WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[Gary Lewis]

Plugs look a bit puzzling, 1 and 3 are a little dark as are 7 and 8, 6 looks lean electrodes look like they have been a little hot. I would say drop a heat range on the plugs to a ASF 32 plug then see what they look like. Question, are both advance parts working correctly, mechanical not coming in way fast and vacuum not leaking or sticking? If I could get a solid 10 with a C6 and 6400 lbs of dual rear wheel truck, 11.2 with a 4 speed (less loss) even with the 4WD crap is a bit disappointing.

I would definitely check the distributor advance, if you have an adjustable timing light it can be done in the engine.

On the insulation, I think it is dynamat if I remember correctly.

If the plugs had been 1,4,5,6 or 2,3,7,8 dark, I would have said check your rods, jets and float levels on an AFB. Do you know which is the bad cylinder? Depending on the reason that might also explain some of the plug coloring.

I don't know which one is dropping at idle. My plan is to run a leak-down test when the engine is on the stand this fall - obviously before I pull it apart. Then I should know which one is dropping.

But the rods, jets, and float levels are spot-on, or were last year when I rebuilt it. However, I haven't checked the dizzy, so will do. I know the vacuum advance works as it doesn't ping w/o it, but does ping under load, like a truck on the trailer, with it.

Don't have a dial-back timing light, but can still get the job done w/my digital tach and the timing light. Ditto for the vacuum advance using the Mityvac. But I'll want to paint the lines on the damper before I do 'cause that fan blade bit the timing light several times today when I tried to get closer. Think I'll do the testing at night.

And yes, the plugs look odd. Spotted in several cases. I didn't mention that because I wanted to see what you'd say.

Last, 11.2 is disappointing, for sure. Keith Dickson, who is Mr FORDification, has a '78 Supercab w/a 460/C6/3.54 and he also got 11.2 @ 65 MPH going to the show. No way he should get the same as I given that C6 vs my T19, even though I have the 33" tires. So something is wrong. I don't want to spend a lot of time trying to fix it, though, as the tear-down for EFI should do that this fall/winter. That is, assuming the leak-down test doesn't flag something wrong internally. Was just hoping plugs would fix it.

[1986F150Six]

I don't know which one is dropping at idle. My plan is to run a leak-down test when the engine is on the stand this fall - obviously before I pull it apart. Then I should know which one is dropping.

But the rods, jets, and float levels are spot-on, or were last year when I rebuilt it. However, I haven't checked the dizzy, so will do. I know the vacuum advance works as it doesn't ping w/o it, but does ping under load, like a truck on the trailer, with it.

Don't have a dial-back timing light, but can still get the job done w/my digital tach and the timing light. Ditto for the vacuum advance using the Mityvac. But I'll want to paint the lines on the damper before I do 'cause that fan blade bit the timing light several times today when I tried to get closer. Think I'll do the testing at night.

And yes, the plugs look odd. Spotted in several cases. I didn't mention that because I wanted to see what you'd say.

Last, 11.2 is disappointing, for sure. Keith Dickson, who is Mr FORDification, has a '78 Supercab w/a 460/C6/3.54 and he also got 11.2 @ 65 MPH going to the show. No way he should get the same as I given that C6 vs my T19, even though I have the 33" tires. So something is wrong. I don't want to spend a lot of time trying to fix it, though, as the tear-down for EFI should do that this fall/winter. That is, assuming the leak-down test doesn't flag something wrong internally. Was just hoping plugs would fix it.

Gary, did you check the mileage against the truck's odometer or GPS?

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, did you check the mileage against the truck's odometer or GPS?

No.

I know the speedo is off 5 MPH at 65, which is about 7.5%. So, if the odo is off that much then I would have gotten 12.0 MPG. Yippee!

I am headed out with it in a bit, so will check it. Thanks!

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, did you check the mileage against the truck's odometer or GPS?

No.

I know the speedo is off 5 MPH at 65, which is about 7.5%. So, if the odo is off that much then I would have gotten 12.0 MPG. Yippee!

I am headed out with it in a bit, so will check it. Thanks!

Well, I chased that rabbit to ground and found out it is a ghost. A vision of improved MPG w/a 460. The odometer said 4.0 miles and the GPS said 4.04 miles.

But, part of that trip was taking the 1982 and '83 dealer fact books, the 1983 F-series and Bronco brochures, and the 1983 paint chart to be scanned. I had planned to do it myself, but it hasn't happened so now is the time.

And, when I get them back I'm thinking of using the three dealer fact books that I have (1981, 2, & 3) to create a HP & torque table, with references back to the sources. I came up with that idea last night when someone was trying to tell me that the 351M and the 400 are basically the same engine. With a little digging in the fact books I was able to tell him:

Ford rated the 351M at 142 HP @ 3400 & 251 ft-lbs @ 2400. But the 400 put out 153 HP @ 3200 & 296 ft-lbs @ 1600.

Yep, that's no typo - 1600 RPM.

Anyway, the facts from Ford seemed to settle the discussion, and I think it would be good to have all the info like that I can gather in one spot. Thoughts?

[85lebaront2]

Well, I chased that rabbit to ground and found out it is a ghost. A vision of improved MPG w/a 460. The odometer said 4.0 miles and the GPS said 4.04 miles.

But, part of that trip was taking the 1982 and '83 dealer fact books, the 1983 F-series and Bronco brochures, and the 1983 paint chart to be scanned. I had planned to do it myself, but it hasn't happened so now is the time.

And, when I get them back I'm thinking of using the three dealer fact books that I have (1981, 2, & 3) to create a HP & torque table, with references back to the sources. I came up with that idea last night when someone was trying to tell me that the 351M and the 400 are basically the same engine. With a little digging in the fact books I was able to tell him:

Ford rated the 351M at 142 HP @ 3400 & 251 ft-lbs @ 2400. But the 400 put out 153 HP @ 3200 & 296 ft-lbs @ 1600.

Yep, that's no typo - 1600 RPM.

Anyway, the facts from Ford seemed to settle the discussion, and I think it would be good to have all the info like that I can gather in one spot. Thoughts?

Just like the 240 and 300 are basically the same engine, and the 429 and 460, or go back further, 352, 360, and 390 along with 332, 406, 410, 427 and 428 (on those, with the exception of the 332 and side oilers, the blocks all have "352" cast on the front.

[Dyn Blin]

It's been a bit since I've last posted. Work, one kid back from school, & another headed out to school have put any major projects on hold.

This past week I finally found a bit of time and decided to start to tackle getting my cab's plastics the same color. Between 36 years of environmental exposure & panel swaps, I have at least 3 shades of blue in the cab. I decided to start with the door panels to see how I liked the finished product before I go on to pull the dash and pillar trim.

I knew my doors were likely replacement parts since the speaker grills are not integrated into the panel, & I decided to split the color scheme to tie the saddle/tan seat cover I installed earlier this year, and drill the panel for a chrome trim ring set I pulled from the junk yard a while back.

While I was at it, I installed some sound barrier in the door itself, disassembled the door lock and latch mechanisms and pushed some vinyl tubing over the rods that bang against the door and each-other, and hung some jute behind the panels after attaching a new vapor barrier. (A big thanks to Pete for a few photos on how the factory jute was hung.)

The result is the doors now sound a few orders less hollow and the color is growing on me over the 3 tones of blue I'm starting with.

Before & After:

I used Colorbond (the LMC mix of Ford blue and "saddle") for the refinish with a medium gloss UV resistant clear coat.

I came home to a nice early Father's Day surprise.

A couple messages up this thread I posted some pics of a mini-project I have going to refinish the interior plastics of my truck to a consistent color. One of the secondary goals is to see what I can do to make the doors sound less like 2 pieces of sheet metal slapping together when I close them. I ended up cutting some jute to affix to the back of the panel as part of my solution.

Meanwhile, it appears my kids have been cruising my "wish lists" in some of the catalogues, and a box from Bronco Graveyard was at the front door when I returned from work. Not putting 2 + 2 together, I opened it and found they had ordered a pair of the door insulation panels I had been pondering previously. I had put off ordering them because I hadn't seen any prior feedback, but I was pleasantly surprised at the contents:

One side is a nice quality jute (a bit less than 1/2 inch thick). The other side is a bonded aluminum-like reflective lining. The sheet is cut to a pattern to fit the Christmas-tree panel fasteners, has pre-cut holes for door handle and window roller (plus a square cut out for I presume to be electric controls for window or locks) and a printed circle to cut for a speaker:

After a bit of trimming, it fit nicely into the door panel, & stiff enough to hold itself in place without adhesive.

The result is a tidy fit that does even more to contribute to a solid-sounding door. I imagine it will help a bit with noise and heat, too.

An excellent surprise. However, I imagine I'm going to be in a bit of trouble for opening it early...

 

[Gary Lewis]

I came home to a nice early Father's Day surprise.

A couple messages up this thread I posted some pics of a mini-project I have going to refinish the interior plastics of my truck to a consistent color. One of the secondary goals is to see what I can do to make the doors sound less like 2 pieces of sheet metal slapping together when I close them. I ended up cutting some jute to affix to the back of the panel as part of my solution.

Meanwhile, it appears my kids have been cruising my "wish lists" in some of the catalogues, and a box from Bronco Graveyard was at the front door when I returned from work. Not putting 2 + 2 together, I opened it and found they had ordered a pair of the door insulation panels I had been pondering previously. I had put off ordering them because I hadn't seen any prior feedback, but I was pleasantly surprised at the contents:

One side is a nice quality jute (a bit less than 1/2 inch thick). The other side is a bonded aluminum-like reflective lining. The sheet is cut to a pattern to fit the Christmas-tree panel fasteners, has pre-cut holes for door handle and window roller (plus a square cut out for I presume to be electric controls for window or locks) and a printed circle to cut for a speaker:

After a bit of trimming, it fit nicely into the door panel, & stiff enough to hold itself in place without adhesive.

The result is a tidy fit that does even more to contribute to a solid-sounding door. I imagine it will help a bit with noise and heat, too.

An excellent surprise. However, I imagine I'm going to be in a bit of trouble for opening it early...

Great! That looks like what I want to use. But, do they have a gap between the aluminum foil and the door? If so, that's the way the aluminum works best - reflecting heat across an air gap.

Speaking of heat, I got in Big Blue today after he'd been sitting in the sun. Since he doesn't have a headliner at present I wondered how hot the "ceiling" was. OUCH! Way too hot to hold my hand on, although after a few minutes of driving the 93 degree air had cooled it down fairly well.

Anyway, I'm thinking about using something like this Dynamic Sound & Insulation Kit from JBG when the time comes. Then put the new headliner over that.

[Dyn Blin]

Great! That looks like what I want to use. But, do they have a gap between the aluminum foil and the door? If so, that's the way the aluminum works best - reflecting heat across an air gap.

Speaking of heat, I got in Big Blue today after he'd been sitting in the sun. Since he doesn't have a headliner at present I wondered how hot the "ceiling" was. OUCH! Way too hot to hold my hand on, although after a few minutes of driving the 93 degree air had cooled it down fairly well.

Anyway, I'm thinking about using something like this Dynamic Sound & Insulation Kit from JBG when the time comes. Then put the new headliner over that.

To your question Gary, there's a bit of clearance, not much, between panel, pad and door. However, now that you mention it, I wonder if I reduced the efficiency by affixing a vapor barrier with butyl rope over the openings in the door.

The rest of the cab isn't insulated yet, and not on the project plan until fall, so I suppose it makes little difference overall right now.

 

[Gary Lewis]

To your question Gary, there's a bit of clearance, not much, between panel, pad and door. However, now that you mention it, I wonder if I reduced the efficiency by affixing a vapor barrier with butyl rope over the openings in the door.

The rest of the cab isn't insulated yet, and not on the project plan until fall, so I suppose it makes little difference overall right now.

It doesn't take much space. You just don't want the aluminum in contact. But I think the vapor barrier is a good idea.

[1986F150Six]

It doesn't take much space. You just don't want the aluminum in contact. But I think the vapor barrier is a good idea.

Not today, but this past weekend, I replaced the original speedometer on my 1986 F150 with a NOS unit for a F600/800. My speedometer was fully functional, but when I had the opportunity to purchase the new one which just happens to have the capability to register 999,999.9 miles, I wanted it! The engineering number indicates it dates back to 1981, but the numbers on the original [unopened] Ford box indicated 1983. By the way, this is a "service/replacement" unit indicated by the red digits for the tenths. The odometer was reset to equal the actual mileage of my truck, so it showed 207,400.8 miles. [Yea!]

I also replaced the tachometer with a NOS 4500 RPM unit, also for F600/800. The truck was "born" with the normal 6000 RPM tach, which was replaced years ago with a 4000 RPM tach, from a 1981 F600 with a 370 V8 gas engine. Johnathan [Ford F834] gave it to me. It was wonderful, but began to act up. The new unit works beautifully!!! It is nice to see the needle actually move as it approaches its normal 1700 - 2300 RPM operating range.

While the instrument cluster was out, I removed the blue LED bulbs, which Gary provided and set-up for me a couple of years ago. They looked great and made a dramatic presentation, but the odometer digits were difficult to see at night. I replaced them with 194B bulbs, which were made by Wagner and sold @ the local NAPA store. The blue filters had previously been removed. The appearance, now, is like the original, but much brighter [not brighter than LEDs] due to not having to pass through the foggy/opaque original filters.

Gary, do you recall the man you spoke with concerning replacement instrument paint for the needles having said that after so many years [10?], the florescent paint would no longer be effective? Well, both of these instruments, which of course had been in sealed boxes, work just like the needles for the remaining 4 instruments, which were painted at your OK GTK 2 years ago.

These can be seen in September in Skiatook, the good Lord willing!