That's pretty much what I figured at first for the 160° t-stat, but they only ran stock timing with it and didn't push it any further.

Not sure about the warranty situation. I'm going to let it stay as is for now and see what happens as we get into winter. If I want to do something, I'll ask the builder first.

I may go to running the vacuum advance off of manifold vacuum instead of ported vacuum. I used to get a better idle out of it like that, and it may help MPGs a little. I know I'm not going to get good gas mileage with the truck, but I'd like to do what little bit I can in adjustments and such to help a little after the break in period.


That can happen. Between the winter blend fuels and the low temps it can definitely cause decreased gas mileage.

Picked up some front axle grease seals and front rotors at NAPA. Tomorrow I'll take the hubs apart and get the rotors off. If the bit of warp in the current rotors can be cut out without making the rotors too thin I may use them, and if not then I'll have the new rotors on hand and ready to throw on.

I was surprised at the price of the grease seals, but it is what it is. They were $18.69 each. Dana axle stuff is expensive. Bronco Graveyard sells them for $6, but I wanted them now and not in a week.

The rotors were like $87 total for NAPA Premium ones. Hopefully my current rotors can be cut okay and I'll be taking the new rotors back, but if not I felt like I better have not skimped on them. I could have gotten Duralast rotors a bit cheaper from Autozone, but they seem to warp more easily and it seems that they'll rust overnight... Brakes are something you don't really want to go cheap on...

Got to the front rotors this evening/night. Cut the drivers side rotor on the truck. Had to take off the manual 4x4 hub to fit the adapter for the rotor machine.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=141768

I found that the rotor was loose on the hub on the passenger side, so I ended up taking the hub off on that side. Took a bit of taking the studs in/out and beating them through to get them to go together well. That was likely where the shake was coming from when I got on the brakes. After taking the hub inn and off, I also machined that rotor on the truck.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=141767

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=141769

Now I get to take back $130 worth of rotors/seals back to NAPA!

You didnt use the new seals ? Nice to see a rotor get turned and not just tossed in the trash! Not a mechine in 300 miles of me anymore....

Turned out that I didn't even need to remove the drivers side hub because just taking the 4x4 locker out gave me enough clearance the for adapter for the on-car brake lathe. So no seal needed there. On the other side I did take the hub off, but the grease seal looked almost new and didn't get hurt so I just reused it. It's my truck, so I was okay with doing that. If someone else got me to do the job on their vehicle I probably would've just thrown the new seal in there anyhow.


I know what you mean about machining rotors/drums. Seems like it's becoming a lost art. It just takes too long at shops to machine them (especially if you have to wait in line for the machine). Plus if a shop slaps on all new parts, then it may be less likely for the costumer to come back with any issues.

Shops make markup on new parts.
What can they charge to turn a drum or rotor, $10?

Lots of small car rotors are too thin to cut, even once.

The shop I use sold their Ammco lathe 5 years ago. :(

Yep, if they can mark up more than that then there's no use in having the expensive machine. Around here you can get them machined for $10, a better option in my opinion if you have enough material to still be within spec. Only a few places will do it. Luckily, I had access to the machine at school and did it for free.

In some cases, machining rotors on a vehicle is more time efficient and easier than replacing (again, if you can machine within spec). On my truck, it took about an extra 25 minutes to take the hub off, beat the studs out, put studs back in, repack outer bearing, and reassemble on the passenger side. That's aside from the time diagnosing the rotor/hub looseness issue I had that was making a shaking when I was braking. At least I did get to look at the bearings by taking it apart. They looked great.

True in some cases. Usually factory rotors have enough material to cut them. Many aftermarket ones have enough to be cut after they're worn, but not if they're cheaper ones (which is what must people buy).

Tracked fuel mileage again. 8.9 mpg for what was about 50/50 mixed driving of 50-70 mph highway, and 25-45 mph "in town" roads with stoplights/signs. That was mostly rational driving. About 5 extra minutes of idling in there at 1000 rpm.

I should probably cut the idle down a little bit seeing as I have it at 1050 out of gear hot, and about 800-850 in gear hot. The only thing that concerns me about that is the in-gear low idle makes the oil pressure pretty low. I think I may switch to a little bit heavier oil next change and see if I'm comfortable lowering the idle then.

So, since switching to a different oil pressure gauge, I've gotten a more accurate reading. Running 10w30 a hot idle in-gear @800 rpm is about 10-12 psi after running on the highway, or about 15 psi otherwise. Hot idle out of gear @1000 rpm is 20-22 psi. I feel that the hot idle in gear is a little low for my liking even though its technical okay. I talked to the engine builder this evening, and he said that a heavier oil is definitely a good idea. He said that it just had to run 10w30 at first because it was the camshaft break-in oil. He said to go to a 10w40 or 15w40. He said even 20w50 would be okay the way they built it if I wasn't happy with a 40 weight.

Edit: I don't think those readings are correct. I've ordered an Autometer oil pressure gauge that will be going in on Thursday.

I located a "pin-hole" leak in my power steering cooler that runs across the front crossmember. I think it was struck somewhere along the line with various engine swap stuff going on, and it's also a little bent. Hopefully this coming weekend I'll get the chance to pull it off and put on a different cooler. Luckily I've got a stock 4" x 11" power steering cooler that mounts in front of the radiator. It's an original Ford part. I have a feeling that it's also more capable of cooling than the cross-member type.

It's been spraying fluid and now I'm going to have to de-grease stuff...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=142561

I told you man, don't even make me post a picture of the underside of my truck! You'll have nightmares for weeks! :-X04

lol... C'mon, we need a pic now, haha. Post up

It's your thread.. So, if you insist! Note that the pile of what appears to be throw up consists of oil, power steering fluid (ATF) and coolant. I park there every day so it's not like that is from just today.. but still.

http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1384889083

http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1384889058

http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1384889020

:-X24

Yeah, you've definitely got some leaks to take care of, haha

Forr35T the 86 F150 we use to have had a powersteering leak for years I had to laugh as me and my dad would always say that the ford was leaving its mark. LOL Went to delearhsips like Dodge and Chevy and others when looking at trucks with that one and it seemed to leak more.
Trav

HA! Yeah, you can easily find where I park at home, work and school every day.. I bet if you look close enough you could find the route I take to get to those places. :-X04

The problem isn't really the leaks.. It's the money I keep having to pour under the hood. I could probably fix everything in a weekend but I used my truck EVERY DAY and just can't have it down for that long.

:-blah :-hijacked

I know what you mean. Maybe just fix one at a time over several weekends. That way you can stop bleeding money into fluids.

Got the Autometer gauge installed. No more oil pressure concerns. Reading as is should, about 80 PSI cold start (60°F), 55 psi while running at about 50 MPH, and 30 psi at hot idle in gear @800 RPM.

It looks sweet and operates really smoothly. I think I may upgrade my other gauges to LED to match.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=142908

Which gauge line is that from Autometer? I am looking to install some gauges and I really like the look of that one.

Wasn't a great picture of it. It is SUPER crisp looking. Has white LEDs behind it and a red LED pointer.

Honestly, I hadn't even seen myself buying expensive gauges, but after seeing this one and using it, I'm definitely going to buy Autometer products in the future. It is accurate, good looking, works fluidly (many mechanical gauges will "flutter" under certain conditions (usually deceleration), and bright. I really think you get what you pay for with it.

Here's a link:

Sounds exactly like what I am looking for. I already switched the cluster and heater controls to white LED's so I figured the aftermarket ones should be as well. With that in mind I think that line is the one I am going to use. Probably wont get them until I get around to building my new engine next year (hopefully).

The link given crosses to the Sport-Comp II line of Autometer gauges.

I had a 2-1/16" tach and a vacuum gauge in my '94, Crunch, from the Z-Series line. I put them in a dual pillar mount. They worked great right up until I turned the headlights on, probably because I didn't have a good ground.

Yeah, probably a ground issue.

I like the Autometer so far. Also like the fact that it still a mechanical gauge. A lot of people say just go to electric for a quality gauge, but a really prefer the mechanical oil pressure gauge. No issues with resistance being messed up in a wire or anything, just piped into the engine.

Finally got the air horns mounted tonight. Not hooked up yet, but I also got the air valve mounted in the cab and air lines running in/out of the cab to/from it.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=142996

Here's a front view, not a great pic...:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=142997


Hopefully I'll finish getting the air plumbed in the next couple of days.

Here's a better picture of the gauge for those interested:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=143171


Finished the plumbing for the air horns. They sound cool and quite a bit louder than the stock horn.

Hey BigBlockf350 What type of gauges are those.

The oil pressure gauge is my new Auto Meter gauge:

The other two are cheap SunPro gauges. I plan to replace the SunPro water temp gauge with an Auto Meter unit after using this oil pressure gauge. You really get what you pay for. I'll probably keep the SunPro voltmeter and upgrade it to LED backlight.

So did you make that little thing they are sitting in then or can you buy that.

Just a 3 gauge pod mount. You can probably get one for like $10 online.

What did u do to the gauges that are in your dash then.

The temp and oil pressure gauges in the dash are non functional since the 1973 468ci engine is in it. They were disconnected after the old 351 came out of the truck. The dash gauges aren't good by any stretch, so I really don't care that they're not there.

The voltmeter in the dash is still functional.

I plan to tackle the speedometer gear tomorrow afternoon. I need to pull it out and figure out how many teeth it has and how many teeth I need a new one to have to get my speedometer right with these 37s.

I've also got some LEDs that I'll be playing with. More on that later.

I'm trying to understand how you have air horns and we have NO video. :)

I'll upload a video soon, haha. The only thing I have deft to do is run power back to the compressor. I just wired it up with jumper cables to test it out so far.

Okay, more progress this afternoon! Wired some red LEDs into the bed light to turn it into a 3rd brake light. I have one set of LEDs that come on when the other exterior lights come on, and another set that comes on when I step on the brake.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=143257


I also put 2 more amber lights on the front. They're also LEDs, and they're the bottom two in the pic:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=143256

looking awesome Collin.
Trav

Thanks man. Been having fun with it.

I just got the other two electric horns onto the truck. They're stock Spartan horns for this era truck. The original horn is a low tone, and the new ones are a low tone and a high tone. So 2 low tone horns and 1 high tone horn. Much louder now.

Not that I've got those all set up, I'll record a video for you all to hear the electric horns and the air horn. Maybe tomorrow, we'll see.

Delivered my 1971 460 short block this morning to a buyer. About 65 miles there, and 55 back and to school. Filled up on the way there and on the way back, and averaged 10.2 MPG running the highway between 50-70 mph. That's on 87 octane. Might try 89 octane the next highway trip I make and compare numbers. At 10-20 cents a gallon more it may be worth it if my mpg goes up much. Before the rebuild I always got a little better on 89.

that's neat, did you just use led strips?