Well I'm sure most of you have seen my Eddie Bauer project thread. I figured I needed to start one on my 85 too. It has kind of been on the back burner since the wife got the EB. As it stands now, it needs ball joints pretty bad, and I have never done them before. I did get my tailgate window working well from all the switches, that is something I really wanted. I yanked the motor out of it today and power washed the engine compartment as it has been leaking oil pretty bad for about a year now. Tomorrow it is getting the motor out of an 84 I bought real cheap. My motor was tired, and the lower end was getting a little noisy. After the engine compartment dried out, I started rebuilding the engine wiring harness. Whoever put this motor in was an idiot. The wiring looked like spaghetti under there with yellow butt connectors all over the place. Not anymore. It took about three hours of separating tangled messes of wiring and redoing all the splices. Then I remade the harness itself to route specific wires to where they need to go. Wow what a difference it made. I can't wait to get this new motor in and done. The friend I got it from said he was getting 11 or 12 to the gallon out of it, which is better than mine got. Anyway, I'll get back on tomorrow night and let you all know how far we got. Then I need to figure out how or what I am gonna do for tires. I can't seem to make up my mind, I have several options for wheels here at home (3 sets), and a few ideas as for what to do on tires. I'll holler tomorrow night.

 

Motor is stabbed. Taking a break now, then I'm out to hook everything up.

 

Good luck. I love my 82 300 I-6 If you keep her tuned and carbed right you can get good mileage. Ive gotten 432 miles from a tank highway and about 380-400 mix city/ highway.

 

It will amaze you that highway I get about 18 mpg out of my 1990 EB with a 351w. Now city driving is a different matter. I get maybe 14. still not bad for a 5,000 lb monster.

 

I must have done alright rebuilding my harness because it didn't even crank, it fired right up. Seems a little more gutless than my old one though, so I'll put the timing light to it tomorrow. I need to find a 70's 300 6 intake and carb. All smog crap has been eliminated, and this carb is all screwed up. It runs ok, just like the one I removed but I need the older stuff. I'll just have to see how good I can get this one to run. The motor removed got 9-10 mpg, that sucks for a 300 6 with and overdrive 4 spd. manual. He claimed (PO) he was getting 11-12 but it ran like crap until I got it home. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

Filled it up today and did a little math. 13 mpg is the unofficial mileage. It used fuel off that tank for one day with the old motor. I have also tweaked on the timing and carb somewhere in the middle of that tank. Old motor, look for a gas station at around 250 miles. I filled this one at 347 miles, and it never sputtered. (Gas gauge no worky! I've dropped the tank once, it worked for two weeks, screw it)

It dawned on me screwin around in my gallery that I haven't posted pics with the new (to the truck) rims/tires. I also washed and waxed it. I'll get on that.

Since I tweaked on the timing (which is apparently a tooth off) this thing runs awesome compared to the old motor. No joke, it'll bark third gear if you're into the throttle hard! So much so that I had to put a motor mount in it yesterday.

I also bought a 1500 watt MTX amp for my 12's (subs). $200 That box sounds real good now. I'll try to get some pics (again!), but the wife is driving it tomorrow as she still has the convertible top on her bronco, they're calling for rain.

Got a new dash piece for it-they mangled my current one when they stole my stereo.
Got a new rear bumper, might get that done tomorrow (sand and repaint). Check out my wife's bronc in my gallery, last pic is what it'll look like.
Got a new center section (chrome faced) for the grill. Nothing is wrong with mine, just one to cycle through as I paint them all argent, along with the headlight doors.
Got a like new set of tail lights for 9 apiece at the junk yard, beats the hell outta 25 at a local parts store.
Pulled the straight front bumper off of the 84 before it goes to scrap. Soon as it's I get it cleaned up it's goin on. No black rubber plastic crap on the bumber for me!
Got tailgate cables as P.O. thought that pickup ones would work all right if you tie a knot in them. Nice crease in the tailgate aluminum piece, but that's okay, the wife wants hers gone when I repaint it.

I think that's all for now. Lot's more to do, not enough daylight.
Stay tuned!

 

As if I didn't have enough to choose from on my tire/wheel combos, now I have another choice. Brian460 was up last weekend and brought some 5 hole 16" rims for me to look at. Well, now I have another set of rims. They are aluminum American Racing rims. I'll try to get some pics up in the gallery and some of the Bronc as well. I only have one of the rims cleaned up right now though. I have a friend that does tires that is looking for me a good set of used tires to trade those 235's for. I'll get back with more.

 

Well the rims don't fit. It seems that the 1/2 ton bolt pattern was changed in 98- I did not know this. So I'm back to square one on the tires. I think I'll just put those aggressive 235/75's on it even though they are way smaller than what I want. No body seems to have any interest so I reckon I'll just run em. Besides, there's that power and mileage gain to be had from the smaller tire, however small that may be.

I took the grill completely apart last weekend and put a new (to me) insert in, new valance (behind the bumper, under the grill), freshly painted. I also replaced the bottom aluminum grill piece as the old one was bent up like the valance was. Painted the headlight and turn signal surround pieces, as they were all faded. Now the front of the truck looks brand new again.

I also installed a pair of the stainless vent shades on the doors. I really liked them on my 83 F250, so I had snagged a pair from the junkyard for my 85 bronc. ($10, what the hell right?)

Gave her a bath, cleaned up the tires and rims, rain-xed and cleaned all the glass.
She looks like a new truck!