Actually, I think you are right - even if being sarcastic. Probably AOD. But, I can merge my manual tranny cluster with that one, no problemo. I'll check out my tach and wiring later in the week. Tomorrow is the 270 mile run to see Dad. Tuesday I may see if I can get rid of this old bed I've got hanging around, taking up the lift.

 

I was being sarcastic and didn't state myself clearly the first time.
Sorry, for the Head up the A** sydrone.

I don't know what years will interchange,but this one looks like my 85.
I am not sure what model it came out of as it was in the trunk of a car to be crushed..I scarfed it and grill for nothing...

Good luck on your trip...Later...Trav...

 

Good save! I think the only clusters that don't work on the later trucks are those from the 80 trucks - IIRC. So, your gauges should work perfectly on my '81.

 

Barely any electrical parts from later trucks will work on an 80. Story of my life.

 

But, think how unique it makes it! No one else will have a truck like it, anywhere. Odd electrics, slide locks that work, a swiss-cheese frame, and a 400 in a Ranger XLT FX50. Gotta be an usual combo.

 

Are you talking about my truck, or yours?

 

Mine doesn't have odd electrics nor slide locks that work. Come to think of it, it doesn't have a 400 - yet.

 

I was confused because I don't have slide locks. My interior came from a 1982, and so the door panels didn't have the provisions for slide locks. I swapped the lock mechanisms, and so now I have 1982-1986 top pull locks.

My truck is also a Ranger Lariat, not a Ranger XLT.

But you're right, it is unique. I don't think any other brown/beige trucks have black interiors.

 

My bad. I forgot you'd changed the locks since you talked about fixing them. And, I should have remembered Lariat rather than XLT.

 

If I can ever find a set of black slide lock door panels, I will go back to slide locks for originality purposes. But for now, top pull locks.

You also forgot Trailer Special.

I've built my truck to be what I would have ordered back in 1979. Of course, I would have had to fight Ford on the interior color.

 

Are you hinting that your going to turn that 351M into a 400 or are you kidding ?

 

This belongs in the build thread, but I did hint here, so... If I sell Rusty w/o Dad's 351M, at some point I may just build it into a 400. My son was here recently and said "Dad, you have to have SOMETHING with a big, powerful engine to have fun with." But, there's the gas mileage consideration, not to mention the cost of building the engine. In other words, maybe.

 

I drove Dad's truck 263 miles today and averaged 14.25 MPG. If you remember, that's exactly what I was getting with Rusty before moving the engine over to Dad's truck, having the valves ground, and installing the ZF. So, why didn't it improve? Several reasons:

• Wind: Today was really windy, with gusts probably reaching 30 MPH out of the north. In fact, while the average was 14.25, the trip up was 13.1 and the trip back was 15.9 MPG. And, when I was going east and met an 18 wheeler it felt like I'd run into a wall when the air they were pushing hit the truck.
• Air/Fuel Ratio: I installed one notch smaller (richer) rods in the E'brock just before pulling the engine out, and never did get a read on what that did to the gas mileage. My bet is that it has been one of the things that has hurt MPG.
• Plugs: I also went one notch colder on plugs just before pulling the engine, and it is possible they are too cold and are causing mis-fires at some points.
• Speed: I was fairly successful holding the truck down to 62 MPH, which is the speed I drove Rusty on the previous test. But, I didn't ask my brother to drive at that speed and when I picked him up to go see Dad he drove 70+ and most of that was directly into the wind.
• Timing: I'm pretty sure that I have more initial lead dialed in than when the engine was in Rusty as it kicked back again today once when we started it. And, while additional timing usually helps on MPG, maybe 16 degrees BTDC is too much?

So, I have more work to do to get the MPG where I want it, but I think the potential is there. I need to get the A/F ratio meter connected to see what needs to be done to the carb, and I need to "read" the plugs to see what they can tell me. Further, I'm going to put the old balancer next to the one from Dad's 351M to see what I can determine about how far it has slipped and where I was really running the timing before.

But, I will say that the truck drives very well with the ZF5. It is very flexible and forgiving. As my brother said, "Going down the highway at 70 it feels like there is nothing holding it back, that it is rolling freely."

 

It sounds extremely promising.

 

Is kicking back when you stop cranking it and the engine turns the other way? Because mine does that alot!