Lahti35 Posted November 13, 2023 Author Share Posted November 13, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, EmTee said: The Lucky Strikes look right at home! Reminds me of the old Lucky Strikes joke: Knock, knock... Who's there? Alice... Alice who? Alice M-F-T! Edited November 13, 2023 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted November 19, 2023 Author Share Posted November 19, 2023 The NOS points came in so I installed them in the distributor and set the gap. I also noticed the distributor wire connector that plugs into the coil bullet connector was backing out so I crimped it a bit for a much firmer connection. It's ready to roll... After work earlier in the week I pulled the the water pump off the front of the engine. I found that the bolts holding the back cover on were all varying in tightness with one barely tight at all, there was barely any gasket stuck to the cover around that bolt hole... So I thought I'd make up a new gasket and use some Permatex #2 for insurance when I discovered the holes in the cover are off center enough to shift it over a ways exposing 1/2 of the gasket on one side. Talk about bad manufacturing... So long story short I ordered a new back cover plate, an accurate reproduction instead of this generic stuff. I thought about just ordering a new pump but would it be any better? I looked around for an authentic original to rebuild but they are priced like gold. The pump that was on it when got it was a newer made unit, the original Ford unit being long gone. The plan is to install the new rear cover which hopefully has on center mounting holes. I also ordered a new bypass tube which I may replace and seal with Permatex #2. I'll definitely use some #2 on the bypass hose during installation, can't be to careful lol! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 Looks like those cover holes go through the casting, but I've also run across cases where a replacement bolt longer than OE was installed into a blind hole, preventing the head from compressing the gasket. It seems nothing can be taken for granted these days... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 12 hours ago, EmTee said: Looks like those cover holes go through the casting, but I've also run across cases where a replacement bolt longer than OE was installed into a blind hole, preventing the head from compressing the gasket. It seems nothing can be taken for granted these days... You are correct, the holes do go through the casting. I was surprised about the random bold tightness, I guess I should have checked them! I think they just stamped the cover off center, the holes in the casting are pretty centered so a correctly stamped cover should straighten things up. The new parts should be here tomorrow so we'll see how it goes together! Unfortunately I used up my paint when doing the engine so I had to get a new can which has been delayed by Fedex until next week, maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be early... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) I dug around in the rear brakes and found them to be in good condition... I had purchased new hub seals 2 years ago and more recently a set of brake shoes but found when I got to the shoes the ones on the truck have more meat on them than the new replacement ones. I'll pack the new shoes away for later! No scoring on the drums but unfortunately the seals I bought were the wrong ones, too small! The old ones are in decent shape so for the time being I just cleaned them and left them in place. I was able to locate correct seals this week. Someone has been in these brakes in the not too distant past, no signs of leaks I can see. I did find the telltale signs of hub removal without the correct socket, chisel marks on the nut. The nut locking tabs were not bent all that well though, the only real sloppy work I found. When I put it all back together temporarily to be able to move it around I put in a new locking washer as I had extras. I'm going to pull the hubs again down the road to clean the adjusting mechanism when I get some down time. I'll put in the new seals then also. The self adjuster doesn't seem to be working on the passenger side... Edited November 20, 2023 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 I got my new parts in, well sort of anyway! The cover plate was supposed to come with a gasket... Nope, somebody screwed up and I didn't get one. Not the end of the world, I cut a new one. It was also supposed to come with the correct bolts with serrations under the head to act as locking tabs but again, no dice. Loctite it is! Armed with my parts, and a bit of the disappointment that has come to hang over this project more than it should, I started out to the garage to put this thing together... I pried the old crooked cover off and found the sealant had done a good job, good to know. I don't think it would have leaked but the whole thing looked like chicken doodie... We're not doing government work here. I also pulled out the small bypass tube at the top of the housing to check the fit as I had bought a new one, taking no chances! While it was in there good and I had to use vice grips to get it out there was no sign of any sealant other than some cured silicone around the seam before removal. I ended up pressing the new one in after lightly coating the mating surfaces with Permatex #2. The new cover had the bolt holes perfectly centered and along with my new gasket and some more Permatex #2 it went on without a hitch. A short trip to the paint booth brough the day to a close, when dry i'll install it again and roll the dice. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvfjr Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 Is it dry yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 On 12/2/2023 at 2:45 AM, pvfjr said: Is it dry yet? Yes it is! So is the Permatex #2 that I used this time too I hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 (edited) I got the water pump back in place and this time I used Permatex #2 on the small bypass hose between the pump and block as well as on the heater connection and the block gaskets and the bolts where they thread into the block. I hope all the boogiemen have been contained! It was a busy week but I did get a chance to monkey with the fan spacer... The original was quite long, almost 3" but since the clutch fan has a shaft sticking out the back the old spacer was too long... I had just bolted the clutch fan directly to the water pump for break in but it needed to get back closer to the radiator for real world driving. The new fan was one of the compromises I made to quiet down noise while "daily" driving but since we haven't done a lick of that yet I'm wondering if it's really even worth it.🤪 I needed a spacer just over 2" so I thought I'd just cut down the old one... The problem was that when I got it finished the walls were so thin around the nub on the front that centers the fan I was not comfortable with using it. In hindsight I should not have cut the nub diameter down to fit the supplied spacer, there was no need for it as I could have just turned it exactly to the size required and skipped the spacer altogether. Sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees! Plan B was to run next door to my neighbors house who is also is a car gun and who specializes in Ford stuff. Amongst his treasures I found a spacer that would work and proceeded to cut that one down and skip the spacer... This one fit the the fan great and I was headed towards success but when I tried to put it together I realized I had bought 2.5" bolts the day before instead of 2.75" bolts and had cut the spacer for use with the shorter bolts making the spacer now much too short. Jeepers! Anyway I did some looking around online and rather than go another round cutting down spacers I was able to find a NOS one from the 80's that was made to fit a big block FE. It's just over the length required but within acceptable tolerance so I licked my wounds and snagged it. Mama said there would be days like this! Edited December 3, 2023 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 Success! My NOS spacer showed up today. The seller's measurements were off however, and the bolts I had purchased were too short! Third time's a charm so it was off to the store to get some 3 1/2" fasteners and put this turkey in the oven for the final time. Install went ok with no issues and there is still enough clearance between the fan and radiator despite the spacer being a tad bit longer. I'm glad to get the fan installed, it was really bugging me! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTR Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 (edited) Seeing his thread title reminded me of a '69 F250 I bought about 35 years ago for $500.- + a set of 6 nearly new (& "fresh") tires for $10 a piece for it. Other than routine maintenance & eventually, two new tires to accompany the two extra ones I already had, when the initially installed 4 were worn out at about 50000 miles, it didn't need any expenditure during 70000+ miles I drove her in about 18 months until the engine unexpectedly gave up the ghost. Sold it over the phone about a week later for $700.00 to a friend of a friend who had a freshly rebuilt engine cluttering his garage floor and looking for a truck to put it in. He never even came to look at it, just took my word on overall condition description, i.e. "Original paint that looks weathered, seat has some rips, brakes, transmission and lights all seem to work fine, etc", and sent the cash with someone who came next day to haul it for him. Probably the best money I ever paid and made on a daily driver. Edited December 10, 2023 by TTR (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted December 29, 2023 Author Share Posted December 29, 2023 I'm off this week so it's time to get to all those annoying projects I've been putting off... This often misunderstood little red light on the dash, like most, was burned out and the lense melted from being stuck on. It's often mislabeled as a emergency brake indicator but it has nothing to do with its neighbor below and to the right... I replaced the actual bulb and socket with an LED a while back to prevent another melted lense but the heart of the issue is that the brake pressure switch under the cab is stuck. It's basically a pressure switch, if a brake line gets a leak the piston inside is forced to one side or the other activating the red light in the cab. It won't go out until it's reset by either taking it apart or bleeding the brakes to center the piston, some government regulation hoo-ha from back in the day causing Ford folk trouble decades later! Here it is disassembled with the arrow pointing to the piston and the nifty tool you install in the center to keep the piston immobile while bleeding the brakes circled. Unfortunately the piston comes out only one way, it's home is a blind hole. I had to get a little creative, I tried blowing it out with compressed air but that failed. I found my box of junk and closed off the necessary holes, installed a grease zerk and pumped it out of there with a grease gun. I cleaned the parts and installed the new seals with a light coat of vaseline so it wouldn't bind. Once the piston is in you take the cool tool and screw it gently in where the pressure switch goes... The nub at the tip acts like the actuator on the switch but is fixed. Pison locked and loaded, I said stay! Once back together and reinstalled under the cab it was time to flush the brake fluid, It had kind of a two tone master cylinder thing going on... Neither color looks very appetizing. I picked up a vacuum brake bleeder some time ago and it's made life much easier. It just sucks that junk out of there while I keep the master full. More pretty colors... I did the SOP and started at the furthest wheel cylinder away working my way around. A little comparison of the old and new brake fluid: I finished by filling the master cylinder to just under 1/2" to the top and snapped the cover back in place. I ran a whole big bottle of Dot3 through the system so I feel pretty good I got all the nasty tea out of there. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Any news with the truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 On 1/19/2024 at 8:55 AM, EmTee said: Any news with the truck? Nothing to report lately, that side of my garage building is unheated and it's been near 0 degrees here. I pushed my new(ish) Indian motorbike to the heated side and have been installing camshafts with the woodstove keeping things toasty. Probably be a month before I get back to the truck and look into the leaky steering box... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Bennett Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) Love your truck and have followed the thread from the start. I too kept a 1978 Ford F-150, 4X4 super cab with a 400M engine for several years prior to making the mistake of trading it in on a 1992 F250 with the E4OD transmission and 460 engine. I seriously thought I disliked the 400M engine more than any other engine Ford made, that is, until I owned a 460, and that dislike was displaced in a second. Anyway, my comment on your progress with your truck is more of a nudge toward terminology than a criticism of anything you are doing. You make reference to a “pressure switch” being used in conjunction with the brake (warning) light on your truck. It seems to be a common thing for the piston in these valves/switches to freeze up and either leave to brake warning light on, or keep it from working at all. Just a bit of information on this valve/switch that may come in handy if future problems develop on the brake system of your F-150. The valve is appropriately called the “Brake Proportioning Valve” because it has the important job of deciding exactly how much fluid will be needed to apply the pressure being applied to the single, but very large piston of the front wheel disk brakes, in direct proportion to the two pistons, in a much smaller bore of the drum type rear brakes. For vehicle control, it is imperative that the rear wheel brakes be applied a split second before the front wheel brake pads contacts the rotor. And, even though the rear cylinders are several feet farther from the master cylinder than the front brake calipers, and the volume of fluid required to maintain a consistently uniform pressure between the front and rear brakes varies throughout the pedal travel, the sliding (shuttle) valve found within this little switch does a good job regulating the volume of that fluid. The dashboard brake warning light is turned on anytime a fault develops in the system which adversely affects the exact proportioning of this pressure. Your example of a leak in the system is a good one a well as a frozen brake piston. I hope you don’t think I’m being a “smart as*, and feathering my own hat at your expense. Please accept my assurances that isn’t the case………You probably know more about Ford brake systems than I can ever learn, but it’s up to guys like us, who do know about the systems, to help those who don’t learn about them. That’s why it’s called a “car club” rather than a “political party”. Jack Edited February 18 by Jack Bennett (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 9 hours ago, Jack Bennett said: Love your truck and have followed the thread from the start. I too kept a 1978 Ford F-150, 4X4 super cab with a 400M engine for several years prior to making the mistake of trading it in on a 1992 F250 with the E4OD transmission and 460 engine. I seriously thought I disliked the 400M engine more than any other engine Ford made, that is, until I owned a 460, and that dislike was displaced in a second. Anyway, my comment on your progress with your truck is more of a nudge toward terminology than a criticism of anything you are doing. You make reference to a “pressure switch” being used in conjunction with the brake (warning) light on your truck. It seems to be a common thing for the piston in these valves/switches to freeze up and either leave to brake warning light on, or keep it from working at all. Just a bit of information on this valve/switch that may come in handy if future problems develop on the brake system of your F-150. The valve is appropriately called the “Brake Proportioning Valve” because it has the important job of deciding exactly how much fluid will be needed to apply the pressure being applied to the single, but very large piston of the front wheel disk brakes, in direct proportion to the two pistons, in a much smaller bore of the drum type rear brakes. For vehicle control, it is imperative that the rear wheel brakes be applied a split second before the front wheel brake pads contacts the rotor. And, even though the rear cylinders are several feet farther from the master cylinder than the front brake calipers, and the volume of fluid required to maintain a consistently uniform pressure between the front and rear brakes varies throughout the pedal travel, the sliding (shuttle) valve found within this little switch does a good job regulating the volume of that fluid. The dashboard brake warning light is turned on anytime a fault develops in the system which adversely affects the exact proportioning of this pressure. Your example of a leak in the system is a good one a well as a frozen brake piston. I hope you don’t think I’m being a “smart as*, and feathering my own hat at your expense. Please accept my assurances that isn’t the case………You probably know more about Ford brake systems than I can ever learn, but it’s up to guys like us, who do know about the systems, to help those who don’t learn about them. That’s why it’s called a “car club” rather than a “political party”. Jack No offense taken, it's great to learn! However in this case it's not a proportioning valve... This is the "brake pressure differential valve" and while it may look similar to a proportioning valve it has nothing to do with restricting fluid flow to any wheel cylinder, front or rear. The orifices are all the same size, only a drop in pressure on any one leg will allow the piston to move in that direction activating the dash lamp. https://www.fordification.com/tech/propvalve101.htm I probably should have used the exact term for this valve but I must have been lazy that evening! To make matters confusing Ford made these valves and proportioning valves look very similar, there's even a combination valve! It's an often misunderstood part and there is a lot of internet speculation out there perpetuating false info... Most of these things that look like proportioning valves are proportioning valves but there are some old Fords where that brass valve may look like a duck but doesn't quack like one.😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Bennett Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 12 hours ago, Lahti35 said: No offense taken, it's great to learn! However in this case it's not a proportioning valve... This is the "brake pressure differential valve" and while it may look similar to a proportioning valve it has nothing to do with restricting fluid flow to any wheel cylinder, front or rear. The orifices are all the same size, only a drop in pressure on any one leg will allow the piston to move in that direction activating the dash lamp. https://www.fordification.com/tech/propvalve101.htm I probably should have used the exact term for this valve but I must have been lazy that evening! To make matters confusing Ford made these valves and proportioning valves look very similar, there's even a combination valve! It's an often misunderstood part and there is a lot of internet speculation out there perpetuating false info... Most of these things that look like proportioning valves are proportioning valves but there are some old Fords where that brass valve may look like a duck but doesn't quack like one.😄 Hi Lahti35……….To start at a beginning, which I feel is important to set the tone of any conversation, I must say that I honestly, appreciate the mature and adult way you responded to my comment. At an age of over 3/4 of a century, a guy like me sometimes gets so full of ourselves we begin to believe we know almost everything about almost anything. Actually, we do know a lot of stuff, about a lot of things. And, what we do know isn’t necessarily wrong, it is just from a book with many pages, and all too often the pages get stuck together, torn or worn with age or just blurred as time, and use, fades the ink. I have worked, both personally and professionally, with Ford trucks of many sizes, of many different ages, and with every sort of problem a truck can have when it is used as a truck is intended to be used. That includes complete brake system replacement, and use of cannibalised parts from one truck to repair another.. I have learned more about the intricacies of the Ford brake system, as a direct consequence of the patience you took to explain something which may have been included in my experiences, but was written on one of the pages which was stuck together, than I learned in over 50 years of hands on experience. Thanks!…..people like you make clubs like this a welcome and beneficial place for the younger generation to hang out…….and maybe keep our hobby alive for future old car fans. Jack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 On 2/19/2024 at 12:14 PM, Jack Bennett said: Hi Lahti35……….To start at a beginning, which I feel is important to set the tone of any conversation, I must say that I honestly, appreciate the mature and adult way you responded to my comment. At an age of over 3/4 of a century, a guy like me sometimes gets so full of ourselves we begin to believe we know almost everything about almost anything. Actually, we do know a lot of stuff, about a lot of things. And, what we do know isn’t necessarily wrong, it is just from a book with many pages, and all too often the pages get stuck together, torn or worn with age or just blurred as time, and use, fades the ink. I have worked, both personally and professionally, with Ford trucks of many sizes, of many different ages, and with every sort of problem a truck can have when it is used as a truck is intended to be used. That includes complete brake system replacement, and use of cannibalised parts from one truck to repair another.. I have learned more about the intricacies of the Ford brake system, as a direct consequence of the patience you took to explain something which may have been included in my experiences, but was written on one of the pages which was stuck together, than I learned in over 50 years of hands on experience. Thanks!…..people like you make clubs like this a welcome and beneficial place for the younger generation to hang out…….and maybe keep our hobby alive for future old car fans. Jack No problem man! I'm always learning and forgetting, but mostly forgetting... Stay cool Jack, we're all in this together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 (edited) The weather is unseasonably warm up here with temps in the 50's and sunny! My other project stalled so I took the chance to jump ahead a month and pull the steering box out of the Ford. It's made by Bendix and it lives down here: Removal wasn't too bad, it came out the bottom in an hour. Removing the pitman arm took the most time, the nut was on there really good for some reason and I had to heat it to be able to back it off. So the deal is the thing was leaking, it's pretty filthy down there. This was Ford's early power steering box and it was kind of "meh" when new. Age has not done it any favors. The Bendix box was prone to overheating and leaking, Ford replaced it with a better unit a few years later. The problem is today that these Bendix units are rare and parts are rarer. There are two places that rebuild them but they need your core and prices start at $700 and go up. These boxes have no bushings in them and the shaft just rubs against the cast iron bore doing nothing good, until things get out of round allowing shaft play and start leaking past seals. You can buy a reseal kit but unless you make things round again it will just leak some more. I basically have 3 choices here: 1. Send it out for a $700+ rebuild and squeeze my wallet until it cries. 2. Take it to a machine shop and have them install bushings in the housing, buy a seal kit and assemble myself. 3. Install a later Ford unit that requires the steering column and shaft be cut down as the later unit is taller. I chose #2, because #2 is what I'm used to dealing with anyway so why go changin'. Here you can see the shaft and the housing bore it goes into. Here's some of the wear on the shaft at the bottom end. It's not severe but you can see where things have been touching. I put a mic on the three spots it contacts the housing and it's just ever so slightly out of round. There was heavy oil in the power steering system when I took it apart. I'm guessing it was an attempt to slow the leaks as the PS system of this model/year calls for Ford type F transmission fluid. I sent a letter off to the the machine shop tonight along with pics, hopefully he'll take on the project as he's been good about helping me with other cars in the past. If not... we'll cross that bridge we have to! Edited March 3 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 A change of plan! I ended up sending the steering box off to a rebuilder after talking with them some. They'll replace both bushings and bore the bottom of the housing out for a roller bearing as well as install all new seals and gaskets. The price would have come out similar to the machine shop with the added benefit that it will be ready to install and comes with a 12 month warranty. Turn around should be fairly quick, it was in the 50's here today so I decided to spruce up it's home. Grime and gunk... Degreased with all manner of scrapers, pointy tools, and thinner. I'm always amazed at how much junk accumulates on even a small chassis area over a period of decades... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 It's back... cleaner than ever. They even centered the unit and didn't paint the top as I requested, good deal! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 OK - now you have to repaint the air cleaner housing! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 (edited) 3 hours ago, EmTee said: OK - now you have to repaint the air cleaner housing! But it's got that quaint "lived in" look! Edited March 21 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 I got the Bendix box installed this afternoon after I took the wife out for a steak dinner and got fat. I think I burned off 1/20 of the meal working on the truck but it's the thought that counts. The install went pretty smooth although my idea to install on bolt at the bottom and pivot the box splined shaft into the column coupling was a flop. Not enough clearance so I had to pull the steering column backwards, install the Bendix, and then push the column back down into the splines while keeping the steering wheel level. It's worse than it sounds, i'm getting pretty good at it after doing it a few times now. I was real careful not to disturb the splined input shaft and knock it off center. The marks still lined up and the wheel is centered in the cab so hopefully it stays that way driving straight. The pitman arm can only go on one way so no worries there. I'm waiting on a new pitman arm nut and washer, took me a bit to find the right one but I found the Bendix box and Ford unit use the same fasteners (but different pitman arms). I can tell the difference already turning the wheel in the cab, it's smoooooooth... Before it was rebuilt it was kinda jerky. I picked up some gen-U-ine Motorcraft Type F fluid to fill it with as directed in the manual. I'll wait for a nice day to jack up the front and bleed the system, it's been cold here and will be for a few days yet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 (edited) Earlier this week I filled the power steering pump with ATF as per the manual. I tried rotating the pump by hand to move the fluid through to the steering box but it didn't really do anything. I was a little concerned that I had rebuilt the pump wrong but I ended up just letting it sit until Saturday due to other obligations. When I checked the level yesterday it had gone down without any help from me so I added more and prepped the engine for the first start in a few months. The carb had gone dry but with some cranking it refilled and two pumps on the gas it started up. I ran it for 20 seconds then shut it down to check on the power steering fluid level, which had dropped so the pump was working. I spent some time bleeding the power steering system... Running the engine, topping of the fluid in the pump, turning the wheels back and forth with the front end off the ground, etc... Other than a small leak at the pressure line on the steering box it's performing as it should, smooth operation and no weird noises. I ordered a crowfoot wrench to tighten the fitting on the pressure line, it's tight in there and a regular wrench doesn't work well. I'd like to go for a real drive but I want to get the side mirrors on first, the rearview is hazed from age and I need to see who's coming up behind me while I make some trial runs. The truck came with large side mirrors that stick out pretty far, too far to get into my garage in fact. Last fall I picked up a set of the smaller folding mirrors that hug the door more. I lucked out and found these locally, while they are complete the hardware is all rusted solid or broken. The brackets are stainless but the hardware is not. There is a guy who makes a stainless hardware kit for these and I've been waiting on delivery but it's taking a long while... I got tired of waiting tonight and decided to pull all the rusted hardware off and get the stainless parts ready for cleaning. This is some ugly stuff... I stuck a wrench in a vise and used it as a third hand to hold one side of the hardware, my hands were busy stabilizing the mirror and operating the other wrench doing the turning. The posts on each end of the mirrors were especially tenacious and had to be drilled out... My 1.5 hours of careful effort with a drill, dremel, and torque yielded a pile of sheared off studs 'n junk. All the stainless mirror bits are ready for cleaning. Edited April 8 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 (edited) My stainless hardware kit showed up so I set to work polishing and assembling the mirrors... I also got new rubber gaskets as the old ones were dried out and nasty. Here's an in process shot showing the polished assembles unit vs. the un polished parts pile. I found that scrubbing the stainless bits with steel wool and thinner removed the gunk and rust stains but did not leave scratch marks. Polishing with simichrome brightened them up. Took me a few hours but I got both sides polished and assembled. The lower mounting points on the door were kind of a mess. Some of the rivnuts had pulled out and others were missing or had stuck fasteners in them. Once all the old hardware was removed I made a tool with a ground down carriage bolt, washers and wingnut to flatten the old rivnut holes. I had to remove the inner door panel to get access but it worked well and flattened the holes back down. I used cross nuts for the new lower mirror mounting point as they have a wider footprint, new rivnuts would not have worked well in the messed up holes. They sell a tool to install them but for $3 I made my own and set them with no issues. Got them installed late in the day but it was nice to see them in place. I have some adjusting to do but they're on! Always feels good to get stuff that's been kicking around the workbench for a month off the workspace. Edited April 14 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 Another day another adventure! The gear selector moves out of park without pulling it towards you so I took off the steering wheel to investigate... First thing I found beside the dead moth parts was a broken turn signal switch. One of the fingers was broken off so i'll need a new one. Word on the street is that the repro ones are all made by one company no matter who sells them and they can be finicky, I'm hunting down NOS on this part. Going deeper I found the detent plate to be in excellent shape, no wear around the park slot which tends to get the edges rounded over. I'm glad I don't need one, they are not reproduced and are rare to find NOS. Going deeper yet the problem became evident... The nub on the shifter is worn away. Typically these exhibit wear but is this case it's just gone! That's not totally accurate, it's still in there just now in a form of metal powder covering the assembly. I took it out for possible repair, the red outline shows where the nub should be. I may be able to weld it up and shape it back to it's original glory. If not I'll have to source a good one, I don't want this old girl jumping out of park! In other news I started it up and came to life much better than it had last fall. I do still have a slight miss now and then which is puzzling as the vacuum gauge is rock steady. I decided to swap out the aftermarket distributor rotor and cap with some NOS Motocraft parts that are on the way. The dizzy cap I bought some time ago feels super cheap and is made out of thin plastic, I am unimpressed. After the points fiasco I figured NOS stuff beats new parts anymore in this day and age... 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Sounds like you're having just as much fun as I am on my Vette. Everything I take off there is always something else broken, bent or worn out in the same area. Old vehicles are great. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said: Sounds like you're having just as much fun as I am on my Vette. Everything I take off there is always something else broken, bent or worn out in the same area. Old vehicles are great. At least we're already in there and don't have to take it apart again for every issue! Finding broken stuff in my garage is still better than a good day at work, lol! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 21 hours ago, Lahti35 said: I do still have a slight miss now and then which is puzzling as the vacuum gauge is rock steady. Fouled spark plug or bad HT wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, EmTee said: Fouled spark plug or bad HT wire? Not sure but i'm going to start with a good NOS dizzy cap and rotor instead of that plastic junk that came from rock auto last year. As soon as I get the shifter straight i'll do some diagnosing... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 Kind of a frustrating week but it happens! The NOS distributor rotor I ordered was the wrong one, my fault... oops! The NOS distributor cap turned out to be a CRAP cap as it was neither new or old stock, just a used part put back in a box sold by an unscrupulous seller. I found the correct rotor and a real NOS cap that are on the way but another delay... Speaking of distributor caps check out the corrosion on these two terminals compared to the ones around them... The plug wires that were plugged in there are now also corroded and needed to be cleaned... I feel like this could be my issue with the engine miss, resistance was crazy when I checked it with my meter. I cleaned the terminals on the plug wires and checked the resistance after and they were ok, about 4k ohms per foot, under the 5k ohm spec so I'll try them in the new cap when it gets here. The grey cap was brand new last year, why those two terminals got nasty like that I have no idea... I got the gear selector fixed and my NOS turn signal switch came in so we're good there... I ended up welding metal back onto the worn down end and shaping it to match a pic I found online. I had to do a bit of find tuning but it locks it in park with no issue. Doesn't look like i'll be able to do much this week except put the shifter back together and wait for parts but hopefully next weekend I can drive it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 I would put some of that dielectric grease on the wire ends going into the cap. I would assume it's the same stuff you use on spark plug boots. Should help you with the corrosion issues on the cap. Hope you get it all straightened out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 2 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said: I would put some of that dielectric grease on the wire ends going into the cap. I would assume it's the same stuff you use on spark plug boots. Should help you with the corrosion issues on the cap. Hope you get it all straightened out. Yup, did just that a few hours ago... can't hurt! I was surprised to see these two terminals oxidize so badly while the others still look new, very weird! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 (edited) I worked on getting the column back together this afternoon... Before I put the shifter handle back on I cleaned up the assembly as it was kinda nasty in there. The bearing in the center was clogged with remnants of old dry grease and there was a bunch on schmutz inside the housing. I pulled the bearing, cleaned everything, and then reinstalled the freshly lubed bearing. There's a roll pin that holds the shift handle in place, I picked up a new one last week and tapped it in... assembly ready to go! Assembly is a bit tricky as FORD used two square head bolts that fit into slots in the column tube. When tightened the two nuts on the front side of the cup draw the bolt head backwards and down, locking them into the slots. You have to fit the bolts head into the slots blind, fight spring pressure pushing back against the cup, and tighten the nuts all at the same time. I've found the best way to do it is to just barely put the nuts on the bolts and push them in allowing them to spread some and find the slots with some wiggle action using my left hand. After that it's just keeping some pressure on it and turning the wrench with my right... I pulled the new turn signal switch wires taped to the old ones... Once pulled through I had to take the old pins out of the connectors and install the new ones. I didn't have the tool you slide over the pin to compress the little tooth that sticks out preventing them from being pulled out but an hobby knife worked ok and I just permanently deformed the tooth allowing removal. The new ones just slide in and snap in place. I was kinda amazed that the plastic on these connectors is still soft and pliable, seems newer car connectors get real brittle after 20 years or so and fracture... I screwed down the turn signal switch and cleaned the horn contacts while I was there. The wheel went back on with no issues. I did have to adjust the neutral safety switch a bit to get the backup lights to come on in reverse. I had adjusted the shift linkage last week to make the needle line up better with the gear indicator which threw the NSS off a tad. Everything worked when I tested it so i'm going to call it a win. Edited May 12 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 (edited) So I've made a few short trips in the F250 around the block (6 miles or so, It's a country block) and am chasing a vibration issue. It didn't do it unless it was moving and it started in around 40-45 each time. I didn't think it was tires but I checked the pressure anyway and no dice there. The tires had flat spots initially from sitting all winter as they are bias ply with nylon cords so I took that into account also but again unlikely as the cause of higher speed vibration. I took my neighbor around the block a few days ago and we were talking while driving and drive shaft phasing came up. When I took the shaft out I marked it and put it back in the same way. I crawled under it this AM to take a look and found the sliding yoke to be 90 degrees out of phase with the smaller shaft it mates to. Ah ha! Now we're getting somewhere... I had never worked with a two piece drive shaft before so I didn't catch it initially. Some months ago on the initial test it vibrated like crazy... I found a bad carrier bearing and replaced it along with all the joints just to be safe. There was a great improvement, easily 75% better, especially at higher speeds. Back to this AM and I decided to drop the shaft and move it into phase as the manual diagram shows. I took it for a spin afterwards and boy it was smooth at low speeds, it really behaved nice. What i had chalked up to bias tire flat spots and rough road (my roads are not so hot) turned out to be an out of phase drive shaft. Things were just getting better and better but I still had the vibration at 45-50+ now, it had moved up slightly. I didn't see any weights missing from the driveshaft so I rotated the splined yoke 180 degrees this time hoping to put it back into factory balance. No dice, didn't change anything so in the next week or two I'll take the driveshaft down to a local shop and have them balance it. I'm 90% there to solving the vibration, nothing else I can do for it here that seems to make a difference so I'm hoping the balancing can get it sorted... Edited June 23 by Lahti35 (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 The Buick shop manual for my '67 Riviera (which also uses a 2-piece drive shaft) includes a discussion on vibration where it suggests using a pair of worm gear clamps around the drive shaft to assess a possible balance issue. The Readers' Digest version of the process involves starting with the worm gears 180° apart and gradually adjusting the relative positions of the two worm gears followed by a test drive. I can post a copy of the text here if you're interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted June 25 Author Share Posted June 25 5 hours ago, EmTee said: The Buick shop manual for my '67 Riviera (which also uses a 2-piece drive shaft) includes a discussion on vibration where it suggests using a pair of worm gear clamps around the drive shaft to assess a possible balance issue. The Readers' Digest version of the process involves starting with the worm gears 180° apart and gradually adjusting the relative positions of the two worm gears followed by a test drive. I can post a copy of the text here if you're interested. I am somewhat familiar with this method having read about it but never actually doing it... In this case the cost to have my driveshaft balanced by a specialty shop that does it day in and out is money well spent I feel (it's very reasonable). I don't mind taking it out, not too much trouble with easy access. I'd probably fart around with it all morning if I did it myself, lol. Thanks for the suggestion though! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 I was just suggesting this as a way to confirm/refute driveshaft balance as the issue. Having the shaft professionally balanced is a good idea. Have you ruled-out wheels & tires? I'd probably swap tires front --> rear on both sides (if all four are the same) just to see whether anything changes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted June 26 Author Share Posted June 26 2 hours ago, EmTee said: I was just suggesting this as a way to confirm/refute driveshaft balance as the issue. Having the shaft professionally balanced is a good idea. Have you ruled-out wheels & tires? I'd probably swap tires front --> rear on both sides (if all four are the same) just to see whether anything changes. No worries, it's all good! I don't think it's the tires or wheels. I had new tires installed and balanced a year ago or so. Initially I thought I had flat spots from the truck sitting so long but that turned out to be the out of phase driveshaft at low speeds. Once I fixed that issue all low speed funk smoothed out, it's just the high speed vibration now. I do know that this problem refuses to be solved all at once, lol. Between the bad carrier bearing, out of phase shaft and presumable balance issue we're getting there! I'm taking the shaft in this afternoon and hope to pick it up Monday, we'll see what they find! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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