swampedout Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I have been eyeing those seats for my truck and bronco... anything else you can share would be great. Ive been spending some more seat time in the 250 and Im getting tired of looking at my worn out interior...seeing that seat upgrade is good motivation for me. But Ill wait for warmer temps... Finally got around to dropping the trans pan and swapping the fluid. TC drain bolt was stripped so I left it alone instead of making it a bigger project. This made a drastic improvement. To celebrate, I hauled some dirt and did some donuts out in the sand. Its so much more fun to drive without that terrible acceleration lag. Also got a ridiculously cheap electrical manual off ebay. Need to spend some serious time studying now. I know the bullnose bible is pretty exhaustive but if you need any photocopies, Id be more than happy to contribute, Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 Ive been spending some more seat time in the 250 and Im getting tired of looking at my worn out interior...seeing that seat upgrade is good motivation for me. But Ill wait for warmer temps... Finally got around to dropping the trans pan and swapping the fluid. TC drain bolt was stripped so I left it alone instead of making it a bigger project. This made a drastic improvement. To celebrate, I hauled some dirt and did some donuts out in the sand. Its so much more fun to drive without that terrible acceleration lag. Also got a ridiculously cheap electrical manual off ebay. Need to spend some serious time studying now. I know the bullnose bible is pretty exhaustive but if you need any photocopies, Id be more than happy to contribute, Gary. Sam - I'm glad the fluid change helped. Some times it makes a huge difference. As for the electrical manual, what one did you get? I have all of the EVTMs, but there were other manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Well, it was a great day for sure. Been prepping the floor pan for a while and sealing up all the seams. These are LMC leather seats and console / buddy seat and carpet. A little tricky to install. Tips: the shift boots go on the bottom and the carpet goes on top. Remove the boots and shifters, then cut holes in the carpet the size of the shift cutouts. Then pull back the carpet, install the shifters and boots and pull the boots through on the other side as you lay the carpet back down. You may have to do a little bit of trimming to pull the last wrinkle of the boot through. The seats have to be bolted to the mounting frame first. I put the mounting frame in the truck and then bolted the center console in first then lifted up each side after the seat was positioned and tightened the bolts underneath. Next, you have to find the holes in the carpet and align with the bolt holes in the floor and the seat subframe. This took a little time to do by myself because I had to hold the seat up and shift everything around to try and make the holes line up. I recommend that you get help from a friend if possible. Leave the bolts as loose as you can until they are all started. there's almost no clearance for the back two mounting bolts so I used a 13 mm box wrench and went 1/4 turn at a time until it was tight. I'm going to go buy a ratcheting set as a consolation prize to myself. Also, I cut the plastic off of my seat belts in order for them to fit between the buddy seat. You have to get a little creative with bolting down the seat belts. I did this last and think it might have been better if I put the seatbelt through the back rail on the subframe of the seats first and then bolt down the entire assembly to the cab. These seats sit lower than the old bench did. I'm 6'4 so it works out very well for me and allows me to see more of the speedometer through the steering wheel. They're very comfortable. Reminds me of sitting in my old 68 mustang. Now for that back wall carpet to cover up the sound matting.... Your interior looks amazing! I could never have black. I'm so dusty and covered in sawdust it would be a nightmare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Your interior looks amazing! I could never have black. I'm so dusty and covered in sawdust it would be a nightmare So I did a little diagnosis into why my temp gauge isn't reading. IR thermometer shows 200F at the manifold, 188 on the hose where it sits over the water neck and 165 at the radiator end of the hose. Grounding the sender wire doesn't budge the needle. Since i swapped over to Huck's flex circuit and repainted the needles I have to consider that I didn't get the square of the flex circuit fully seated, but if I have to pull the cluster again I'm definitely going to ohm out the wire from cluster connector to sender connector. It was snowing this morning and slowly changed over to rain. Crappy time to pull the cluster because I have to be standing outside the truck with the door open while I R&R, plus whatever time it takes to 'prove' the wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 So I did a little diagnosis into why my temp gauge isn't reading. IR thermometer shows 200F at the manifold, 188 on the hose where it sits over the water neck and 165 at the radiator end of the hose. Grounding the sender wire doesn't budge the needle. Since i swapped over to Huck's flex circuit and repainted the needles I have to consider that I didn't get the square of the flex circuit fully seated, but if I have to pull the cluster again I'm definitely going to ohm out the wire from cluster connector to sender connector. It was snowing this morning and slowly changed over to rain. Crappy time to pull the cluster because I have to be standing outside the truck with the door open while I R&R, plus whatever time it takes to 'prove' the wire. Bummer, Jim! But at least you know where to look. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampedout Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Sam - I'm glad the fluid change helped. Some times it makes a huge difference. As for the electrical manual, what one did you get? I have all of the EVTMs, but there were other manuals. The cover says: 1984 Truck Shop Manual Body Chassis Electrical Medium Heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 The cover says: 1984 Truck Shop Manual Body Chassis Electrical Medium Heavy Interesting. You have one book that does all of that? And it is for the medium and heavy duty trucks? I think the books for our trucks are for the light duty trucks and each of those titles is a separate book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Interesting. You have one book that does all of that? And it is for the medium and heavy duty trucks? I think the books for our trucks are for the light duty trucks and each of those titles is a separate book. It was above freezing today soon I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what is going on with my gauges. The oil gauge seems to function but neither the temp or fuel gauges budge. The MeterMatch doesn't help with the fuel gauge either. I tried swapping the engine warning circuit board that screws down over those two. I added a ground to both the A & B plugs. Ohmed out the traces on the flex. I don't know but it seems odd that the lower instrument of both sets have checked out. If the oil pressure were screwy I'd say no power, but I test and there is. I needed to give it a break for today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbill Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 It was above freezing today soon I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what is going on with my gauges. The oil gauge seems to function but neither the temp or fuel gauges budge. The MeterMatch doesn't help with the fuel gauge either. I tried swapping the engine warning circuit board that screws down over those two. I added a ground to both the A & B plugs. Ohmed out the traces on the flex. I don't know but it seems odd that the lower instrument of both sets have checked out. If the oil pressure were screwy I'd say no power, but I test and there is. I needed to give it a break for today. Jim, Thanks for the updates on your gauge "adventure", I'm sure all of us will benefit from your journey. Gary, FWIW, it was a balmy 70 deg today in sunny SC, I really feel for all the folks in the cold, and misery. Didn't get a lot done today, new front wheel bearing yesterday, cleaned up my mess from yesterday, couple other honeydos, got my second Covis vac this morning....All is well, Blessings to all. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Jim, Thanks for the updates on your gauge "adventure", I'm sure all of us will benefit from your journey. Gary, FWIW, it was a balmy 70 deg today in sunny SC, I really feel for all the folks in the cold, and misery. Didn't get a lot done today, new front wheel bearing yesterday, cleaned up my mess from yesterday, couple other honeydos, got my second Covis vac this morning....All is well, Blessings to all. Bill Glad to hear y'all are getting vaccinations. Good news on the single shot efficacy from J&J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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