Well, got the lower intake 95% clean. missed a small spot here or there, but I'm happy with it's condition. washed up in the parts cleaner then sprayed down with brake clean. Hit a bit of a snag though. Went to test fit the lower manifold, and one of the heads has one outer intake manifold hole helicoiled. Now I don't have an issue with the fact its helicoiled, they were remanned heads anyway, and I broke 3 out of 4 of the wiring harness bolt/studs when I took my E7 heads off. The snag/issue is that they put the helicoil too far down the through-hole, so my ARP head bolt can't even catch one thread. I am thinking of going to the hardware store and getting a stainless or grade 8 bolt that is probably a half inch longer (5/16-18 thread I believe? ) so that I can get that corner of the manifold to cinch down. Fortunately this hole is on the driver's side front of the engine, much easier to mess with if it has issues later than one on the back of the head.

Additionally, the coil stud bolts, do those go in holes 2 and 3 from the firewall on the driver's side? I am tempted to mount the coil and assoicated solenoids somewhere else so I can use almost all ARP bolts, instead of 3 being oddballs (the two coil bracket studs and the franken-bolt for the helicoiled hole).

Lastly, are the rubber china rail seals unobtanium? My gasket kit has cork, but I'm not used to cork gaskets or just laying one large run of silicone on the china rails...

 

Until I can get the correct franken-bolt for the lower intake, I spent some time mocking up the timing cover and water pump. Looks like I'll be using a combination of hardware from the larger generic 351w ARP kit and the LMR 5.0 kit to make everything work. Ended up having to scrounge around for my timing pointer and cleaned it up in the cabinet. Need to get some more paint to give it a nice coat of black.

I do have a question on the timing cover gasket. I got the rubberized metal Cometic gasket, but can't find any information as to whether that style gasket is installed dry or lightly filmed with RTV.

 

You are correct on the china rail seals being unavailable. I ran into the same problem, bought the only intake gaskets that didn't come with them. I bought another set just to get them, but the general consensus was to use a heavy bead of black RTV instead so didn't even use them. Great job on the manifold cleaning! Are you going to paint it?

 

Regarding painting the manifold, yes and no. I was thinking of painting the raised letters on the upper manifold the same blue as the block and painting the rest of the upper and the lower essentially aluminum color.


On the frankenbolt, I did find that ARP has a standard 5/16-18 black oxide bolt that is the same material as the lower intake kit bolts, but is 2.75" long under the bolt head vs the kit bolt length of 2.25". I have a pack of these on the way from summit and may see if they work better on the other LIM end bolts to have more thread engagement (and less chance of corroding) than factory.

I talked to a friend and I think I'll end up using the cork china rail seals covered with a thin layer of RTV on both sides, along with the dollop at the corners. I'm just a little leery of relying entirely on RTV for that sealing area.

 

Got the last parts back from paint. Was also able to mount the tailgate and rear lights in final form. Its starting to look like a truck again! Also I believe the truck has wiring for a trailer brake controller as I have the connector under the dash. Now to figure out how to use that with a good progressive controller (suggestions Welcome) and to get the correct adapter for the hitch side.

Hood



Upper Valence and trim piece between grill and bumper



Tailgate and front bumper



Tailgate and taillights mounted (with bonus pupper in the picture )

 

Looks great! I really like the color.

 

Got a few other things done today. Painted the timing cover, water pump and LIM Duplicolor silver for added pop and color longevity. Got the fuel doors prepped for install and fillers re-attached. Also pulled the gauge cluster for swapping to a tach cluster. I thought I saw something about using gorilla glue to re-attach gauge faces?

My gauge surround needs either fixed or replaced as 80% of the retaining clips are broken...

Pre-paint


Painted


Mocked up on motor

 

I'm using a Teknonsha Prodigy, P2 I think. Like it, not too spendy, about $125 IIRC.

 

I like the Blue, Black, and "Natural" color pattern. I'm a sucker for red and black.

 

Yeah, I was looking at the P3 recently as its not too much more.

Thanks! I went more for blue and natural/silver as the engine bay is going to be mostly black. I didn't want the engine to fade into the background visually or be one solid color like the Ford grey painted motors.

 

Got more done, not much visually different though. Sealed and bolted the intake on. I ended up using just RTV for the china walls instead of cork. Also put a small dab of RTV in the bottom of the open intake bolt holes on the end of the heads to try and prevent corrosion over time.

I was able to bolt on the timing cover, water pump and install the damper as well. Lastly I put the oil pan gasket and pan on, however the ARP oil pan bolts are definitely too short. I barely got them threaded into their holes WITHOUT the reinforcement rails (hopefully I didn't start stripping out the threads on one of the smaller bolts into the bottom of the timing cover). Time to dig out and clean up the OEM bolts or see if I can get stainless hardware for less than an arm and a leg.

Not much more left before I'll be ready to put the main core of the motor in the truck. I plan on installing it sans headers, upper intake manifold and the accessory brackets/accessories in order to have more room for install. This will also let me do the wiring tidying up I want to do, such as relocating the coil and TAD/TAB solenoids as I didn't use the stock stud bolts for the driver's side of the LIM. I also plan on running the higher amperage 3G alternator and re-cabling the B+ for the alternator and starter with better/larger wire.

 

Prepped for intake install


I think I got a sufficient bead on both china rails...




Had to ditch the ARP oil pan bolts as they were too short. Barely could get them started without the re-enforcement brackets. Stopped by Fastenal and got stainless hardware instead. Had the smaller bolt on the passenger side into the timing cover act like it was starting to strip out, but its snug enough, so leaving it as-is.



Got some more of the engine bay prepped for install. Not shown is the body-colored mirrors installed and brake booster removed for replacement.


Also scored a Saginaw pump and bracket from the junkyard this weekend. Cleaned up and painted the accessory brackets and mocked up on the engine. Have a re-manufactured pump on order from the parts store as the J/Y one didn't feel great and was caked in oil dirt. New pump and lines should make the steering much better!


Starting in on doing the radius arm and pivot bushings while I wait for other parts to do a suspension and brake overhaul before dropping the engine in. One step at a time...

 

Here's the body colored mirrors mounted. Also ordered bilstein shocks, a powerstop brake kit for all 4 corners to go with the new brake booster and master cylinder along with a slew of other parts. Continuing to work on disassembling the front suspension for bushing replacements on the TTB radius and pivot points.

 

ok, started to get ready for some suspension and brake overhaul but hit a snag. Got the manual locking part of the hub off, but the adjusting nut inside doesn't match anything I was expecting. There are no provisions for a 4 or 6 post 4x4 socket, only the small holes in the inner nut. Is there a different socket or method for this particular setup?

 

Coincidentally, this just came up in another thread on a ‘96 F-250. There is a chance your truck was originally auto locking hubs?


Have a read through these threads, they might help you out. This was applicable to the ‘96, but it may be the same as the ‘95. The manual in the thread also covers the 150 with manual and auto hubs.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...b-removal.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...eplacment.html