Guys - I need your help. I've created a web site of my own and I need some input from ya'll regarding how it looks, works, etc. But, right now you are probably asking why would I need input from FTE'ers - right? Well, because a lot of the documentation on the web site will be Ford truck, and FTE related. In fact, I'm hoping this web site will be an aid to us FTE'ers and fill in some of the gaps I see.

One of the big needs, in my mind, is the ability to host documentation that can be updated frequently. For instance, you may remember the thread entitled Fastener Documentation wherein I shared a few catalog pages as well as a spreadsheet I'm using to keep track of the fasteners for these trucks. Well, I've done a lot more work on that spreadsheet as I'm getting ready to put Dad's truck back together. In fact, I'll probably be updating it several times a week over the next many months. And yet, there's really no easy way for me to delete the old file and attach a new one on a frequent basis in that thread.

Given that, I have a test web site up and one page is dedicated to the fastener issue: Ford 1980-86 Pickup Fasteners - Gary's Garagemahal. There I have some catalog illustrations, a link to download the latest spreadsheet, and an explanation on how it works. It all makes perfect sense to me, but then I designed it, so that's where I need your help. Please go take a look at the documentation and see if it and the explanations make sense. And then, if you will, please download the spreadsheet and see if it works for you.

Also, I'm planning to have links to things in FTE that I'm frequently going back to, and hope to do that in a way that is helpful to many of you. So, if you have some suggestions please let me know. I currently keep a set of FTE links on Evernote and see that I probably have more than 30 that I frequently go back to, like Cleveland Oiling System Mod's; Cowl Seal; Air Cleaners; ZF5 Swap; Dash Pads; ICVR How-To; etc. (Yes, I can eventually find them via searching, but it is sooooo much faster when you have a link.)

And, I'm hoping this will be where I slightly condense the "one or two" (would you believe over 20?) threads regarding Dad's truck into something reasonable.

Anyway, please look at the page on fasteners, and let me know if it works for you. If not, what needs to be fixed?

 

Well, out of 14 people who have looked at the site and 84 people who have looked at this thread, no one has responded.

So, it seems like, maybe:

• The way I explained it is too complex
• The spreadsheet is too off-putting
• People are afraid to download anything from the internet
• Or, I'm solving a problem that doesn't exist.

Can someone enlighten me? Which of those is it? Or, is it something else?

 

I haven't read it yet

 

Hmm. Your link came up 404 error, URL not found, but it gave me a clue and I tried Gary's Garagemahal - Home . That came up with a page with a short message, but no instructions how to proceed, so I clicked on an icon with three horizontal lines. Up comes a menu and navigation from there seems to work pretty well.

Have not read the content yet, but I will!

 

Bummer! Sorry about the link issue. This should be the right one: Ford 1980-86 Pickup Fasteners - Gary's Garagemahal

And, you've already given me the next thing to fix - the Home page. Guess it needs some instructions. Thanks!

 

Looks good so far can't wait to see more stuff added to it

 

Thanks. I assume you mean you've tried the spreadsheet and it worked. Or, was that the whole website? Just wanting understand.

 

Just cruised the website. I'm on my phone so haven't looked at the spreadsheet yet but I will shortly just got to fire up my laptop. I will let you know when I try that out.

 

the spreadsheet is nice a little confusing at first but i like the links to the websites and descriptions on how part a attaches to part b. Is there any way to add more fasteners from other areas of the truck such as the interior of the cab etc?

 

My intent is to ultimately have a spreadsheet that has essentially every nut and bolt for these trucks. But, that is a LOT of work, and won't happen quickly. However, as I put Dad's truck together I have an opportunity to fill out a lot more of the spreadsheet, so there should be progress in the near future.

But, that brings up a question: Where to put the additional fasteners. Do I change the name of the current Front Clip Uses tab to just Uses and put everything in there? Or, have a tabs for Front Clip, Driveline, Frame, etc?

 

i like the idea of having separate tabs for each location on the truck.

 

Ok, thanks for the input. That's my leaning as well. But, I think each of the "Uses" tabs will point back to one "Fasteners" tab. That's because some fasteners are used in many different places.

 

Can-o-worms....

Yes, some of these are generic and are used in several places.

And then you are going to have organization & classification problems - which I think is what you're running into right now...

And I think you're going to see the exact problem that FoMoCo had when they decided how to organize their parts catalog, and why it's so big.

I think you should approach it like Joe Average would. For example, if you wanted to swap out your entire rear axle and replace some brake parts while you're in there and maybe a few other bushings and u-joints or whatever, well, you would be looking in several different places in the official documentation....

Suspension
Brakes
Driveline
Maybe Wheel and Tire
Maybe Fuel seeing as how the tank is right there and there are vent hoses and whatever that clip into that general area
And maybe Body if you want to deal with some chrome trim around a wheel well.

So, you see why people like Bill get so grumpy!

So, if you maybe cut the truck up into physical sections and approached it as if you were going to undertake some project such as swapping out the rear axle, your documentation would have everything related to the back of the truck in one place.

Hope that makes sense.

 

The work you have done looks very promising!! I have looked through the website and have one quick comment: in the "Automotive Maintenance" area while viewing on a phone the outline format pushes the words due to indentation far to the right side of the screen.

The spreadsheet is very thorough and well laid out.

I will definitely follow this thread, thanks.

 

MS82F150XLT - Wow! You were thorough! Actually, the automotive maintenance thing is a class I'm teaching to our youth at church, and I put it out there in case one of them needed the handout again. (I'm assuming they've lost the handouts by now.) But, I'll go look that over. Thanks! And, what phone are you on?

Chris - I don't think it is quite the can o' worms you think it is. I'm thinking of multiple tabs for "use", as shown in the example below. Each of the tabs would end up on the Fastener tab when you click on either the screw or the nut, as I tried to indicate with the colored lines. That way if there are multiple uses for a fastener then there's only one place I have to enter the description info and the links to the vendors.

As for classification problems, the biggest issues will be with the different engines. If I try to document the fasteners in or on an engine there will have to be different tabs for each engine. But, that gives us a good example of multiple uses - I think the M's and W's use the same valve cover bolts, albeit a different # of them. Beyond that and maybe the dizzy hold-down bolt, there's little commonality.

Now, here comes a possibility I just thought of - illustrations. Why include the illustration in the page on fasteners on my web site when it can be included in the spreadsheet? See below.....