I have the original key to my truck in my hand. Oval on one side, "Family of Fine Cars" on the reverse.

 

Is it the flat headed key, or the round headed key?

 

Worked out the alignment the best I could with the parts available through work. Set the camber to spec but the caster is off. I won't worry too much about that since it doesn't wear tires. Note: the Hunter alignment program shows the wrong bushing for our pickups, press in instead of thread in. Reset the toe, replaced the input seal on the gearbox and installed the new steering shaft. No more darting down the lane.

Noticed my brake lights were on anytime the parks were on and the left turn wouldn't flash with the lights on. A few other quirks were going on too. When the PO wired in the trailer plug they used a junction box like is used on trailers (I did the same thing with dads 78). Unfortunately they also wired the left turn to the park lights. Makes no sense. Anyway, lights work correctly now.

Maintinence things to take care of: 1. turn signal switch 2. master cylinder gasket 3. tune up and air filter 4. u-joints 5. figure out why the speed control has decided to just slowly accelerate when it was working properly.

Next big project: cooling system upgrade (aluminum radiator, aluminum heater core, new hoses, Cougar fan, Taurus PD box) with 3g alternator, voltage meter, LED dash lights.

Looking into a Hydroboost as well. The factory booster is just barely adequate on 33" tires.

It's only money right?

 

Sounding real good!

I got my fan in last weekend. I have a spare Mark VIII single speed fan if you are interested. I wish I had the coin for an aluminum radiator right now.

Don't forget to put headlight relays in that Taurus box. That's one of things I have to finish up in mine.

 

I have a fan already. I am also planning headlight relays. When I run the fuses I am going to have each headlight on a seperate circuit the way new cars are.

The dealership Christmas party is next week in Boise so I have an excuse to stop by the pick a parts on the way home the next day.

Got it waxed today after work. Noticed water hanging from the upper window seal. Looks like I have another thing to work on. That windshield needs to go anyway because the blue tint across the top is in my eyeline since I am 6'4".

Probably helping my brother tomorrow with his 79.

 

So I have been driving a little here and there. Haven't managed to knock too many to-do's off the list yet. I did manage to park it too close to the fence and have been working at getting the hard water buildup off of it. CLR does wonders. Takes the oxidation off well too. I will have to go across the whole body to make it match again when I get some more nitrile gloves, then wash and wax.

 

I'm back at it. Since the I have now paid off the pickup and the local Chamber of Commerce is trying to break the world record for the largest parade of pickups on July 5 I have a deadline to get the cooling system sorted out. I replaced the blown out valve cover gaskets tonight after work as well as the battery cables to start. I've got a list of parts to buy. Should be fun.

 

Post pics of the parade

 

I'm a bit slow updating this, take my birthday away. I have installed a 3 core aluminum radiator ordered from Ledfoot Racing in CA. That 3 year old in China can weld pretty. My brother had a bad experiance with the outfit he ordered his 2 core from in PA so tried this one. Fits great, no leaks. They have 2, 3, and 4 core options and are reasonably priced. Installed a Taurus 3.0l 3g alternator, 98 Exploder power distribution box, Derale adjustable dual fan controller, and Caddy 4 chime horns. The Derale controller cannnot run the fan directly so I set it up to run two relays in the PD box. Fan 1 will turn on and off the low speed relay. Power is also routed through the high speed relay through the normally closed contacts. When Fan 2 activates 10*F above the Fan 1 set point the high speed relay activates turning off the low speed contact of the Ford fan and running high only, preventing the circuit from trying to run both speeds at the same time. I used the factory horn wire to run a relay for the new horns. Sounds like a train now. One more relay is a keyed power accesory that for now only runs the fan controller. I painted the front of the radiator support and also installed a B&M super cooler for the transmission. Way overkill for a half ton but I got the biggest one that would fit in the space. Also got rid of the stupid Oregon pine tree plates and have a nice new blue Pacific Wonderland set.

Running around town in triple digits my temp gauge is on the "M", down the highway on the "E". Now I need to send off one of my extra ammeters to be turned into a voltmeter and install the Hi-Po Parts LED dash lights.


Pickup parade July 5, 2014, Vale OR.





Don't worry, I cleaned up the wiring a lot after this pic.

 

Ok, now that I am waiting on parts for the Camper Special, I decided to start phase one of my brake upgrade. The vacuum booster died on me this past fall. Major vacuum leak and very hard pedal, probably something I have been fighting longer than I realized. I have been storing up parts a little at a time to do a F350 brake swap with Hydroboost.

So far my parts list is

CARDONE SELECT 131682 Master cylinder (still on its way)
A-1 CARDONE 184083 Thunderbird caliper (still on its way)
EDELMANN 71416 F-Superduty Hydroboost hose
EDELMANN 71442 F-Superduty Hydroboost hose
Astrovan Hydroboost (the straight one, not the angled one)
EIS EW18984 F350 wheel cylinder
EIS EW18985 F350 wheel cylinder
Ford/Borg-Warner transmission cooler D5TA-7A095-BA (this was originally the transmission cooler that I replaced with the bigger B&M unit)

More parts will be added, the other caliper for instance. I have a parts budget and couldn't get it this time around. Also planned are EBC pads and rotors as my rotors were just barely serviceable when I rebuilt the axle, I'm sure I will get them to warp with the Hydroboost.

Started phase one with the new power steering cooler install. I bought the wrong steel brake line to plumb the cooler so that is as far as I got today.

 

Well, finished plumbing the P/S cooler. The new lines don't quite have HIO quality bends but didn't come out too bad. Used a couple line separators from Vibrant Performance P/N
20608. I almost bought the Earls brand ones but buying these in singles was cheaper that the three pack of the others. Looks like I will need to fab a support bracket for the lines because of vibrations. Should be simple.

 

So the old alternator was no good so I bought a rebuilt one from RockAuto. I had to reclock it so the wiring lined up, but it's still not working. I thought I followed the diagram exactly.

Alternator charging stud to 175A fuse to + side of solenoid
Green/black wire tied into original green/black wire
Yellow wire to + side of solenoid.

I did fix the missing power to the cabin (thanks Josh) but is there a way to check if there is something wrong with my wiring? The truck starts but holds at 12.6V and if I pull battery cable it just dies. Should I try measuring voltage at the alternator and not the battery?

 

I saw another diagram that had the yellow wire come out of the three prong connector on the alternator and go to the charging stud on alternator. I tried that but still no luck. 🙁

 

Make sure you have a good fuse. Measure the voltage on both sides of it to the battery. If you have 12.6 on the battery side running and more on the alternator side the fuse or connections are suspect. What side of the solenoid do you have the alternator connected to? You won't charge on the starter side but the starter would possibly try running. Did you just turn the body or take it apart? I will look at my install to see how I have the wires.

 

Green w/red to green w/red. Orange to output. White w/black jumps to the single wire connector on the alternator. Output to fuse holder to positive of battery.