Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yep, I don't live in a crime capitol. But I don't know where we are going nor where we are going to stop, so do want to have the bases covered since it is pretty easy to do. Shock sensors are built in, so just getting the right system ticks that box.

But I do have a plan for keeping the truck from running, even if they get past the ignition switch. Sent you a note on that as I'm not sharing it online.

And, you are right that the manual tranny will deter many people.

You and Scott mentioned it in passing.

I don't know if those posts have been edited or deleted by now.

But, again, no meth head is going to go looking for it, nor are they going to be bothered rummaging under the hood in some parking lot.

Someone has to want your truck.

And if someone wants to steal a vehicle they are more than likely to jimmy the door and drag it up onto a flatbed.

You ought to look into putting a pick guard over the door locking mechanism and rods.

At least that will slow someone down from the 20 seconds it takes to pop a door open.

I don't even lock my truck.

There's nothing inside that is worth as much as a window costs.

And I refuse to live my life scared of 'what could happen'

[Gary Lewis]

You and Scott mentioned it in passing.

I don't know if those posts have been edited or deleted by now.

But, again, no meth head is going to go looking for it, nor are they going to be bothered rummaging under the hood in some parking lot.

Someone has to want your truck.

And if someone wants to steal a vehicle they are more than likely to jimmy the door and drag it up onto a flatbed.

You ought to look into putting a pick guard over the door locking mechanism and rods.

At least that will slow someone down from the 20 seconds it takes to pop a door open.

I don't even lock my truck.

There's nothing inside that is worth as much as a window costs.

And I refuse to live my life scared of 'what could happen'

A pick guard might be a good idea. I'll have to have the doors apart anyway to put the lock actuators in, so it shouldn't be too hard.

[1986F150Six]

I'll work on the throttle issue, but I'm guessing it is a worn throttle shaft. I might see about installing the Street Demon and see if that makes a difference. I've been wanting to try it anyway, and it would let me give Brandon his AFB back.

Do you have a cigar?

[Gary Lewis]

I'll work on the throttle issue, but I'm guessing it is a worn throttle shaft. I might see about installing the Street Demon and see if that makes a difference. I've been wanting to try it anyway, and it would let me give Brandon his AFB back.

Do you have a cigar?

No, I don't. But I hear Swisher Sweets are cheap.

Seriously though, I've been needing to try the Street Demon. And, I should give Brandon's carb back. So need to look into what it will take to swap carbs.

[85lebaront2]

No, I don't. But I hear Swisher Sweets are cheap.

Seriously though, I've been needing to try the Street Demon. And, I should give Brandon's carb back. So need to look into what it will take to swap carbs.

Gary, I had a real nice system on my 1985 LeBaron convertible, it was manufactured by a company in Northern VA, Design Tech, unfortunately they were bought out by Directed Electronics, who promptly killed all the Design Tech equipment.

I have a couple of systems floating around, one is a Chapman security system that I removed from a friend's Dodge Ram, it had that and a code alarm remote start system. As for remote lock/unlock, starting in 1994 Ford added that and an anti-theft system as an option. The remote locking system is the same as a Taurus, just lacks the trunk feature and external keypad. It requires a slight rewiring of the truck power lock switches and also provides a "time out" feature for the courtesy lights. I used one from a Lincoln Town Car on Darth and plan on using the "trunk" button on the remotes to trigger the Code Alarm remote start module.

In my opinion, the Viper units are way overpriced and the funniest story on them goes back to the shipyard. They have a proximity sensor on them and I was walking into work from my parking space (rented) and there was a car in one of the lots I passed through repeating over and over "Stand Back! Protected by Viper!" the range sensitivity was set so that an adjacent car in a parking space would set it off. One of the nasty tricks people would pull, find one with a shock detector set too sensitive and bump it as you walked by, headlights flashing, horn blowing etc., do it a few times and run the battery down. Vibration, Matt set off one in a Chevette with the exhaust on his 140hp Corsa, the frequency of the duals with headers and glass packs on that flat six triggered it.

Good luck on finding a good system!

[Nothing Special]

.... I don't even lock my truck.

There's nothing inside that is worth as much as a window costs.

And I refuse to live my life scared of 'what could happen'

This is my approach to vehicle security as well.

 

[Gary Lewis]

.... I don't even lock my truck.

There's nothing inside that is worth as much as a window costs.

And I refuse to live my life scared of 'what could happen'

This is my approach to vehicle security as well.

Thanks, guys. But I don't think it is fair to say that I'm "scared". What started the conversation was a question of whether or not we'd locked the truck, and Janey's purse was in it. So we both agreed that we what to have remote locking. But if you are installing remote locking you are just a few connections away from having a full-blown security system. So why not.

But for now let's discuss my day - not quite what I'd hoped. The first bit was good as I cut off the old backup light switch connector and grafted the new one on. But then when I reached way up on the side of the tranny to install it I heard a snap and the connector came out with a funny red piece of plastic in it. Turns out that the plastic broke off the switch. And the connector is not about to stay on the now-exposed pins w/o the plastic to hold onto. So now I've ordered what Amazon says is the right switch for a ZF5 and it is supposed to be here tomorrow.

Then I thought I might sweep the floor as it was getting pretty nasty, and in doing so I found a wet spot under the rear axle. Brake fluid. My first thought was that I'd damaged the hose when removing the springs a few weeks ago, but then I realized that there was brake fluid on top of the crossmember.

I checked that fitting but it was pretty tight, although it is now TIGHT. So I washed it down with brake cleaner and we'll see what it looks like after the next drive. But the level in the master cylinder is down 1/2", so it certainly has been leaking.

Then I thought I should check the OX locker shift cable. Here's what I found:

Yep, the notch in that hose matches up with the bump stop's bracket. So, it was time to add a spacer to the bump stop and reroute the cable. Here's the spacer. (Note how much cleaner that area is now. Turns out that I'd never cleaned that area and it was gross. But it is much better now.)

Then I moved the actuator forward to this position:

And that will let me put a cable clamp roughly where it is shown in this pic, and that will not only keep the cable off the bump stop but it also keeps it off the shock.

It was one of those days.

[grumpin]

Thanks, guys. But I don't think it is fair to say that I'm "scared". What started the conversation was a question of whether or not we'd locked the truck, and Janey's purse was in it. So we both agreed that we what to have remote locking. But if you are installing remote locking you are just a few connections away from having a full-blown security system. So why not.

But for now let's discuss my day - not quite what I'd hoped. The first bit was good as I cut off the old backup light switch connector and grafted the new one on. But then when I reached way up on the side of the tranny to install it I heard a snap and the connector came out with a funny red piece of plastic in it. Turns out that the plastic broke off the switch. And the connector is not about to stay on the now-exposed pins w/o the plastic to hold onto. So now I've ordered what Amazon says is the right switch for a ZF5 and it is supposed to be here tomorrow.

Then I thought I might sweep the floor as it was getting pretty nasty, and in doing so I found a wet spot under the rear axle. Brake fluid. My first thought was that I'd damaged the hose when removing the springs a few weeks ago, but then I realized that there was brake fluid on top of the crossmember.

I checked that fitting but it was pretty tight, although it is now TIGHT. So I washed it down with brake cleaner and we'll see what it looks like after the next drive. But the level in the master cylinder is down 1/2", so it certainly has been leaking.

Then I thought I should check the OX locker shift cable. Here's what I found:

Yep, the notch in that hose matches up with the bump stop's bracket. So, it was time to add a spacer to the bump stop and reroute the cable. Here's the spacer. (Note how much cleaner that area is now. Turns out that I'd never cleaned that area and it was gross. But it is much better now.)

Then I moved the actuator forward to this position:

And that will let me put a cable clamp roughly where it is shown in this pic, and that will not only keep the cable off the bump stop but it also keeps it off the shock.

It was one of those days.

That didn’t take long! Good thing is you found it! And the brake leak.

[Gary Lewis]

That didn’t take long! Good thing is you found it! And the brake leak.

Right! W/o the hose on it the cable would be ruined by now. But the new routing will be much, MUCH better.

But the brake leak may take more sleuthing.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Right! W/o the hose on it the cable would be ruined by now. But the new routing will be much, MUCH better.

But the brake leak may take more sleuthing.

Good thing you're working all these bugs out now. 👍

I didn't realize how close the rear brake hose would come to a dual pipe exhaust.

I hope that flare tightened up nicely.

I recall what a pain it was when I replaced my lines with cupro-nickel.

And of course my retainer clip flew off into the dirt of the paddock, so I have it locked in with safety wire.

(But I did a good job with .040" and the sharp ends are turned in)