77 F150 Radius Bushings, Other ??'s

[fozzy]

I have finally gotten around to messin with my 1977 f150 again. It was a rough two years because my Big brother passed away in 2006 and he helped me build this truck and taught me everything I know about Mechanics in General. I do not have the benefit of his experience at hand anymore so I am turning to you.

I want to freshen up my rebuilt 400 (has about 40K since rebuild). I also want to replace the radius arm bushings (the dangerous way? ie easiest).

1. Whats the easiest way to replace the radius arm bushings? My brother and I did these like 10 years ago and he said it was a dangerous method. I think we unbolted the arms and used a jack and it pulled the arm out and allowed us to slip in some bushings. Can you enlighten me on this method and/or point me to a link?

2. I am going to replace the cam (I loved the edl. performer I used to have but I cracked it in half at 75mph). Do you have to remove the condensor to do a cam change? I didnt have AC at the time my brother did this for me, so we removed radiator etc. Can I get by without removing the condensor? I really like having AC.

3. Is there a straight forward write up on replacing cam? He was very meticulous when we did this especially when it concerned timing etc, and re-inserting the distributor

4. Aussie heads: I am eyeing some aussie heads for the same engine. I want to know if I can use my valvetrain hardware and swap over to these bare aussie heads. The heads I have on now are more recent than the engine and have good valves, springs etc (less than 20K). Can I switch all this over to the Aussie heads and go? They are the 2V close chamber heads I am looking at.

Thanks guys. I have spent 6-8 hours sifting through all sorts of trheads on a lot of topics and I wanted to condense my issues into one thread.

[Dirt racer]

Sorry about your brother, have 2 myself. My 75 truck is a 4x4 so the radius arms would be a different deal. It has been about 15 years since I did mine. I do remember just taking like the shocks loose and the front axle stuff and using jacks and prybar to get it out and back in. 2. I could be wrong but I don't think you would have room to pull the cam out with the condenser still in. 3. I would just put #1 piston at top deal center before you take it out, mark the dist. the timing chain marks will be lined up. Just put the new cam in and line everything back the way it was. Just don't rotate the motor while apart. 4. Don't know anything about the Aussie heads. Perfer aluminum heads myself. Hope I gave you a little help.