Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Thanks, Jim. That almost made me cry. I was just thinking about him this morning. I'm getting geared up for the show and he's never been able to attend as his boss, David, needed him to work the store on that day. Now that David has passed it is only DeWayne running the store, so there's no chance. Hopefully there won't be anyone else in when I get there as it gives us a chance to talk. Stopped in to see DeWayne and passed on our thoughts and prayers for him. But he didn't have the NGK 2771 UR5's nor the Motorcraft ASF32C's, so I moved on to O'Reillys. They had the NGK's in stock @ $3.99/ea, so I'm getting ready to install them - as soon as this cup of French Roast is empty. I was surprised that while I could get them for $3.12/ea from Amazon they wouldn't be here for a week. That made the decision easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Stopped in to see DeWayne and passed on our thoughts and prayers for him. But he didn't have the NGK 2771 UR5's nor the Motorcraft ASF32C's, so I moved on to O'Reillys. They had the NGK's in stock @ $3.99/ea, so I'm getting ready to install them - as soon as this cup of French Roast is empty. I was surprised that while I could get them for $3.12/ea from Amazon they wouldn't be here for a week. That made the decision easy. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! (or at least six bucks and change) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! (or at least six bucks and change) Yep! Plugs are in and torqued. Was surprised that they were all gapped to about .038" so had to be re-gapped. But in looking them up I did see that they are stock to some GM, so I'm guessing that they were gapped for it. This afternoon I'll ensure the plug wires are properly routed and lubed and get them on. But I may wait until in the morning before I put the scope on as the temp is already up to 94F and it is headed to 100+. And the sun would make reading the scope almost impossible. But in the morning the driveway outside the shop will be in shade - and it'll be cooler. So after getting the plug wires on I think I'll work over that ground that was hitting the hood - in the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Yep! Plugs are in and torqued. Was surprised that they were all gapped to about .038" so had to be re-gapped. But in looking them up I did see that they are stock to some GM, so I'm guessing that they were gapped for it. This afternoon I'll ensure the plug wires are properly routed and lubed and get them on. But I may wait until in the morning before I put the scope on as the temp is already up to 94F and it is headed to 100+. And the sun would make reading the scope almost impossible. But in the morning the driveway outside the shop will be in shade - and it'll be cooler. So after getting the plug wires on I think I'll work over that ground that was hitting the hood - in the shop. Got the plug wires on, and discovered that I'd run 5 & 6 in parallel all the way from the distributor to the support on the valve cover. I re-routed so that they come off the distributor pointing in different directions and put #7 between them on the run to the support. And I made sure 8 was well away from 7 even more than it was. So I think the plug wires are good. Then I turned to the negative battery cable on the start battery. You'll remember that I recently discovered that the hood was rubbing against the cable running from the negative terminal to the fender, so I brought it to the terminal from the front, as you'll see below. That solved that problem, but then I got to wondering how close the nut and round post are to the hood. So I put a 1/8" thick piece of aluminum-backed foam with adhesive on it on top of the battery post and nut and shut the hood. Turns out that both the post and the nut left marks in the foam. In fact, I then peeled the foam off the hood and discovered marks on the hood itself. I think it is time to put terminal boots on, but I don't want them rubbing the hood and I'm sure they would. So I'll see if I can drop the battery tray just a smidgen as the hood lines up with the fender pretty well and I don't want to change it. But do any of you have an idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Got the plug wires on, and discovered that I'd run 5 & 6 in parallel all the way from the distributor to the support on the valve cover. I re-routed so that they come off the distributor pointing in different directions and put #7 between them on the run to the support. And I made sure 8 was well away from 7 even more than it was. So I think the plug wires are good. Then I turned to the negative battery cable on the start battery. You'll remember that I recently discovered that the hood was rubbing against the cable running from the negative terminal to the fender, so I brought it to the terminal from the front, as you'll see below. That solved that problem, but then I got to wondering how close the nut and round post are to the hood. So I put a 1/8" thick piece of aluminum-backed foam with adhesive on it on top of the battery post and nut and shut the hood. Turns out that both the post and the nut left marks in the foam. In fact, I then peeled the foam off the hood and discovered marks on the hood itself. I think it is time to put terminal boots on, but I don't want them rubbing the hood and I'm sure they would. So I'll see if I can drop the battery tray just a smidgen as the hood lines up with the fender pretty well and I don't want to change it. But do any of you have an idea? Clearance with a ball peen hammer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 Clearance with a ball peen hammer? I hadn't thought about that, but I think I'll pass. The hood isn't great, but I don't want to beat on it. I hope there's a way to drop the battery carrier a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I hadn't thought about that, but I think I'll pass. The hood isn't great, but I don't want to beat on it. I hope there's a way to drop the battery carrier a bit. I hope it works for you! Things are mighty tight under the hood in Skiatook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 I hope it works for you! Things are mighty tight under the hood in Skiatook! Yes, things are tight under there. For sure. But it works, and works well. Now I need to iron out some little details as my son and I are planning to go overlanding w/it in October. Here are some things I want to get done before then: Fix the ignition miss spotted on Saturday Get some clearance for the starting battery's negative posts Put a pin switch on the tailgate so the security system will alarm if that is opened. Shouldn't be difficult as I just need to extend the wire that goes to the pin switches in the tool box. Add the bed lighting I bought some time ago. Will have to put the switch at the very back of the bed. Add 12v power outlets at the back of the bed. Should be easy to do when installing the lighting and switch. Provide some kind of stop for the hand tool box so it doesn't slide into the air compressor inside the big tool box. I'm sure there will be other things, but that's a good list to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 Yes, things are tight under there. For sure. But it works, and works well. Now I need to iron out some little details as my son and I are planning to go overlanding w/it in October. Here are some things I want to get done before then: Fix the ignition miss spotted on Saturday Get some clearance for the starting battery's negative posts Put a pin switch on the tailgate so the security system will alarm if that is opened. Shouldn't be difficult as I just need to extend the wire that goes to the pin switches in the tool box. Add the bed lighting I bought some time ago. Will have to put the switch at the very back of the bed. Add 12v power outlets at the back of the bed. Should be easy to do when installing the lighting and switch. Provide some kind of stop for the hand tool box so it doesn't slide into the air compressor inside the big tool box. I'm sure there will be other things, but that's a good list to start with. Whoo hoo!! The truck is running smoother than it ever has! I noticed when I started it up that the idle was smoother. Then when I put my scope on it I can't tell one cylinder from another. Unfortunately I can't get all the functions on the MAC scope to work so I can't stack the cylinders like I should be able to do, but just visually eyeballing things says each is the same. So we are taking it on a trip. I'll report back later, 'gator! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Whoo hoo!! The truck is running smoother than it ever has! I noticed when I started it up that the idle was smoother. Then when I put my scope on it I can't tell one cylinder from another. Unfortunately I can't get all the functions on the MAC scope to work so I can't stack the cylinders like I should be able to do, but just visually eyeballing things says each is the same. So we are taking it on a trip. I'll report back later, 'gator! Gary, I thought the Mac was the one I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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