"Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
 
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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How about a pic with the filters in place?
And glad the forum is helping. 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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I think you'll like the cool whites w/o the filters. That setup isn't quite "factory", but I was never really enamored with Ford's "blue" look. I like my gauges easily readable and the cool whites did that for me.
Yes, I'm having a good week. Ran all over Tulsa today to find what my wife wanted for her sewing room - a Husky adjustable-height work table and a shelving unit. They didn't have them in the stores that said they did, but we eventually found them, got them loaded up, brought them home, unloaded them, and got them not only upstairs but put together. She's happy, and I'm happy and tired. 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Blue is my fav color, but I like legibility even better, and the white does that for me.
Uno? Saw lots of those when we lived in the UK. Never drove one. Did drive a 2CV and an early Mini though, in addition to the Nissan Prairie we owned. All manual transmissions, which required attention with the left hand at the worst possible times, like in the middle of a roundabout when I was concentrating on making it through alive. 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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My favorite is actually orange, which nobody seems to want for instrument panels anymore.
 I actually "like" the dim, retro look of factory lights believe it or not. When I drive at night in a modern car I usually turn the dash lighting down to its lowest dimmer setting because I hate strong lights distracting me from the road. But I've always been light sensitive.
Honestly the main reason I want the white LEDs is almost silly but important to me. I posted this in another thread but I'm remaking (or trying to) my faceplate for my climate control. My faceplate is cracked and scratched worse than I've been able to buff out, and I have that ARA after-market A/C system so finding replacements has been impossible. So I'm having the acrylic piece laser-cut and printing this design on a transparency sheet to see how it all works:  Some of those colors wouldn't look right with a blue light behind them. They need a white backlight. I feel like I'm in limbo for the project. Literally everything I need to do next is waiting on something in the mail! Hopefully tomorrow I can get back into it.
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1981 F-250 Custom. 6.6L V8, 4 barrel Holley carb, ARA aftermarket A/C. |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Orange might be close enough to red to not impact your night vision.
But you are right that white will work best with your HVAC controls. Hope you start getting things in the mail, soon! It is no fun to be hung up waiting on someone else. (My new rear view mirror/camera system doesn't come in until Tuesday.)
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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For $230 inc tax you can have what I'm getting:
12" mirror with full-width displayWaterproof rear camera that automatically shows on the mirror when you shift into reverseFront camera that goes on the inside of the windshieldGPS antenna that records where the truck goes on the included memory cardContinual recording, with the last 30 seconds of the file saved in case of an accidentDoes your $99 camera do that? 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Can't wait till your review on Tuesday!
1985.5 F-150 XL Explorer standard cab 5.0 EFI AOD 4x4
Daily Driver. We call her Eunice the Ute. 1982 Bronco XLT Lariat 351W AOD 4x4 Code name Esperanza, or Espy to her friends. Please see my Project thread for the blow by blow. 1984 F-350 XL Centurion crew cab 460 T19 4x4 "Eylza Dual-little" |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Did it ever occur to you I might not want the antics I get up to with this truck recorded in that much detail?
 IDK I just love chrome. I was born in 75. By the time I started driving, chrome was already out of style on cars, and I didn't get into trucks until it was out of style there too. So it's the thing I never really had. If you sent me a catalog full of chrome stuff for this truck I'd be poor in a week! So I'm sticking with the old school mirror.
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1981 F-250 Custom. 6.6L V8, 4 barrel Holley carb, ARA aftermarket A/C. |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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To each his own. I just want to be able to see what I'm about to back into or hit going forward. And my old school menu isn't doing that for me.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Some parts are starting to arrive. As usual, it's 90% of what I need. I have a bad habit of ordering three cables when I needed four...
 I started working on my instrument cluster. I added a tach, which I always like to have on a manual transmission even though I never really use it. Instead of hard-wiring it right to the terminals I decided to order the replacement PCB as well because mine is starting to crack like they all do. I got a new one that has the tach connectors as well so I can do a clean install, but just realized I forgot to get four nuts for it. Oops! I could jerry-rig them with some copper star washers, a flat washer, and a regular nut but I went ahead and bought a pack just so I have everything clean. I also have a new regulator on the way, that solid state one you guys recommended. While I was doing that I removed my ammeter. I'll be doing an alternator upgrade at some point and figured I may as well switch that to a Rocketman voltmeter while I have everything apart.  While doing THAT, I got to thinking. I have that narrow rectangular dummy panel where usually the shift indicator goes for the automatics. Has anybody thought of anything clever to do with that area? I was thinking of trying to put in an LCD clock but can't find one I like that fits the area... 
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1981 F-250 Custom. 6.6L V8, 4 barrel Holley carb, ARA aftermarket A/C. |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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I had a narrowband AFR LED arrangement in that window on Dad's truck for a while. But it was really worthless. Narrowband just tells you if you are above or below 14.7:1, not how far. So it just flashed.
 Anyway, you are doing it right! But you will change the wiring for the voltmeter?
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Yes, I'm doing the Rocketman conversion, having him rebuild my core then adjusting the wiring to the gauge when I install it. I want to get the truck running sooner than Rocketman/CC can send me the new unit (their site says mid-January) so I'm going to reinstall the panel in the next few days just without that gauge in, and prepare an ACC/GND 2-wire plug to the location ready to use when I need it. I was looking at one of these, which will fit just about perfectly, but I'm not sure it's dimmable. (Fairly sure it's not but I'd have to look at the PCB, sometimes they are but they just don't document it.)  They're so cheap I may grab one just to see if it works.
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1981 F-250 Custom. 6.6L V8, 4 barrel Holley carb, ARA aftermarket A/C. |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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Installed the new door lock cylinders last night and puzzled out some of the lock mechanism stuff. I still have some issues with my driver's side lock linkages rubbing against the window tracks, so they aren't working well. But it can wait.
 Can somebody tell me what this line is for? It's marked as part of the set of "3A713" power steering assembly lines, which is fine. But I don't know enough about power steering systems to know what it DOES. Is it some kind of buffer line, or maybe a ghetto way to provide some cooling? It seems so exposed, it's right against the front frame rail exposed to anything that might fly under the front bumper. I'm not going to take this thing jeeping, but I do hit a lot of forest-service roads that can be pretty rocky, and I'm worried about its exposure. I think I could fashion some type of rock guard for it, but want to understand its exact function first (especially if it IS for cooling and needs airflow).
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1981 F-250 Custom. 6.6L V8, 4 barrel Holley carb, ARA aftermarket A/C. |
Re: "Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration
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