I don't recall the "garage" clause, but mine is only valued at $3500.

When you call Hagarty, talk to them, ask, some say it's not nessary. It's much cheaper them normal ins. I don't drive mine much.

 

Yea mine is at $12,000 and can up that if I want.
Now that I am retired I dont drive it as much either.
Tomorrow I plan to drive to my son's, 50 miles 1 way, to help him and maybe bring a load of dirt back to fill the holes the dogs dug
Dave ----

 

I was driving a friend's Plymouth voyager van making an airport drop off for him when he didn't have time to do the drop off. On the 4 lane freeway heading back from the drop off I was in the fast lane passing an 18 wheeler in lane 3. Just as I was about even with his cab a deer came bounding across the freeway. I didn't see it coming as his trailer was blocking any chance of seeing it. The semi tractor had a flat front cab and after a short braking attempt he smacked that deer head on at 60 mph. Since the deer was probably at a full run after bouncing off the truck's cab he made a billiard shot right across the windshield of the van I was driving. Was less than 6 feet in front of me flying by. I about **** my pants. He continued to the Jersey barrier and hit that and then continued to slide in the direction of traffic initially at 60 mph for 150 feet before coming to a "dead" stop. The truck and I kept going...it's a freeway and there is no stopping. The truck merged right and eventually stopped in the emergency lane...I witnessed that and could see him climb out and begin looking at the damage before I sped on home unscathed. You just don't expect a deer come bounding across a freeway in an urban location! That big windshield forward on the van and me right behind it while a huge buck goes flying by gives me chills to this day. He didn't have time to start bleeding even as he passed me.

 

Headed over to a friends shop. I picked up a used C6 with 75K on it. I'm going to flush it, change the seals and such then swap it into the F-350. While I was there, I asked him if he had any wheels that would fit. Several 8 lug Chevy wheels but it took a bit but we found a 8 lug 16 inch with the Ford center register hole. Just a wee bit larger than the Chevy and Dodge wheels. He used a battery powered sander to find the Ford oval stamped on the inside of the wheel. This will let me have a spare tire. When I get new rubber, I'll put the best of the ones coming off on the spare. Plenty of tread, just dry rotted sideways.

I've got one question on the under hood area. .This is the first gas engine Ford truck I've ever dealt with that has TWO batteries under the hood. My oil burners usually have two batteries, but I've never had a gasser with them. Do other gas trucks from this era have 2 batteries or is this a function of the Komfort Koach conversion? They are wired up like my K2500HD I just got rid of, as well as my old F-250 Powerstroke. Except for no hold downs, it's a clean installation.

 

I looked up weights of 16" wheels. Steel are generally about 5 pounds heavier. But some heavy duty aluminum wheels can be about the same as steel. You need to get up to a 22" wheel to even approach a 50 pound difference. Steel is cheaper by half or more than aluminum so the slight improvement in mpg will take time to prove out. Depending on your driving style the mpg advantage can even be less. Sure more rotational mass which takes more hp to get rolling also keeps on rolling and if you are anticipating stops and coasting more towards a stop you get that rotational momentum back. If your jumping on the gas and then jumping on the brake aluminum will save some fuel over steel for that driving style. In overall toughness and ability to take a blow and still be functional steel rules. Steel is real they say. I say that after seeing a few cracked aluminum wheels and I have seen some bent steel rims, but they can probably keep rolling to the tire store.

 

I believe the battery is a KK thing as I dont remember any other large pickups unless diesel having 2 batteries.
Maybe it was added for winter starting.

Well big rigs do use 22" and think 24" and that is where they worry about the weight. 50 x 18 = 900 lb that is a little more load you can move.
On a pickup unless used for CDL jobs and have to scale who would worry about the weight?
Beside who does not like a nice shinny ALUM wheel on their truck
Dave ----

 

Two batteries were a option on these trucks if you had the camper wiring. It changed from year to year, but especially on the larger trucks you will see it from time to time. They had a added solenoid, usually over on the driver's side and it used the 2nd battery to power aux equipment, usually the power for the camper, either a slide in or a trailer.

 

Snagged a used C6 yesterday and also got another wheel. He had several but made sure I got one for a Ford as the center register is slightly larger on factory Ford wheels. He also pointed out the venting holes are different on Ford. Round instead of more oval. Steel is just fine as I like the field expediency repairs a steel wheel can handle. A bent rim can be dealt with via a DBH* and maybe a steel drift. While I like black wheels with maybe a chrome or natural center cap or chrome lug nuts. It just looks cleaner. That said, the polished aluminum wheels were an option and I'm thinking the new matching tires in front will go inside in the back. The four matching new tires will be outside. This is assuming the inner wheels are aluminum too, I haven't really looked.

On the batteries, it is a conversion so the extra may be for a camper battery setup. It was used to pull a horse trailer and those often have sleeping and dressing quarters. The installation was well done and the fellow I got the truck from said the battery store said the extra was a different spec. than the factory starting battery. The truck needs a LOT of mostly little things and I plan to keep the exterior as it is. It's unique and rust free, if faded.


(*Darn Big Hammer)

 

I assume you know, you can find the wiring and other info here, https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ under the EVTM under Electrical, under the Documentation link from the Library.

 

That is good if the wiring was factory but being this is a Kustom from a outfitter we dont know if that 2nd battery is factory or not?
Just saying
I wounder if it was set up like my diesel in parallel and did not have a 2nd solenoid?
Both batteries were the same size. Maybe on this truck they did not have the room for a normal size battery or one is a type "F" and the other not?
Dave ----

 

I assume that's the "Auxiliary" talked about on page 19 in the 85 EVTM ? https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1985-evtm.html

 

I agree that aluminum wheels can add curb appeal and if you got the dough and you want show, go for it. I haven't seen a 22" wheel on a pickup outside of a monster truck show. Still I'm not seeing a lot of aluminum wheels under big rigs in my neighborhood. I'm going to start looking for that when I'm out and about.

Steel wheels can be powder coated and clear coated for curb appeal. I use enamel spray paint on mine and give a fresh coat once every decade or so.



I do paint mine aluminum color and no clear coat, that's Fluid-Film giving the shine
​​​​​

 

I messed around under the hood for some time today. It's a factory installation from the customizer. The factory back then, still do, offer bodies in white. These are not necessarily white but are basic and designed for customizers to do their thing. It's like a school bus. Those show up at the bus manufacturer with a seat on the chassis for the driver to move it. No body but minimal engine covers.

 

The battery place he went to said the batteries where not the same. I bet the aux battery was a deep cycle or marine battery for the horse trailer.

 

The battery looks the same to me. It's definitely NOT a deep cycle. Nor is it a "house" battery like I used to use in a motorhome.

I started working under the hood today. I popped the hood and the air filter housing had water pooling on it. I think the water shield on the top of the firewall is weathered enough to let rain in. Then again, I woke up to heavy rain yesterday and today, a formerly empty bucket I keep to drop trash in as I work had 4 inches of water in it. I'm going to put an aftermarket air filter on the engine until I can find another cleaner assembly. The bottom of the one on my truck has a hole rusted in the bottom.

This puppy has two alarms on it. One electronic and one siren. I plan to strip those and other unneeded stuff to clean up under the hood. I pulled the A.I.R. pump off today and it really opened the under hood area up for no bigger than it is. I could have some fun with the siren but I've got a couple from my police days when I was the motor officer. That American Signal model 20AR vibrated the door ***** off the two cars we ran it one when it was going full blast. It took a power cord as thick as your thumb though.

I also found out the transmission problem. The kick down rod for passing gear is bent. The transmission kept trying to go into passing gear. As such, it ate some of the internal clutches up. I unloaded the replacement transmission today and it looks like a true 75K unit.

I'm also going to do some serious maintenance on the engine. The factory heater and bypass hoses are all dry rotted and swollen. I'm going to pull the water pump and timing chain and freshen the engine up a bit. While I'm at it, I ran the engine for a while and it never got about 185 so I'm thinking the thermostat is a cooler unit. I'll replace that with a 195 stock one. This isn't as critical as with a computer engine, but the heat this winter will create a vacuum.