...haha. I'm planning to grab some super thick and smokey bacon from a local deli on Friday after work! It seems the super Canadian thing these days is poutine...and it's out of control now lol. There are now 500 flavors and everybody sells a version. It was a unique treat at one time, but now...not so much. I don't really even eat the stuff.

My '84 F150 had a similar offset, but to the driver's side. The left front wheel stuck out a solid 1/2" more than the passenger side, if not more. I wasn't quite sure why it was like that until I removed the core support, and found that it was hard to the RH side of the truck. So in my case, it was the cab not centered on the frame. With factory skinny tires and wheels you'd never notice it, but when your wheels "poke" and stick out a bit, it becomes noticeable.

It's really common around here for people to install fender flares to HIDE rust lol, so every time I see them I think oh...that truck is rusted all around the fender/wheel well openings. So they either cause rust...or they're installed to hide rust lol. So bad news in the rust belt... Otherwise, I'm sure they're fine, but I have zero experience other than rust.

Hahaha...that was funny. That's a significant error in my opinion....but maybe it's one of those things that is common only if known? Or maybe because I'm such a small block Ford fan that I knew this piece of history more than others?... Cheers to the 300 inline 6 though. What did it run in the f-series trucks? 30 years? 1966-1996? Annnnd was also used in some of the medium duty trucks also. I know they're popular in irrigation equipment (as pictured) and generators and such, but out here on the coast, the old 300 six was also a very common boat engine. They still show up for sale around here in boats...after almost 30 years out of production.

Yes sir, Canadian trucks got million km odometers with and without trip meters in 1983. The US market pickup trucks never did get the million mile odometers...they stayed with the 100k mile units until the end in 1986.

I've had to fix these same holes, and replace all of the shock mounts and leaf spring hangers. I usually cut the bad spot out completely, and weld in a new piece, then grind flush. That way it doesn't look repaired...it just looks normal. The only time I've welded plates on top of the frame surface was to toughen up weak areas (had become thinner due to rust). For the rear spring rear hangers, I plated the frame on the inside when I bolted on the new rear hangers. I basically made large square washers (maybe 2"x2") and after bolting on the hangers, welded the square plates to the frame. Oh man do I remember those rust holes...those upper shock mounts were such a bad design. The changed the frames later on so that there was a space behind those upper shock mounts. Not sure when they did then, but probably 1992...

They also had million mile odometers, which some people like to swap into the pickups so they don't roll over every 100k. The Canadian market trucks got the million kilometer odometers in either 1982 or 1983, I can't remember now. The earlier Canadian market trucks just had the 100k odometers like the US trucks, but I'm sure they figured out that the odometers would just roll over too often or too soon at that rate (every 60k miles basically).

Thanks for the tips Gary. I'm going to do some transmission testing today after I re-install my gold plated heater core lol. I made a couple of transmission inquiries and joined a couple Facebook 4R70W groups and basically came away with two things: One guy said to bump up my line pressure in the Quick4 controller and see what happens. He seems to think that I have not caused any damage to the transmission yet, and that it's worth trying some incremental changes in the controller to see what happens. This guy also seems to think that the 177F temp reading is nothing at all. He said nothing to worry about until after 200F. Another guy says that it's probably the torque converter clutch slipping, and that it's at the very early stages of wear. He said to throw in a bottle of anti-slip additive and the problem will likely go away for 10,000-15,000 miles, but that the torque converter will eventually need to be replaced. Baumann Controls said to run a data log with the Quick 4 and send to them and they'll be able to better pinpoint the problem. Since the Quick4 controller has an engine RPM input, and an output shaft speed sensor, it will know precisely when the transmission is slipping, at least when the torque converter is locked up. I could set the torque converter to NOT lock up, and I'm sure the fault will disappear...unless the Quick4 knows exactly how much slip there is in the system overall? I dunno... In any case, I bought a complete spare transmission to have as a spare. I have a bit of a "rare" transmission here...it being from a 1996 F150. The 1994-1995 4R70W trans is different in several ways, and the 1997-up does not have the SBF bellhousing. It was semi local, and the only '96 F150 specific trans available for 1000 miles, so I grabbed it. I might drop the pan on it today and see how things look in there...how much debris is in the bottom and how much metal fuzz is on the big magnet;). Anyway, no panic yet...I'm still mobile.

A very clever Ford guy pointed this out with my '84 F150 Flareside at a car show a few years ago. Since I only swapped in a tach, my speedometer still had no trip meter, and this guy noticed lol.

That is SO cool. I love this stuff.

I can't drive a mile without seeing these things lol, and when I'm at work, that would change to about 1/4 mile. Welcome aboard to the new guy. Truck looks clean. I'm a big fan of the 302.

I ended up finding a transmission locally...well, here in NS at least (and hour away). What the heck is with the prices of automatic transmissions these days? I'm obviously living in the past. In my mind, a trans out of a junked truck should be worth $200-$250 (Canadian). I mean, they usually have at least 200,000 kms on them (120k miles) and the trucks rust out before they wear out (usually). A used transmission is now $500-$600 bucks. I figured I'd bypass everybody and order one from car-part on the USA side, assuming they'd be way cheaper, like things usually are, and no sir...still $500-$700 bucks. Then you have to ship them...another couple hundred bucks, and then at the very least they need all new seals and gaskets, etc. What a racket! lol. Anyway, I'm just ranting...but maybe it's an issue that is specific to the 4R70W transmission. So I bought this one locally, and paid a fortune for it, but at least I have backup now. Thanks all for looking, reading, and helping along.

I have no offroading input, but I have to agree that having an auto sure is a lot nicer if you ever have to sit in traffic for any length of time.

According to Car-Part, there are only two of these specific 1996 transmissions available east of Calgary, Alberta and they are both in Quebec! The first one I looked at in Marieville southeast of Montreal, but the second one is in Saint Jerome! Do you know this company below? I'm going to keep searching around and see what else I can find, but this one in Saint Jerome might be my next best option. There's nothing out here on the east coast.

I checked Carfax and it looks like the truck was "retired from use" in 2020 with a reported 217,000 miles on it (350,000 kms). Where the low km odometer came from, I do not know. I think I'll pass on this one. The seller has been very responsive, but I asked him if he knew why the kms were so low and he has not replied. I don't like being out the cost of the Carfax, but I'll take that over paying a premium for for what was supposed to be a low mileage transmission. Thanks all for your help.

I am assuming the same, especially with it being such a plain Jane example. I just wish I could confirm. I am thinking on that Carfax...

It's actually in Quebec...sort of. The truck no longer exists...it has already been parted out. The transmission in question is sitting on a warehouse shelf. Now that's a good idea...I just don't want to pay for it lol. I must ask around and see if I know anybody with access. Thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated!

Ha! Great minds think alike David! I looked for the pedals also, and the only view is of the brake pedal in the same picture as the steering wheel. It doesn't look particularly worn.

Gents, I realize this isn't a Bullnose question, but it is a similar truck (1996 F150), and the question is a generic one that would pertain to all old pickup trucks. I want to buy a transmission from a 1996 F150 that is being parted out. The truck is hundreds of miles away so I cannot go look at it. There are lots of pictures anyway, so it doesn't really matter. The eye catcher is that the truck is advertised as only having 18,393.5 kms (11,429 miles). Pictures of the truck certainly don't look like a truck with 11k original miles... But as I was scrolling through the pictures, I noticed the interior...and it shows almost no wear at all. It was obviously a work truck of some kind...plain white with black plastic grill and mirrors, no A/C, no tach, and not even a CD or taper player, just a plain radio. What would you think? 11k original miles or cluster swap? Do the clusters fail in these things? Would there be a reason to swap it? 11k is unusually low obviously, and my assumption (if it is a work truck) would be that it probably has 300k on it lol, but the interior doesn't look like it. Maybe it was at an airport or somewhere like that, where it was only driven back and forth on the same property. What do the pictures tell you?

Ya, I'll get it sorted. Question is, do I go looking for another used transmission, or buy a reman, or have mine rebuilt? I do have a small issue that I cannot use my existing transmission for a core return with a reman. The cast-in bracket for the factory shift cable is busted off the housing. It wasn't an issue for me, but it means that it cannot be used in its intended application.

I'm running 255/60-15's in the rear and they're only 27" OD. In order to do 72 MPH at the same RPM with 373 gears and 4R70W, Matt's tires would have to be much larger than mine. 32.5" OD according the calculator I used. Maybe the calculators are wonky, I'm not sure, but I tried a couple of them and got the same results.

Interesting thing I came across this evening while searching for a transmission. I was checking car-part.com and a couple options popped up in Quebec, and one ad in particular showed a picture of the certification labels. I didn't think anything of it at first, but later on I thought...why did that F150 have two certification labels?? One is in English, and the other is in French! Interesting. Maybe this is common in Quebec? I have never seen this before. I know Canadian packaging must have both English and French, but certification labels I had no idea!

Big milestone today! I surpassed 1000kms on my newly built '52 Merc. I took it on a 300 mile round trip to visit my folks. I have good news and bad news lol. The heater core failed this week, and it is a 100% obsolete and unavailable item, so a rebuild is the only option, and it's not cheap. A local rad shop has to order in a custom made core, and then sweat the old tanks on it for me. Its stupid expensive, but the only other option is to find one that is similar, and then spend how much time and energy trying to adapt the heater box to hold it. I decided to bite the bullet and get the shop to fix it. Anyway...that wasn't the real bad news...lol. The good news though, is that so far the truck appears to be getting 17+ MPG! First full fill up was 17mpg even, and that was with a mix of local driving and about 40% highway. Now, with almost another full tank burned all on the highway, it appears to be doing even better...maybe 18 MPG? I'll let you know when I fill it up. I'm a big fan of having overdrive...I wouldn't be getting anywhere near that mileage without OD. The truck isn't really even "tuned" yet...I more or less have it set at a baseline, with plans to improve it. AFR? No idea at this point. So far, the little Summit carb is working well as far as mileage goes...if I can get the idle issue sorted out, I'll be super happy. (By the way, I have the speedometer calibrated with GPS, so it's accurate at least...not guessing). I don't have a tach, but using online calculators, it appears that my little 302 is spinning at approximately 1950 RPM at 62-ish miles per hour. The 4R70W and 3.55 gears is a nice match...which is probably why Ford used that combo so often. Now for the bad news...lol. At the half way point of my 300 mile round trip today, I pulled in off the highway and then when I got back up to speed on the rural road, the trans made a hard "thunk" shifting into OD. It has been shifting fairly hard into OD anyway, but I assumed it had something to do with the shift profile in the Quick4 controller, which I was basically too lazy to try to reconfigure. I just wanted a stock trans with a stock program to run it...I didn't want to do anything special. Anyway, when I started my return trip, after a while I happened to notice that my Quick4 controller was showing an error: "Transmission Slip in 4th Gear". The trans temp was high at 177F (it normally runs around 147-153F). It said something else that I missed also...something to do with full pressure in 4th and slip detected, but that one went away. I stopped and started the truck a few different times on the way home, and it would run along fine each time for a while, but the error kept coming back. This is a used transmission I bought with I think 140,000 miles on it. It's one I ordered through Car-Part, so the history is 100% unknown other than the supposed documented mileage, and that the fluid was clean and clear. I'm not sure if this means a small problem or a big one, but either way it can't be good news. It didn't feel like it was slipping, and is otherwise working just fine. I'm going to try and hunt down another transmission regardless, and maybe have one that's ready to install. That's all. It was super fun cruising in the old truck though. It can manage 60-65 MPH on the highway OK, as long as the asphalt is nice and smooth. If I hit a rough patch or rutted surface...the fun is over in a hurry lol.

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll check the secondaries and see what else I can find. One thing I forgot to mention, and maybe it's nothing, but the carb seems to leak badly around the left end of the throttle plate shaft if I operate the throttle with the engine off. It did this when installed on the engine, but also on my work bench also. Not sure if that means anything or not...maybe they all do that? I don't remember my previous Holley 4160 leaking like this. When I say that I did prelim vacuum checks, I just mean that I removed and plugged the brake booster, and I removed the vacuum tube for the wipers (truck still has original vacuum wipers...they're on the list to be electrified lol, but very low priority at the moment). I also replaced the carb base gasket (and 1" spacer gasket under that). I haven't gone around the intake and carb base yet for a proper vacuum leak test with carb cleaner or propane, etc.

Curious if anybody with one of the Summit (or Autolite, or Holley 4010) carbs ever had any issues with the throttle plates hanging up preventing the idle from decreasing. My engine is running GREAT! It starts 100% perfectly, as good as any EFI. The carb seems to be very responsive, and so far the engine is looking like it is going to be good on fuel also. I do have one nagging issue though: Idle. I can't adjust the idle below about 800-850 RPM once it is warmed up. The curb idle screw simply lifts off the throttle. I have the electric choke completely disabled...the fast idle screw is also removed, so it's not hanging up on the choke. I've done prelim check for vacuum leaks and didn't find anything. I added the thicker (0.062") carb gaskets, and have checked and torqued the carb base bolts several times. The transition slots look like they're bigger than square, but I can't adjust it any further. With the engine cold, it idles nicely. It's when it warms up that the idle seems to creep up a bit. Once in a while, I've reached under the hood and returned the throttle by hand and the idle decreases instantly. After this I installed a return spring...not a great one, just one I had laying around. I have a proper throttle return spring/bracket kit on order arriving tomorrow. Anyway, just wondering if anybody has any thoughts? I haven't touched the idle air mixture screws yet. It's almost perfect, but I'd love to get this idle dialed in a little better. It seems like the throttle plates are hanging up somehow, but I can't see where or how. PS: I did not check the secondary plates...I didn't think to check them before re-installing the carb last time. Any ideas? I was reading that a possible solution is to loosen the throttle plates and let them re-center, but I'd like to get more input on that, or other ideas first. Edit: I also have a Holley TPS installed on this carb, and I originally thought it was an issue, but I've investigated it thoroughly and it doesn't appear to be holding anything up. When I was playing with the carb on the workbench, I had the TPS removed anyway.