Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, the inlet for the EFI 460 air box is next to the radiator and the inlet is curved away from the radiator. Inlet is visible to the driver's side of the radiator/condenser/oil cooler.

Bill - I don't think I have that piece of ducting. Guess I need to find one.

[Sac79]

Dave - Thanks!

As for the air cleaner, at this point it certainly IS more trouble than it is worth to have dual snorkels.

However, to your question about hot air, the factory ducting takes care of that pretty nicely. Just turn the stuff for the passenger's side up side down and it works on the drivers side. However, that's not true of the piece that connects to the radiator support. It needs to be cut in half and the back side flipped and re-glued.

As for the oil fill, that's not a problem as I don't expect to be doing that very often with a brand new engine. But pulling the air cleaner to get to the fill isn't hard at all.

But since the goal is to go EFI, I think I'll enjoy the truck with the single snorkel unit on it for a while and use the time it would have taken to create a workable twin-snorkel air cleaner on installing the other upgrades still waiting in the wings, like:

• Installing the new u-joints in the front drive shaft and installing the shaft - after I fix the leak in the front output shaft on the t-case

• Painting all the interior trim and installing it as well as the Highliner head liner and CB unit

• Installing the 3000 watt inverter

• Installing the on-board compressed air system

And then, when all of that is done, go for the EFI.

 

I'm sad that Eddy won't be BB's little cousin anymore, but very glad that you have one thing less on your to-do list! The less stuff on that list the faster it gets done and the sooner you can move back to Dad's!

As for the air cleaner, at this point it certainly IS more trouble than it is worth to have dual snorkels.

 

[85lebaront2]

Bill - I don't think I have that piece of ducting. Guess I need to find one.

Gary, here is the PN on the side of the inlet end:

There is an earlier one with a flexible section. This one is pretty obstruction free. I did find that like a lot of snap together stuff it had warped at the air cleaner end so I used some little sheet metal screws to attach it and keep it open.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, here is the PN on the side of the inlet end:

There is an earlier one with a flexible section. This one is pretty obstruction free. I did find that like a lot of snap together stuff it had warped at the air cleaner end so I used some little sheet metal screws to attach it and keep it open.

Bill - Thanks a bunch! ID # E8TE 9C675-BA cross ref's to PN E8TZ 9A624-B. So I'll be on the hunt for that - after confirming I don't have one.

[Gary Lewis]

Bill - Thanks a bunch! ID # E8TE 9C675-BA cross ref's to PN E8TZ 9A624-B. So I'll be on the hunt for that - after confirming I don't have one.

Today was such a beautiful day! It started out in the 50's and got to maybe 75. I was reminded of the Saturdays back in High School or college when I'd spend most of the day washing, waxing, and what is now called "detailing" my ride. (And it would have been a superb day for a truck show!)

So I decided to back Big Blue out of the shop and work on him outside today. First up was adding sound deadening material to the inner roof panel. Basically I put up a 20" x 24" piece in the recess on both sides. I cleaned the panel with brake cleaner and then applied the deadener and rolled it out, and then when the sun had heated it up for a while I rolled it out again. It is on there! And it should make quite a difference.

Then it was time to add the extra weatherstripping to the tops of the doors. The passenger's door had a piece, although it wasn't in good shape, but the driver's door didn't have any and it didn't look like it had ever had any. As there has frequently been questions about where the piece goes, I took pics of the top and bottom end positions before removing the existing piece, and included those below.

After removing the existing piece I was left with goo on the door, so out came the Goo Gone and after a lot of work I got it all off. Then I cleaned the doors with isopropyl alcohol to ensure the adhesive would stick, and put the piece on the passenger's door - and the bottom end didn't stick.

So out came the remnants of the 3M spray adhesive and I sprayed the bottom end of that strip as well as the door, and the whole run of door on the driver's side as well as the whole piece of weatherstrip. And that did the trick - both pieces are "on". But, if I were doing it again I'd use adhesive on the whole piece and not rely on the vendor's tape.

Anyway, here's what the driver's side piece looks like:

About that time I realized that I was right by the trailer where the winch was mounted, so I moved the winch to Big Blue and wired it up. However, it isn't quite complete as the hitch receiver that bolts under the winch was starting to rust pretty badly. Turns out that when you bolt an unpainted piece of flat steel to the bottom of a flat bumper it traps water between them and rust ensues. So I did a quick pass in the blast cabinet to clean it off and then hit it with two coats of POR-15 and topcoated that with Rustoleum's flat black. Should be dry tomorrow and I can install it and call the winch DONE!

Oh yes, here are pics the two ends of the factory extra weatherstripping, as promised:

[Sac79]

Today was such a beautiful day! It started out in the 50's and got to maybe 75. I was reminded of the Saturdays back in High School or college when I'd spend most of the day washing, waxing, and what is now called "detailing" my ride. (And it would have been a superb day for a truck show!)

So I decided to back Big Blue out of the shop and work on him outside today. First up was adding sound deadening material to the inner roof panel. Basically I put up a 20" x 24" piece in the recess on both sides. I cleaned the panel with brake cleaner and then applied the deadener and rolled it out, and then when the sun had heated it up for a while I rolled it out again. It is on there! And it should make quite a difference.

Then it was time to add the extra weatherstripping to the tops of the doors. The passenger's door had a piece, although it wasn't in good shape, but the driver's door didn't have any and it didn't look like it had ever had any. As there has frequently been questions about where the piece goes, I took pics of the top and bottom end positions before removing the existing piece, and included those below.

After removing the existing piece I was left with goo on the door, so out came the Goo Gone and after a lot of work I got it all off. Then I cleaned the doors with isopropyl alcohol to ensure the adhesive would stick, and put the piece on the passenger's door - and the bottom end didn't stick.

So out came the remnants of the 3M spray adhesive and I sprayed the bottom end of that strip as well as the door, and the whole run of door on the driver's side as well as the whole piece of weatherstrip. And that did the trick - both pieces are "on". But, if I were doing it again I'd use adhesive on the whole piece and not rely on the vendor's tape.

Anyway, here's what the driver's side piece looks like:

About that time I realized that I was right by the trailer where the winch was mounted, so I moved the winch to Big Blue and wired it up. However, it isn't quite complete as the hitch receiver that bolts under the winch was starting to rust pretty badly. Turns out that when you bolt an unpainted piece of flat steel to the bottom of a flat bumper it traps water between them and rust ensues. So I did a quick pass in the blast cabinet to clean it off and then hit it with two coats of POR-15 and topcoated that with Rustoleum's flat black. Should be dry tomorrow and I can install it and call the winch DONE!

Oh yes, here are pics the two ends of the factory extra weatherstripping, as promised:

Progress!

[Gary Lewis]

Progress!

Thanks, Rob. It certainly is progress, one small step at a time. But collectively they all add up.

Janey and I are planning a long, maybe 300 mile, outing one day next week in Big Blue, so I'm getting him as clean and quiet as I can get him for that trip.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Rob. It certainly is progress, one small step at a time. But collectively they all add up.

Janey and I are planning a long, maybe 300 mile, outing one day next week in Big Blue, so I'm getting him as clean and quiet as I can get him for that trip.

Got a bit more done on Big Blue today, in spite of it being Sunday and there being a truck show going on. First, I got the front hitch receiver installed:

Second, I lubed the speedo cable. I broke into the cable at the speed control's transducer which let me pull the lower cable out easily. And in spite of having lubed it quite recently with a graphite cable lube it sure looked dry. So I used a grease pencil meant for speedo cables and put it back on.

But the upper cable won't come out that way as it has a plastic collar on the other end so has to come out via the instrument panel. Have I told you how much I dislike having hard-wired gauges screwed to the instrument bezel?

Fortunately the bezel didn't have to come all the way off, but it sure limited the ability to reach in behind and release the speedo cable or pull the inner cable out. Man, that is hard on hands! But I got it out and lubed with the grease pencil and put back in.

However, I noticed that the dummy that put the gauges in didn't bother to put the 4 screws in to hold the cluster to the dash. So I had to find the screws and do more contortions to get to those holes and get the screws in. But they are in and that's probably one more rattle cured.

[Ray Cecil]

Got a bit more done on Big Blue today, in spite of it being Sunday and there being a truck show going on. First, I got the front hitch receiver installed:

Second, I lubed the speedo cable. I broke into the cable at the speed control's transducer which let me pull the lower cable out easily. And in spite of having lubed it quite recently with a graphite cable lube it sure looked dry. So I used a grease pencil meant for speedo cables and put it back on.

But the upper cable won't come out that way as it has a plastic collar on the other end so has to come out via the instrument panel. Have I told you how much I dislike having hard-wired gauges screwed to the instrument bezel?

Fortunately the bezel didn't have to come all the way off, but it sure limited the ability to reach in behind and release the speedo cable or pull the inner cable out. Man, that is hard on hands! But I got it out and lubed with the grease pencil and put back in.

However, I noticed that the dummy that put the gauges in didn't bother to put the 4 screws in to hold the cluster to the dash. So I had to find the screws and do more contortions to get to those holes and get the screws in. But they are in and that's probably one more rattle cured.

I envy that bumper.

[Gary Lewis]

I envy that bumper.

David & I were talking about this via email so I thought I'd post the plans here.

Janey and I are hoping to have a BIG day on Friday taking Big Blue to Kendall's Restaurant in Noble, Ok. We've been drooling over pictures of their chicken-fried stakes, and now that BB is together and needs an outing......

So in the interim I'm hoping to get several things done on the truck, including:

• Front driveshaft installed, which will require installing the new u-joints on it awa fixing the leak, if the t-case is still leaking

• Have the alignment checked and, if needed, fixed

• Align the headlights

Here's the planned route, which is essentially all back roads, including as much of Route 66 that we can.