salans7 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 '87 or '88 was the last year for a gauge that was an actual reading. I posted some comparison photos of my old flex circuit and the 1990 one Gary sent me from Huck, showing the resistor Ford put across the oil pressure gauge so it had a steady reading. I cut the 20 ohm resistor out and soldered in a wire. I am not exactly sure when Ford did away with using a sender. It was definitely in the OBS era. Maybe Bill or Shaun would know? I can't tell you for sure, but I know 98+ Rangers all have oil pressure switches, so I'm sure it was done in the early 90's. Even worse, the switches are known for failing after a few years, causing your gauge to flicker around. That freaks plenty of people out when they don't know how worthless the newer oil pressure gauges are in the first place. I think the switch flicks the gauge to middle range as soon as it registers 5 lbs of oil pressure. So by the time the gauge tells you the engine has no oil pressure, the engine is already cooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 No Jim I didn’t know that. I see people often complain about the Bullnose gauges being no good and inaccurate, but I find they work pretty well myself. I expect the hot idle oil pressure might be a bit low on this old thing so I might throw some 10w40 in it next oil change. I did spend the morning wrenching on the old '80 project truck, and she now moves under her own power and now also have real power steering! I bought a reman C2 pump from RockAuto, and darn it all if the thing doesn't whine a little bit...I don't mean badly...it just whines like the Bullnoses all did back in the day. I also installed a new C2 pump on my '84 a couple years ago, but it's as quiet as can be....can't remember if it was a new one or a reman though. Anyway...this evening was bezel night! I picked up a black weave bezel that was removed, I believe from a 1981. The indicator lens on the far left is a blank/black one...if that means anything. The one in my 1980 has blank/black lenses in both the far left and far right indicator openings. This bezel was filthy dirty and both the "Fasten Belts" and "Brake" lens were broken. That didn't matter to me as I needed to move a couple of the lenses around to match up with my 1980 indicators. It also made them a real treat to clean. 1980 indicator arrangement: Interesting...and I previously never noticed this, but the whole bank of indicators in a separate piece of plastic that it glued into the main bezel. The piece on this bezel is all faded grey...you can see it in this pic: In any case, I'm happy with it for a $40 bezel. No broken tabs, and now fits the 1980 indicators. I then painted it with Satin Black: Letting it dry tonight and I'll re-do all the silver edge trim tomorrow night and she'll look like brand new. They're going to look kind of out of place in this old beater of a truck, but I can't stand looking at ratty bezels. If everything else on this truck looks like crap, the darn thing will have nice bezels...lol. With freshly painted gauge needles and cleaned up bezels, it makes the interiors of these trucks really pop imho. That's it for tonight. Peace & axle grease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I did spend the morning wrenching on the old '80 project truck, and she now moves under her own power and now also have real power steering! I bought a reman C2 pump from RockAuto, and darn it all if the thing doesn't whine a little bit...I don't mean badly...it just whines like the Bullnoses all did back in the day. I also installed a new C2 pump on my '84 a couple years ago, but it's as quiet as can be....can't remember if it was a new one or a reman though. Anyway...this evening was bezel night! I picked up a black weave bezel that was removed, I believe from a 1981. The indicator lens on the far left is a blank/black one...if that means anything. The one in my 1980 has blank/black lenses in both the far left and far right indicator openings. This bezel was filthy dirty and both the "Fasten Belts" and "Brake" lens were broken. That didn't matter to me as I needed to move a couple of the lenses around to match up with my 1980 indicators. It also made them a real treat to clean. 1980 indicator arrangement: Interesting...and I previously never noticed this, but the whole bank of indicators in a separate piece of plastic that it glued into the main bezel. The piece on this bezel is all faded grey...you can see it in this pic: In any case, I'm happy with it for a $40 bezel. No broken tabs, and now fits the 1980 indicators. I then painted it with Satin Black: Letting it dry tonight and I'll re-do all the silver edge trim tomorrow night and she'll look like brand new. They're going to look kind of out of place in this old beater of a truck, but I can't stand looking at ratty bezels. If everything else on this truck looks like crap, the darn thing will have nice bezels...lol. With freshly painted gauge needles and cleaned up bezels, it makes the interiors of these trucks really pop imho. That's it for tonight. Peace & axle grease! Nice! Is that hot glue or RTV that you put the lenses in with? Somebody, before I owned it, glued mine in and it looks like a two year old did it. Drives me nuts! Need to do that to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 Nice! Is that hot glue or RTV that you put the lenses in with? Somebody, before I owned it, glued mine in and it looks like a two year old did it. Drives me nuts! Need to do that to mine. Hot glue! Just one of those cheap little guns (borrowed from Mrs Rembrant’s crafts toolbox LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Hot glue! Just one of those cheap little guns (borrowed from Mrs Rembrant’s crafts toolbox LOL) Ha! Cool! That’s where I’ll get a hot glue gun, mrs grumpin’s stash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Hot glue! Just one of those cheap little guns (borrowed from Mrs Rembrant’s crafts toolbox LOL) Ha! Cool! That’s where I’ll get a hot glue gun, mrs grumpin’s stash! I've owned a 1980 black weave bezel, a 1982 rosewood bezel, a 1986 silver weave bezel, and now a 1983 rosewood bezel. None of them have had the indicators as one piece, separate from the bezel itself. That's strange as I've never seen that before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I did spend the morning wrenching on the old '80 project truck, and she now moves under her own power and now also have real power steering! I bought a reman C2 pump from RockAuto, and darn it all if the thing doesn't whine a little bit...I don't mean badly...it just whines like the Bullnoses all did back in the day. I also installed a new C2 pump on my '84 a couple years ago, but it's as quiet as can be....can't remember if it was a new one or a reman though. Anyway...this evening was bezel night! I picked up a black weave bezel that was removed, I believe from a 1981. The indicator lens on the far left is a blank/black one...if that means anything. The one in my 1980 has blank/black lenses in both the far left and far right indicator openings. This bezel was filthy dirty and both the "Fasten Belts" and "Brake" lens were broken. That didn't matter to me as I needed to move a couple of the lenses around to match up with my 1980 indicators. It also made them a real treat to clean. 1980 indicator arrangement: Interesting...and I previously never noticed this, but the whole bank of indicators in a separate piece of plastic that it glued into the main bezel. The piece on this bezel is all faded grey...you can see it in this pic: In any case, I'm happy with it for a $40 bezel. No broken tabs, and now fits the 1980 indicators. I then painted it with Satin Black: Letting it dry tonight and I'll re-do all the silver edge trim tomorrow night and she'll look like brand new. They're going to look kind of out of place in this old beater of a truck, but I can't stand looking at ratty bezels. If everything else on this truck looks like crap, the darn thing will have nice bezels...lol. With freshly painted gauge needles and cleaned up bezels, it makes the interiors of these trucks really pop imho. That's it for tonight. Peace & axle grease! So you hot-melt glued the lenses in? I've been worried that it would melt the lens, but it didn't? And you can't see it? As for the separate piece, I'd never noticed that. Interesting. Can it come out? Can we swap them around that way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 So you hot-melt glued the lenses in? I've been worried that it would melt the lens, but it didn't? And you can't see it? As for the separate piece, I'd never noticed that. Interesting. Can it come out? Can we swap them around that way? Going to have to take a look at my bezels now. I like the hot glue idea. I've taken a soldering iron to them to melt them back and while it worked, didn't work great. This is much better. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 So you hot-melt glued the lenses in? I've been worried that it would melt the lens, but it didn't? And you can't see it? As for the separate piece, I'd never noticed that. Interesting. Can it come out? Can we swap them around that way? Gary, The glue doesn't melt the lens. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, but I've done this before a couple times. Seems every used bezel I've looked at has at least one lens that is broken. I just cut them short so that when I lay down the glue on each end it sits on the black plastic and the lens, overlapping each by about 1/8" or so. Better pics from an older thread here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Dash-Bezel-Lense-Replacement-tp52379.html The lenses are attached a couple different ways. I have a newer bezel here...1985 I think, and its like they used hot pokers to melt the lens into the black plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 So you hot-melt glued the lenses in? I've been worried that it would melt the lens, but it didn't? And you can't see it? As for the separate piece, I'd never noticed that. Interesting. Can it come out? Can we swap them around that way? Gary, The glue doesn't melt the lens. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, but I've done this before a couple times. Seems every used bezel I've looked at has at least one lens that is broken. I just cut them short so that when I lay down the glue on each end it sits on the black plastic and the lens, overlapping each by about 1/8" or so. Better pics from an older thread here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Dash-Bezel-Lense-Replacement-tp52379.html The lenses are attached a couple different ways. I have a newer bezel here...1985 I think, and its like they used hot pokers to melt the lens into the black plastic. Thanks, Cory. And I now remember the previous post, but I didn't pick up on that you used a glue gun. Yes, you said you did, but.... I'm reminded frequently that I have some changes to make 'cause my bezel has Upshift in the far left opening and I need it to say Check Engine when I go to EFI. But that can wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts