What are your plans for your trucks this spring besides get them out and drive them?

I'm insuring mine this week and will get it out for an oil change and put it to work on the weekend hauling scrap metal again.

I'll be happy to drive a V8 again.

 

Chad, I'm looking foward to the warmer climat down there.

There's lots of snow here. Streets are bare but slushie and wet. Too early for me to bring the truck out. Next month...

Things to do to the truck is washing it again. Add power steering and fix the fuel indicator. Dad and I were on the hwy 11 going north near Orillia going home from the Barrie Flea Market when the truck ran out of gas. The indicator registered 3/4 empty. Luckily a fellow in an old Pontiac was cruising in front of us. We flashed the headlights as we pulled off in a deserted parking lot, he turned around to help.

Tyl

 

I have a Big List but won't be getting at it until my Holidays in May. I want to:- change power steering fluid, differential fluid, fix some surface rust on the front bumper, do something with my rims (???), fix the stone chips I got over the winter, check and repair (if necessary) the brakes rotate the tires, check the front and rear shocks, take the truck in for a coolant "flush and fill", find a grille guard, change the location of my C.B. radio, check and lube the cable for the spare tire holder , and then Maybe I might make it out fishing that week.

My list for the Fall is even bigger!!

 

Got my truck insured and on the road yesterday. Fared through the winter better than expected. Needed booster cables to get it started after 6 months, but fired up easily and smoothly. Brakes were fine, no rust at all. Got grease into every fitting, but some were a little reluctant.

 

On Wednesday, we had a blizzard going on here. About 2 more feet of snow. Thought it might be throught out the province. My cousin living in Guelph report they had no snow or rain. She got sunburned.

Tyl

 

It's been quite nice for the past week around here. Today has been miserable but at least they dropped the freezing rain warning.

 

Tyl, I bet you're looking forward to moving to the warm part of Ontario. I got sunburned on the weekend too.

 

Yeah, I am, Chad. Booked a week at the Motel 6 in London from Aug 10th to 15th to look around for an empty fridge box near the river to live in ahhah.

Tyl

 

The first thing I will do is give it a real good cleaning and probably wax it. I am still trying to get the front bumper repainted to get rid of the stone chips from last year!!! As of right now nothing major going to done to my truck this year!!

 

Well, first thing I want to do is to paint my dash cap. The original is all cracked, etc (y'all know the drill). I found a local guy in the fall that has more parts then most yards, and they're in decent shape. Managed to get 2 door panels and a dash cap off of him for $30 ... but they were blue and my interior is red. Did the doors in the fall, and got the dash primed ... just waiting for decent weather so I can get the paint on.
Then of course, the usual after-winter body work. Little bit of surface rust to clean up, and I need to straighten my front bumper.

I'm SURE I'll find more to keep myself busy ... hehe

 

I just finished putting a new wiper swith. Now i have an intermiten wiper set setup! I changed out the headlite switch , again!, and I will put in the headlite relay kit I bought so that I can run brighter headlites without burning out the switch again.
I also picked up a brand new pair of door panels that need to be painted. Any suggestions on the paint? I don't want a cheap glossy look to the panels. I tried a suede finish last time and it adhered very well just forget about trying to keep it clean.

If the rain holds off, I'll get some work done today.


Frank

 

Morning Frank. Assuming your door panels are all plastic (my old ones were plastic with a carpet-like insert ... real ugly), I've never had any complaints with the paint that I use. Mind you, I use a gun ... I've never been able to paint worth a damn with a spraybomb. Don't know if that'll make a difference or not.
Anyhooo, the paint that I use is called SEM. It leaves a relatively dull surface, but clear is available to spray after if you want it. It's made for plastic, vinyl, and even carpet ... although I haven't sprayed carpet.

Hope that helps ....

 

I just completed the upgrade to the TFI coil, what an improvement in performance.

Easy as pie to do and if you have an old 88 to 91 efi engine hanging around the coil is free LOL.
I will also be gapping the plugs an extra 10 thou to see how that works out with the hotter spark.

Once my funds permit I will be installing the MSD box and the best spirol wires I can afford.

Here's how good it was my truck is fulltime 4 wheel drive and from a dead stop on dry pavement when I push the accelerator pedal to the floor it will spin all four tires and launches down the road, not bad for a 30 year old engine.


Cheers, Rick.

 

Sounds good Rick! Where did you mount the coil? On the engine or on the fender?

Hey Frank, what headlights are you running in your truck? I have had the standard halogen sealed beams in my truck for several years now without any trouble.

 

Chad,
These trucks or any Fords of the same vintage are notorious for headlite switch failure. The switch overheats and your headlites start to go out, then come back on, very annoying. I've had my truck 18 years now and am on my 3rd or 4th switch. Considering I didn't drive the truck much up until 3 years ago, thats what I call a hi failure rate. Try reaching up under the dash and touching the switch after you've had the lites on for 30minutes or so, you'll see how hot it gets. I'm was running standard sealed beams now have halogen sealed beams cuz thats whats on the shelf these days , still a little dissappointed that I can't buy a headlite for $4.99 anymore since the halogens are around $8 ! The last switch I got from NAPA only lasted a year or so, probably because the halogen draws a little more current. With the relay kit I can run some better lights if a choose too.
BTW,Intermitten wiper set is great, highly recommended for any one with a truck of the same vintage.

How come you haven't listed that ZF swapp as your summer project??? You don't want to keep renovating that house forever?

Frank