If this doesn't work I'm considering adding a shield, just some custom bent galvanized sheet metal, to the fuel tank. The general concensus is, and has been for a couple years, that the 3" system should do it. We'll see but hopefully we won't hit any heavy headwinds and triple digit temps on this trip. Thanks for the thought Kirby!

 

Did the driver's side caliper and rotor today

 

I really need to do the brakes on mine, the pedal is a bit soft and the rear portion of my master cylinder was a bit low when I checked it a couple days ago.

No leaks, just low. After about 10-15 years I'd think it needs new calipers and rotors up front. Just another thing to spin wrenches on...

 

My rotors are so warped it's ridiculous. Just waiting on some money to show up so I can get new rotors and pads...

Sure will be weird to be able to stop without the whole truck pulsating. lol


Today I'm not doing anything to my truck....rather, I'm doing a front brake job on my mom's Jeep Cherokee. New rotors and pads, the current ones are shot.

 

Whats in the brown bottle? Mine is usually in a can.

 

I believe that was a shock top

 

I haven't done anything to my 80 F150, but I did spend most of saturday working on Dad's 74 F100. Fuel pump was bad, filling the crankcase with fuel, so I changed it and the oil. Drove it to a car wash 2 blocks away, and washed the area around the steering gear real good. Since I had a pocket full of quarters, I went ahead and blasted the top few layers of scum off the whole truck. Needs more bath time, but already made a huge improvement.
Got it back to my buddies place, and set about fixing the frame. I gotta say, that steering gearbox was the easiest one I have ever dropped. The mounting bolts were barely snug, and the drag link practically fell off the pitman arm as I unthreaded the nut.
I was a bit unsure about the idea of welding the cracks in the frame, until the guys in the 73-79 forum informed me that it is not uncommon to find cracks in the frame where the steering gear attaches, and welding them up is a pretty common cure with a very high success rate.
Got part of the welding done late saturday, and had planned to do more on sunday. Niether my buddy or I really felt up to doing much sunday evening, as he had spent 2-3 hours doing yard work, and I had spent 6 hours at my part time job. The unseasonally hot temps (upper 90's F) certainly did not help either. We decided to just call it a day and get some rest.
I would much rather take my time on this truck and do it right, then to rush it and possibly overlook something. Dad always said, if you don't have time to do it right, where are you going to find the time to do it again? Good advice........

 

picked up all the reducers, the rest of the clear coat, a gallon of epoxy primer, and activators....$812 later ($625 for the base coats, 1gal black / 2 qts Argent, primer, and a gallon of "bondo") i have all the materials to finally paint!

 

Looking forward to the finished product! Pics or it didn't happen!

 

Sounds like a plan to me! How exactly is your system set up? Manifolds, headers, pipe routing?

Any way you could ever get a recording of how your setup sounds?



Today I used my truck to pull up a metal post that someone made into a basketball goal. It was set into the ground several feet....so I got out my military chain (80,000lbs rated).

Instead of just pulling from a dead stop, I backed up a few feet, then accelerated a bit to yank the post out. Several tries and it was sheared almost completely off (everything below ground level stayed there...lol), so I just twisted it off by hand.

The force from yanking that post was enough to cause the hook on my chain to make a dimple in the bumper bracket I hooked it to (since the chain would've come off the trailer ball, with the way I hooked the chain to the top of the post for leverage), and it's gonna take a hammer to get it off...


Then I made $7 off that post and $3.25 off a copper water line from a dishwasher, so it all worked out.


Oh and I fixed the brakes on my mom's Jeep too. The rotors were heavily grooved, and one of the pads were so gone that the rivets were digging into the rotor. Not any more, though.

 

RW - Sounds like you'll have your dad's truck ready to take him on a ride on Father's Day. He'll love it!

Kirby - On your brakes I'll bet you find the calipers frozen such that they can't follow the rotor. Mine were frozen badly and the rotors were warped, with the combo making the truck shake when I stopped - worst I've ever seen. Freeing them and having the rotors turned made the brakes like new.

 

Sprayed carb cleaner around my intake today. The gasket between the manifolds is leaking and so it the EGR valve plate. Ordered a mr. gasket 260 manifold gasket for it, I already have the gasket for between the manifolds.

 

I dunno, still a lot to do. Brakes need looked into, as the front chamber (rear brake) of the master cyl was empty when I picked it up, and the front pads are about gone. Park brake cable seems to be sticking a bit too. At least one freeze plug and the radiator have signs of coolant seepage. Needs belts/hoses (coolant and vacuum). Plus, I still need to locate a 4 bbl intake. Granted, the best time to swap the intake would be during the freeze plug change, as that would keep any coolant from getting into the freshly changed oil......
Then there's the exhaust. At least one side needs a new manifold gasket.
None of this stuff is overly difficult, but added up, it's a bit of funding that I'm lacking.
There's also the minor issue of the tag. Sis didn't bother keeping it current, even though it's only ~$24/year. 2 years tag, plus penalty, adds up to $250 ($100 per year, on a $24 tag!!!). I've got a way around the penalty though.....
By the time I have got all this done, it will be hot enough to warrent charging the A/C back up, fortunately, it was converted to R134a years ago......
Oh yeah, gonna need a couple tires. I think I've got that covered though.

 

I don't remember noticing them being frozen when I had the caliper off to replace my wheel bearings a few months ago...then again, alot can happen in a short time.

I just know that lately, the brakes have started sort of playing chicken with me...I'll go to stop as I normally do, but then suddenly it'll feel like it wants to keep on moving, so I have to push harder on the pedal to get it to stop. No leaks anywhere that I'm aware of. I guess it's just telling me I need to get to work on it. lol

 

My truck was running hot. One day it nearly maxed out the guage then dropped down to normal. So I figured the thermostat was sticking. The next time it didn't drop down to normal so I replaced the thermostat with the factory replacement (195F). Today I drove it to work and when I got there (20 miles) the guage was at "H" So after work I put a self tapping screw into the clutch fan because it wasn't any stiffer when hot than when it was cool.

So driving it home with the locked fan it held at the line at the end of "Normal" and went to "H" when I hit the city speed limits.

All of the above was done in 90-97F heat with the heater turned all the way up.

I know I installed the thermostat the correct direction, maybe it got pinched in the housing?

I purchased a high flow Mr. Gasket 180F thermostat to try next.