It's a thing o'beauty. It was one of the few things I had a "pro" do for me and eliminated all the slop and drift. Getting to our place from any direction, you have to navigate winding mountain canyon roads. We're not talking about, "Oooooh, pretty!", but rather roads where you can't see around the next corner in a lot of spots, and you better not be gazing around.

Festus takes those roads like he was born to it, taking every curve and corner like a Porsche on rails. My wife has even commented that he handles these roads better than our Mariner and F150.

 

Thanks. I guess I'll order a new set while I put the front end back in instead of piece-mealing the existing links.

 

Willey Joe, read your thread in the past two days. Great work on Festus and to the community: love the mix of lots of experience, knowledge, humor and a little bit of sarcasm. Feel already home.
Now as been a "leech" so far, I'm about ready to do the backbrief for the plans for my 82 F100 Flareside and hope for some great advice and tips (yes, from you too, Willey Joe).
Hug your wife and keep pushin, soldier!

Stephan,
German Army Liaison SGM, Ft Benning

 

Thanks for your service, brother, and thanks for reading along. I had hoped to post photos this week on more Festus projects but the weather's turning and it will have to wait.

As I've written many times, this is the place to be. You'll find a wealth of friendly, knowledgeable folks who love everything Bullnose.

I went through basic, AIT, and airborne school right in a row at "Fort Beginning". Holy smokes, that was a lifetime ago...

 

My son did exactly the same in 2007.

 

My thoughts exactly back then I was in excellent shape, nowadays I just have my back and bones to remind me of those glory days,

 

Yeah, it's nice to think I can still chew the leather, but my days of jumping out of planes are over.

But someone asked me recently why I carry a gun. I simply replied, "Because I'm a bit too old to take an ***-whuppin'." LOL

 

HAD to post these photos. Big wet snow up here over the last two days, about 20". This is big thick heavy spring snow.

We got up this morning and I noticed someone had come on the property, circled around Festus and Doc, and gone on down our driveway. I called the "neighbor" (property adjacent to us), and asked if he'd come around the creek, as we sometimes do when visiting. He replied, "I thought YOU had come over, then we saw a huge-*** bear crossing the field."

 

No bear or deer in my area, just coyotes.

I got 3-4" on the grassy areas and that's about it; I'm sure it's gone now as it's been raining for several hours....

 

Legend has it a few brave coyotes made it up this far a while ago.

Bears ran 'em all off.

 

Not a shameless thread bump; but this thread also serves me personally as a complete reference source for all things related to Festus. Much easier than searching through a few hundred photos.

These were discovered on eBay while I compiled the Bullnose Literature thread. The first two arrived today. The color brochure was purchased from seller lloydsautoliterature - I was surprised that it was in absolute mint condition, sealed in plasic, and impeccably packaged. You can see his listings if you enter his seller ID in the Advanced Search page. I'll definitely be using him again. I took a separate photo of the highly coveted "Truck Rifle Safe".

And finally got the '81 EVTM.

 

I'm pulling this from another thread I posted it on - showing the routing of the temperature switch and oil pressure switch wires.


(PHOTO 1) The location of the temperature switch. It is virtually impossible to see unless the exhaust manifold is removed; this was taken in late 2011. (If anyone has a manifold job in their future, buy a new temperature switch; it may be the only chance you'll have to replace it.)

Yours is so encased in spooge that I can't tell if it's actually connected to the switch; but the wire runs through the corrugated wire conduit (GREEN DOTS) around behind the engine, across the push rod cover, behind the distributor and coil (all this through another section of corrugated wire conduit), and actually connects to nothing until it reaches the harness on the fender well.

(PHOTO 2) Composite photo of push rod cover work done three years ago. There are six bolts on the push rod cover; in the upper photo they were stuck in a sheet of cardboard for painting. #3 and #6 have inherent brackets to hold the wire conduit in place. Red lines show these bolts in place. There should also be a pair of those lovely nylon Ford clips here; mine were shattered and I substituted zip ties. (Note that bolt #5 holds the brace for the dipstick tube.)

(PHOTO 3) Location of the oil pressure switch. Newer versions are larger and bell-shaped. There is a single wire here indicated by (YELLOW DOTS), and it runs through the same wire conduit as the temp switch. Inset photo shows the oil pressure switch from a slightly different angle.

(PHOTO 4) Green and yellow dots show the path of these two wires up to the harnesses on the wheel well.

(PHOTO 5) A package of Dorman Wire Conduit. Buy in bulk whenever you see some. ($3.49 at O'Reilly.)

(PHOTO 6) Better overall photo of the wires leading into the "corrugated" conduit alongside the push rod cover. Wiring from the distributor, plus the temp switch, plus the oil pressure switch all share this route.

 

Very nice to know, thank you!

 

A few years ago I posted some spare parts on the forum. I thought they were gone, the move across the country was crazy - but I found the box they were in. Some good stuff, posted on the sale forum:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15332093

 

Very pleased to report that the brake issue was resolved with no disassembly required!

I posted the issue on a separate thread:

*******************

We were taking Festus for an outing yesterday, as he hasn't been driven much due to the rain/snow/flooding. We have a hard-packed gravel "driveroad" (too big to be a driveway). As he was reaching the road I tapped on the brake pedal and the truck shuddered and slid to a quick halt. We were barely moving at the time, single digit MPH. "Well that's new," I observed, along with some possible profanity.

I backed him up and he was moving fine until I hit the brake again. My wife was watching this time and said the left rear tire completely seized up when I hit the brake pedal; rather than slowing to a stop, the brake just grabbed the tire and it instantly stopped turning. We did this a couple more times; there was no grabbing or locking up until I used the brake pedal - the tire was turning normally until braked. So it's not locking up or seizing in the sense that the brake is locking up or being stuck. No problems noted on the other three.

I backed Festus under the carport and examined the marks on the 'driveroad'; definitely just the left rear tire locking up.

*******************

As usual, FTE members were quick to respond. With dry weather finally here, I fired him up, stepped firmly and quickly on the brake eight (8) times, eased him out onto the driveway, and the problem was gone. Presumably some dirt and/or gravel had worked its way in there, and has been successfully eradicated. (NOTE: I was prepared to apply additional brake stomps, but decided to start with eight, and it worked. )

Nevertheless, very soon I will be under there closely investigating for the other issues/suggestions that were offered.

Thanks to Gary Lewis, Franklin2, InfantryCPT, GLR, and 1986F150six for their assistance.