Looks like a nice project. Can't wait to see it done.
Trav

 

Alright. I may be wrong, but im pretty sure.

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 3

 

Factory Rims were 15x6 & 15x7.
Nice project keep us updated with pictures.

 

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

My bites for today were to:

1) Drill out the old ignition tumbler and install the new one. I was nervous about this because obviously if you screw it up you're also changing out more than just the tumbler. Thanks to the various threads here it went smoothly. The new tumbler is in and now I can unlock the steering. Yippee Skippee! We had loaded it unto the trailer with the wheels locked turned slightly to the left. Made for fun times.

2) Got the engine turning over. I had purchased a new battery, the truck didn't have one, and a new starter solenoid, just in case. Just in case won the day.

The engine turns over smoothly. The fuel pump, or at least I think it's the fuel pump, cycles with the key on but not cranking. I'll do something about the oil tomorrow and see if it will actually start. Sometime mid day tomorrow UPS should deliver my new code reader. Hopefully I won't need it, but realistically it is most likely.

On a theme that I'm sure will continue for a while, the more you look the more you notice. The vacuum line to what I believe is the blend door is broken off at the solenoid with no sign of the other section anywhere.

 

Sounds like you got quite a bit done today. I have some wiring to take care of before I can get mine to start again.

 

that vacuum line always rots away, it was gone on my 89 too. its a real pain to replace also, runs immediately into the firewall and behind the dash.

I believe my stock rims were 15x7. For a 12.5" wide tire 10" wide rims are optimal, thats probably what youve got. they help the tire wear much more evenly

 

I'd forgotten I had started this thread. Guess I'd better update it.

When I was in the software industry the joke was that we hated progress reports so much because they illustrated how little progress we had made. Well RATT is kind of like that. I was hammered work-wise from later winter through the beginning of September. I'd come home whipped and not want to do anything. It was going 7 days a week, of yeah, and in the middle of all this there are the Honey Do's, etc. Finally things slowed down in early September just in time for me to severely strain my back. Now, just in time for the fall rains to begin I have time and am healthy enough to finally get moving on the truck.

So what's happened. I got the truck running. A couple fusible links had been physically trashed by the guy borrowing the battery (see above) so I removed all the fusible links and put in a fuse / relay box in the engine compartment where the jack used to mount. After fixing the fusible links, the truck started right up and ran well.

Next were the brakes. I drove the truck (Registration? We don' need no stinkin' registration.) to my buddy's shop and we did the brakes. As mentioned above the driver side front brake was clamped off with two pairs of vise grips. Do you think this might have been the cause of the problem?





I wonder why the brakes don't work?

I now have new front rotors, calipers, pads, bearings, oil seals, and soft lines on both sides. Also swapped the old automatic hubs for a set of new Warn Premium. It was nice driving the truck back to my house. I could put on the brakes without it trying to drive into the ditch along the road.

The progress for today was to remove the front clip and core support. Thanks to oddfordjunkie I have a good replacement core support from the JY at a reasonable price.




Front clip and core support removed

Next on the list is to work on the engine while it's all open and easy to get to. To be done is to free up the distributor which is frozen in place, 135 amp 3G alternator upgrade (already sitting on the bench), vacuum line replacements, air injection delete (I think), coil, cap, wires, plugs, and a general cleanup of the engine area.

I've got to get all this done and the truck put together and drivable by early December. I have a 12/10 appointment with Washington State Patrol for a VIN inspection which is required before you can register a salvage title vehicle. This was the first appointment that was available when I called the first week of September. Three *$%^Y& months to get an appointment for an inspection. Talk about over charged and under served! Oh well, I'll cut my rant short.

 

Glad to hear your still workin away at 'er. I was wondering how things had been going, i like this truck

 

Subbing to this thread, loving it so far I can't wait to see it done and in action.

 

Thanks for the encouragement from all. Now everybody think happy thoughts to keep the rain clouds away for the next few weeks.

 

Great project! I look forward to seeing the progress you make! I totally understand being busy and getting behind on the repairs. Mine is drivable, but there is a lot it needs. So I'm frustrated that I haven't been making progress on it lately!

Anyway, keep up the good work. And keep the pics coming as you do!!

 

Started the external rework process on the engine. With the core support out it is really easy to access things.

I got the frozen distributor loose and out. The good news is that I remembered to mark the position of the distributor in relation to the manifold. The bad news is that I forgot to mark the position of the rotor.

Got the air pump and some of the related plumbing removed. Still need to deal with the hoses and fittings behind the engine. The vacuum lines will be removed when I replace all the vacuum lines.

Got the alternator removed in prep for 3G update; the fan removed in prep for an electric fan upgrade; the fresh air plumbing and filter box out of the way.

Dropped the coolant and washer fluid reservoir assembly and cracked it. Anything plastic is so brittle. I swear, you look at it sideways and it cracks or breaks.

Removed the throttle body in prep for cleaning. Man is that intake nasty! Any thoughts or recommendations?








Upper intake manifold is really nasty. I'm sure it's like this all the way down.





Scraping from inside the upper intake manifold.





Taking stuff off was pretty easy. No struggle with fasteners which was a surprise.

 

Today was one of those lots of work but no results days.

I decided to do a compression check out of curiosity since everything was so accessible and I'll be changing plugs anyway. Tried #1 cylinder and found that my compression tester needs new schrader valves.

Tried to get the miracle mystery mileage boost device off the fuel lines. I need to do some research to see how those fittings come apart. I wonder if they're the same as back at the fuel filter. I seem to recall reading something about pushing the fittings together, pressing in to release a catch, then pulling apart. Time to go search the forums.

Tried getting the old A/C compressor off. The bolts on this are goofy. They are a sloppy 10mm. Two came loose easily. Two started to round off. So I've got them soaking with Aerokroil.

Started getting the old power steering pump off. The instructions with the new pump said to use an "appropriate" puller to remove the pressed on pulley. Obviously the puller I used was not appropriate as will only a little pressure it split the edge of the plastic pulley off. Ok, fine, I'll order a new pulley.

Got the rest of the air pump plumbing removed. Still need to deal with the air injection pipe into the exhaust system and get bolts to plug the holes in the back of the heads. Since the whole exhaust system is pretty bad, I may just replace everything from the Y back.

Did a first round of Gunk and hose. It's lots better now. I'll do a second round to get the spots I missed and the really stubborn areas. But it looks better already.

So as you can see, lots of effort, but no one task completed.

I've been busy cleaning out the high bay in the barn so I can get the truck in there to work. This time of year it is either sunny, cold, and windy, or warm and wet. Neither are conducive to working on the truck. I'd like more days like today; a very rare sunny day with no wind and temperatures around 50.

 

I'm enjoying this thread! I recently bought a 1988 F150 that I'm slowly catching up to speed after a few years of neglected maintenance. Would you mind documenting the smog pump removal if possible? I'm getting "thermactor" codes, and I'm planning on removing the air pump and related at some point. Good luck with your truck!

 

I'd be happy to do so, not that I'm an expert in it. I'm mostly done so I'll summarize when I'm finished.