1981 straight six manual 4x4 project

[Gary Lewis]

My bed, I'll lay in it...

So far this morning I've cleaned up both case halves, the tailshaft housing, main and secondary shafts.

(No parts washer here)

Some of the disaster I've made.

Put all the bearings in the freezer.

Found the welder (hiding under the stairs to the garage)

I'm working on getting a functional welding helmet.

And fixing the bench grinder I gave him.

With that you may be able to weld and grind, weld and grind, and get the old part serviceable? Good luck!!!

[ArdWrknTrk]

With that you may be able to weld and grind, weld and grind, and get the old part serviceable? Good luck!!!

I doubt it.

But I need to do something, even if it's wrong.

At least the E3 part fits the pump cover.

Time to scrounge the junk pile in the side yard.

 

[Ford F834]

I think you are going to need the compound eccentric aftermarket ones. I messaged with a guy who leveled his (lifted ~1.5” in front) and he said the stock ones were not enough to get it aligned. I’m not sure how much yours needs to come up to be level, but I’m guessing it may be similar.

I recently retrieved some of the parts stored at my parents’ house (mostly for the water hauler) but I also grabbed some things to use on the 1981...

One of the things I am most keen on is a wire harness swap. I have the complete cab wiring out of a 1985 F150. I originally thought the truck had a 5.8 HO without a computer, but my notes with the harness just say “V8”. I sure wish I had documented this better 😩. It looks to have the same plugs used for the DSII module and distributor, but I think the feedback computers used the same connectors. I have no idea if it will work, and it’s not a small task to “try it” but that’s what I have to do. I’m frustrated enough with the 1981’s loom that I plan to go for it. I’m hoping they were modular enough that I will get lucky.

The tachometer grounds are different on the six, so that might be an issue, but I’m running a medium duty tach with the 8 terminal isolated, so I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

The 1981 has a crescent shaped connector in the engine bay near the steering column (for the bed lights, fuel senders, tank selector etc., in later trucks this was replaced by two square plugs. Knowing this change, I went to the junkyard to cut some square pig tails for my aft half wires. I would have preferred the whole back end wiring, but no luck on that for a regular cab long bed.

As I was looking for this, I began to examine the wiring for the speed control system. It sure looks like it could plug and play into any bullnose. I’m a little puzzled as to why Ford would sell a clumsy add-on instead of this (is this too good to be true?) but I pulled the factory cruise stuff from a 1984 Bronco and I’m going to attempt to add it to my 1981. It seems that it plugs in between the steering column crescent connector halves, and has another firewall plug running wires to the speed sensor and transducer and a vacuum line to the dump switch on the brake pedal:

Unfortunately I won’t have an answer on this anytime soon. I may need a special throttle cable, and I have no speed sensor. More critically, I have a ruined drive gear and no spinning cable to power a speed sensor. I did get a NOS drive gear for the BW-1345 but that’s a whole other dimension to project That’s going to have to wait a bit. But with bullnoses becoming more scarce in the yards I figured I had better grab the parts that I could when I saw them. Eventually I will have an answer on this.

Edit: I also face the challenge that the vacuum dump bump stop on the brake pedal clips onto the pedal pin. I’m guessing it will miss the switch when mounted on my hydroboost pedal, and creativity will be needed...

 

[kramttocs]

I recently retrieved some of the parts stored at my parents’ house (mostly for the water hauler) but I also grabbed some things to use on the 1981...

One of the things I am most keen on is a wire harness swap. I have the complete cab wiring out of a 1985 F150. I originally thought the truck had a 5.8 HO without a computer, but my notes with the harness just say “V8”. I sure wish I had documented this better 😩. It looks to have the same plugs used for the DSII module and distributor, but I think the feedback computers used the same connectors. I have no idea if it will work, and it’s not a small task to “try it” but that’s what I have to do. I’m frustrated enough with the 1981’s loom that I plan to go for it. I’m hoping they were modular enough that I will get lucky.

The tachometer grounds are different on the six, so that might be an issue, but I’m running a medium duty tach with the 8 terminal isolated, so I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

The 1981 has a crescent shaped connector in the engine bay near the steering column (for the bed lights, fuel senders, tank selector etc., in later trucks this was replaced by two square plugs. Knowing this change, I went to the junkyard to cut some square pig tails for my aft half wires. I would have preferred the whole back end wiring, but no luck on that for a regular cab long bed.

As I was looking for this, I began to examine the wiring for the speed control system. It sure looks like it could plug and play into any bullnose. I’m a little puzzled as to why Ford would sell a clumsy add-on instead of this (is this too good to be true?) but I pulled the factory cruise stuff from a 1984 Bronco and I’m going to attempt to add it to my 1981. It seems that it plugs in between the steering column crescent connector halves, and has another firewall plug running wires to the speed sensor and transducer and a vacuum line to the dump switch on the brake pedal:

Unfortunately I won’t have an answer on this anytime soon. I may need a special throttle cable, and I have no speed sensor. More critically, I have a ruined drive gear and no spinning cable to power a speed sensor. I did get a NOS drive gear for the BW-1345 but that’s a whole other dimension to project That’s going to have to wait a bit. But with bullnoses becoming more scarce in the yards I figured I had better grab the parts that I could when I saw them. Eventually I will have an answer on this.

Edit: I also face the challenge that the vacuum dump bump stop on the brake pedal clips onto the pedal pin. I’m guessing it will miss the switch when mounted on my hydroboost pedal, and creativity will be needed...

You got it on the wiring for the speed control. I've never wondered why they sold that add-on unit but that's a really good question.

I've seen them in the jy but never looked to see how all they differed from factory. I assume there is more to the differences than just the stalk vs horn controls?

Maybe easier to produce the add-on for multiple Ford models as opposed to having a supply of the speed enabled horn pads?

[Ford F834]

You got it on the wiring for the speed control. I've never wondered why they sold that add-on unit but that's a really good question.

I've seen them in the jy but never looked to see how all they differed from factory. I assume there is more to the differences than just the stalk vs horn controls?

Maybe easier to produce the add-on for multiple Ford models as opposed to having a supply of the speed enabled horn pads?

I was wondering if it was a hold-over from pre-1980? Or maybe the add-on was simply cheaper than the factory components? Either way, I was happy to see it unplug From the main harness in a way that could allow it to plug and play with one that didn’t have the feature. I guess I shouldn’t celebrate until I have working speed control, but it sure looks promising. Too bad I have more than a couple obstacles in the way of getting it working, but I will get there.

[kramttocs]

I was wondering if it was a hold-over from pre-1980?

I bet you are right. Did some quick googling on the dealer cc and appears to have started in the mid "D" years.

I'd say you can celebrate a little

 

[Gary Lewis]

I was wondering if it was a hold-over from pre-1980?

I bet you are right. Did some quick googling on the dealer cc and appears to have started in the mid "D" years.

I'd say you can celebrate a little

Check out Big Blue’s Transformation thread on a wiring change between 81 and 85 in the speed control area. I had the buzzer going off every time I opened the door, even without the key in the ignition due to it. Had to move pins in one of those connectors.

[Ford F834]

Check out Big Blue’s Transformation thread on a wiring change between 81 and 85 in the speed control area. I had the buzzer going off every time I opened the door, even without the key in the ignition due to it. Had to move pins in one of those connectors.

Thank you very much Gary. I found the Golden post!

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Big-Blue-s-Transformation-tp28014p55571.html

I am a bit embarrassed that I missed the fact that you had done this... evidently there are (many) blocks of time that I did not keep up with your thread and I neglected to catch up. I am quite glad for the tip, though, and glad to know that it should work once I have a working cable and speed sensor.

Were you ever successful in finding part numbers for the main cab harnii? I’m remembering that to be a no-go. I was just hoping to find out if feedback and DSII used a common harness.

[Gary Lewis]

Thank you very much Gary. I found the Golden post!

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Big-Blue-s-Transformation-tp28014p55571.html

I am a bit embarrassed that I missed the fact that you had done this... evidently there are (many) blocks of time that I did not keep up with your thread and I neglected to catch up. I am quite glad for the tip, though, and glad to know that it should work once I have a working cable and speed sensor.

Were you ever successful in finding part numbers for the main cab harnii? I’m remembering that to be a no-go. I was just hoping to find out if feedback and DSII used a common harness.

Jonathan - You have a lot on your plate, so no worries.

On the wiring harness, I think you mean 14401, which is known as WIRING ASSY. (INSTRUMENT PANEL TO DASH PANEL). Here's a snippet of the first entry for it in the MPC.

And then it goes into a listing by vehicle and engine, like this:

I don't have any of that up on the website, but can do at some point. You need something from it?

[Ford F834]

Jonathan - You have a lot on your plate, so no worries.

On the wiring harness, I think you mean 14401, which is known as WIRING ASSY. (INSTRUMENT PANEL TO DASH PANEL). Here's a snippet of the first entry for it in the MPC.

And then it goes into a listing by vehicle and engine, like this:

I don't have any of that up on the website, but can do at some point. You need something from it?

Thank you very much Gary. The main thing I wanted to look for was whether there was anything different between the DSII harness and ones with a feedback carb. That’s the big deal before I dive into a full wire swap.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there were at least some feedback emissions systems in 1982 (F100’s and California truck’s?) and I see no mention of it in the MPC. It says 6/8 ALL. I know the 1985 harness will be different than the 1981, but it needs to RUN. I can deal with some hiccups in connectors and wire colors, but I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, especially with the starting and ignition circuits. Based on what you posted I think it’s worth going for it. I might dive into it tonight. We are planning an out-of-state trip and are wanting to take the truck. I would sure like to ditch the janky wiring if at all possible. Speed control would be great, but isn’t going to be possible for this trip.