I drilled mine and used regular staple gun staples. Not the exact size, but close enough. Bent them down by hand using a dolly. I marked the original holes onto the new felts so I didn’t drill new holes in the door panels.

 

Thanks for letting us know as I am sure it will help
Dave ----

 

I replaced mine a few years ago. I had some .032" steel wire I used to fabricate new "staples". I cut several pieces about two inches long or so. I had a pair of pliers with the jaw the correct width to bend up my replacement staples. I drilled holes in the new felts. I forget exactly how I located the holes. I think I clamped the old piece to the new piece for use as a template. I then fed the new staples in place, bent over the ends, and snipped them to length. Worked like a charm.

 

Ok so it sounds like I'll be better off with wire like factory rather than maybe thin aluminium rivets like I was starting to think...

 

It was either in the directions that came with my felts or in a video that someone posted on my thread, to use pop rivits. I used stainless steel pop rivits. Came out good. I had to drill a few holes for the pop rivits.
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https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-issues-2.html

 

Good morning and Happy Turkey Day.
I know it's been a while since I've posted anything and honestly there hasn't been much done to O'l Red as I about gave up for a bit. I couldn't figure out what was going on with the backfiring through the carb. I ended up having someone else look at it and try to connect the "Y" pipe to the new headers. Well they did find something I never thought of and they think this has been my issue all along (except for the fact that the old carb has a few cracks in the baseplate...)
At some point, IDK when, the last owner removed all of the emissions components including the air pump however, they didn't remove the cats. In doing this they capped the air tube that goes from the air pump to the cat converter built into the "Y" pipe. This tube is used to cool the cat as well as other things and with no air flow the cat was heating up too much causing it to melt internally. I didn't think of this because I never smelt sulphur coming from the exhaust and I could see smoke from the tailpipe when we were running it rich. At this point I think that the cat is partially plugged and causing enough back pressure to make it backfire through the carb. Eventually my plan was to remove the cats and instal a true dual exhaust. The truck is old enough that the cats are not part of the state inspection. Another thing I learned is that if I was to bring it to have the exhaust fixed at a shop and the cats were still on the truck, the shop would need to install new ones by law but if they were not there they wouldn't have to. So with this information we pulled the exhaust and put the new tailpipe that I had already installed into the truck and I drove it to the muffler shop just up the road yesterday. Over the weekend they will be building a new "Y" as well as running a new single exhaust back and use my new tailpipe. They are also doing the state inspection. The shop I brought it to not only is the closest one to me but also the only one in my area that will work on older Fords and he is a Ford guy. Once the truck was inside and on the lift I was allowed to get a good look under it as I haven't really been able to see everything under the front half. I have to say that it looks amazing for it's age. I was able to confirm there aren't any other rot areas that I need to worry about however, I did see other things that I need to address in the near future.

Things I found under the cab...
The transmission pan is soaked but I can't tell where exactly it's leaking. My guess is the pan gasket and maybe the front seal. I'll need to keep a close eye on this over the winter. I might add a quart or two of ATF with stop leak just to slow down the leak.
The trans cooler lines are leaking and need to be replaced. The stop leak might also slow this leak as well.
The rear main seal looks to be leaking but not too bad. I'll also be keeping an eye on this as well.

The drive up to the shop also showed me that the steering is still loose. I did tighten up the steering box after the first drive so the wheel is tight but it still wants to wander some as I drive. Not sure what is going on here and I didn't see anything when It was on the lift except that the joints were all dry and need to be greased. The guy at the muffler shop will do that for me since it's already in the air. Everything else "feels" tight with no signs of excessive ware so I'm a bit at a loss with this. I expect to have her back Saturday and can't wait to take her for a nice shakedown drive being that she'll be legal and quiet. I already have another friend lined up to help me get the carb fine tuned this weekend. All in all, phase 1 is just about complete, FINALLY! There's only a couple of minor things left.
Phase 2 will most likely be delayed for a bit as I pay off what I spent for phase 1. No I have no idea how much I spent because I haven't added everything up yet and quite honestly I'm afraid to...

On a side note I did get the window felt installed on the driver side door card but I need to reinstall the window track as I put it in backwards. I also replaced the driver side door hinge pins and bushings so now the door closes even better than before. I still need to replace the passenger side parts (window motor & regulator, window track, both felts and hinge pins / bushings). I have a "Backrack" that I've been trying to install but that has been giving me a headache. I also need to find the parts to finish installing the plow frame.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Good find on the plugged cat for the shop to find that.

For the steering when you got your carb buddy around for help someone needs to get someone need to get under looking at the tie rods and ends while the other rocks the wheel left / right just so the tire starts to move. You should then be able to see if any of the ends got play.
Also look at the input shaft to the box as the rubber rag joint could be starting to fail adding play.

Last would be to check the kingpins / ball joints for play.
You will need to jack the truck up and a helper helps as someone will need to look at the pins / joints while the other lifts the wheel.
A Chiltons should tell you how to check either as with joints the jack may need to be under the beam for one and not for the other.

If that all checks out then I would look at Blue Top or Red Head for a replacement box. Dont even look at the local or on line parts stores because getting a good one is hard.
Dave ----

ps I am also afraid to add up what I spent to rebuild my truck. It dose not hurt as much when you spend a little at a time over years.

 

Thanks Dave. yeah I've been reading posts here and found out about Red Head and Blue Top... Price is... Well lets just say that I'm not a fan LOL. To date, everything I've been spending is under $200 but the exhaust is going to be the most expensive single item thus far at $1000. If I had to take a guess, I think I've spent in the neighborhood of $2000 - $2500 without the exhaust so far but I could be wrong. I've been trying to keep this project on the cheap side but also not skimping on quality when I need to.
I'm starting to think that if I get one from a boneyard I could clean and rebuild it myself but I've also read that this might be an issue as well but we'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it... My carb buddy has a "dream shop" with his own lift so maybe we can get that figured out after we get the carb tuned

 

Sorry to hear you need to spend money on the exhaust. Years ago, after removing the air pump, I took the muffler off and cleaned out the cat with a piece of pipe, started the engine and blew out the small pieces out. My muffler clamps to the back of the cat. see in the thrid photo.
Also, the joints should have zerts that you can grease. I have Lock N Lube locking grease fitting, well worth the $30.00

 

I had planned to "punch out" the cats originally but after finding that the new Shorty Headers won't lign up I'm stuck needing a custom "Y" and it is worth it to have the rest of the exhaust fixed correctly rather than "cobbing" it.
I do have a small grease gun but at this point it's just easier to have the muffler shop hit the fittings while it's in the air. I will be looking at maybe getting one of those "Lock-N-Lube" guns...

 

https://locknlube.com/products/lockn...32586284204116

I have a few from their style selection. Some come in handy for greasing the mower deck.

 

Oh I hear you on spending money as I am pretty cheap but when it came to the steering and brakes (safety) I did spend a little.
Well master & booster came from my roll over parts truck, they had to be good if it rolled right?
NOPE! when I got it on the road they turned out to be bad. A year later the remanf. master that came with the booster stopped work so I bought a new not remanf. one and been fine since.
I dont remember what truck the steering box came off of but it had play so Blue Top is the way I went and been happy with it.

How far off was a factory Y pipe to the shorties?
I would of seen how far it was off and seen if I could make it work or maybe the shop could?
I would have also gotten the rest of the system less the cat using pipe as a filler for the cat.
If the shop could not or would not use the Y pipe I would of had them make a Y pipe to hook to the factory pipes less cat and call it good.
Most of the time it is the muffler & tail pipe that rust out and you could then get them from the parts store.

That is what I did with my 81 F100 with a 300 using EFI manifolds. Factory 94 F1150 replacement Y pipe and pipes all the way to tail pipe, less cat, and used straight pipe where cat was.
Can get the system at any store when needed. My labor came cheap to install it LOL
Dave ----

 

The way the shortys sit would have had a couple of bends that were too sharp. The new "Y" is going to need to come back to the indent at the trans and bellhousing but being far enough forward that I can still access the oil pan on the tranny.