1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

[Rembrant]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Ah, I was just trying to reply that.

But I keep getting a grey dog eared sad face page, and my post is lost.

I don't know about the 300's because the inlet is on the other side, but I can see the impeller with the lower radiator hose off.

I'll have a look and try that. Good idea.

The other issue, which I'm not too concerned with at the moment is the fairly nasty positive camber currently. There's not much left to install on the front end...core support, radiator, battery tray and battery, hood, and coolant. I hope that squats the front a little more. I guess the bed will add to the overall weight as well...so while it looks like an issue currently, it might not be so bat later on once all of the truck is on the frame.

[Sac79]

Once you roll or drive the truck more than a couple of yards, the suspension will settle significantly. The additional weight will improve things a little, but it's only when I finally got my truck outside the garage that the extreme camber improved on mine, I imagine it will be the same for you.

[Rembrant]

Thanks for the reply Rob. I am hoping it settles a little better than it is.

[FuzzFace2]

Tires / wheels look good on there

As for the pump I cant be of much help as my truck dose not use a clutch fan and yes I have AC..
I don't know if the motor that was in the parts truck had it or not as I did not get the motor with the truck. My motor had a 5 blade fan bolted to the pump and that is what I am using and so far no issues.
Dave ----

[Rembrant]

FuzzFace2 wrote

Tires / wheels look good on there

As for the pump I cant be of much help as my truck dose not use a clutch fan and yes I have AC..
I don't know if the motor that was in the parts truck had it or not as I did not get the motor with the truck. My motor had a 5 blade fan bolted to the pump and that is what I am using and so far no issues.
Dave ----

Ahh yes, right...the clutch fan only came later on, didn't it?...Like '83?

[Rembrant]

So I had a couple pieces of sheet metal bent up so I could make some test pieces. I also tried a couple different beads of weld to see which method filled the valley the best. I think this is going to work OK. I wanted to try a couple samples before getting the full 6 1/2 ft side panels bent up. My stake pocket hole is a little rough, but I was just seeing how difficult it was to bend the edges down the same as the factory panels are punched.



Using my 1984 Flareside as a template of course.



I welded for about an inch, and it didn't seem to warp or anything. Basically it's 16ga on top of 16ga, so I don't think it will warp all that easily.

[Gary Lewis]

Looks good, Cory!  I think it is going to work nicely.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think it looks great, Cory!

If you can get 78" welded without warping you're doing it right.  

Me? I could pull an I-beam out of square.  

A little die or jig beneath the rail will keep those stake pockets straight and square.  

[FuzzFace2]

Rembrant wrote

FuzzFace2 wrote

Tires / wheels look good on there

As for the pump I cant be of much help as my truck dose not use a clutch fan and yes I have AC..
I don't know if the motor that was in the parts truck had it or not as I did not get the motor with the truck. My motor had a 5 blade fan bolted to the pump and that is what I am using and so far no issues.
Dave ----

Ahh yes, right...the clutch fan only came later on, didn't it?...Like '83?

I am not sure when they started using the clutch fan?
It could of been with any truck that had Factory AC from say 80 on up but I am not sure
Because the motor was sold from the parts truck with factory AC, before I bought itI don't know if it had a clutch fan or not? I can tell you it does a number on the AC condenser when pulling the motor as I had to replace it.
I just used what was on my truck when I bought it but I did add the fan shroud like a factory AC truck should have.
Dave ----

[Machspeed]

Jeez Corey, I didn't realize you had this going on. Don't know how I missed it.....following! BTW, nice wheels!  

[Rembrant]

Machspeed wrote

Jeez Corey, I didn't realize you had this going on. Don't know how I missed it.....following! BTW, nice wheels!

Ha! Well, it is a bit of a long story, but this old rust bucket was sitting in a backyard that I drove by occasionally, and I dropped in to ask about it one day. Turned out it was a 1980 F150 Flareside 4x4. The bed was in pieces in the house, and just the cab and frame were outside. When I went in to look at what was left of the Flareside bed, he actually had almost enough parts to build two beds. So I dragged the thing home for next to nothing, and have been slowly trying to rebuild it. It was missing a whole bunch of other parts...like transmission and driveshafts...lol, transfer case, etc. It ended up having a bad frame...lol, so I had the stunned idea to go buy another truck for the frame and axles, trans, etc. That truck was a 1995 F150 4x4. So now I'm trying to fuse the two of them together, and fix all the rust...haha.

[Rembrant]

Back to the clutch fan!

I made a tool this morning with some angle I found in the shop. It is crude, but it worked perfectly.



Once I could hold the water pump from turning, the clutch fan nut broke free fairly easy. Threads were actually nice and clean under all that rust.




In any case, I'm in pretty good shape now. I need to order a water pump and gasket, and now probably another fuel pump, and within a day or so after that will be ready to reinstall the core support.



I was thinking about how peaceful and quiet it was working in the shop this morning. If you enjoy this kind of work (and you don't mind working alone...lol) then it's as good as any therapy one could pay for.

Trying to be positive here....I still have so much work to do, and so far to go...lol.

[salans7]

I don't have anything against working with other people on projects like this, but I've always found that it tends to add a bit of distraction at times compared to working alone. In other words, I tend to get things done much faster on my own.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Excellent job Cory!

It is indeed coming together.  

I like solitude too (sometimes too much!) but I stay focused and allow myself to get creative.
Being "in the moment" is a trance like state for me, and if somebody's around they often feel ignored.

[Gary Lewis]

I wouldn't know what to do if someone else was around.  I've worked in the shop by myself for probably the last 10 years, with only a few times having company.  But, I'm always playing music as it is lonely w/o it.

[Machspeed]

Gary Lewis wrote

I wouldn't know what to do if someone else was around.  I've worked in the shop by myself for probably the last 10 years, with only a few times having company.  But, I'm always playing music as it is lonely w/o it.

I can relate. There is some kind of therapy in working alone, especially with music. What do you listen to, Gary?

[Gary Lewis]

We have a subscription to SiriusXM, and as a child of the 60's I stream 60's On 6.  I've tried the 50's channel, but they just play music.  On the 60's channel they have DJ's, and some of them are superb.  They even have some of the stars from back in the day, like Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, who shares tidbits of what actually went on.  Or why particular song was written.  Little details that I love.

[Rembrant]

The stores finally re-opened here today, but I was out of luck in getting a new water pump. I checked and there were none in-stock in the whole city. The pump is specific to 1983-1986, so I guess would be a very low usage item around here these days. Coming from the warehouse in NB and will be here on Wednesday. Bugger. I was wanting to install it today. Shocking price differences...which drives me nuts. The pumps are between $25-$35 CDN on Rock Auto (Maybe $18 bucks USD?). Local auto parts shops, $61 dollars for a new pump (Reman was $59 and change). Anyway, enough whining...lol.

I got the 1994 2 core rad installed in the 1980 core support...not sure how close it will come to the fan, but man it sure looks like it will be too close. I'm waiting until I get the new pump and thermostat housing on before I re-install the core support and grill, etc.

Still not sure what to do about the fuel line. Any suggestions? I guess I can buy a roll of 5/16" steel tubing and bend and flare it, but the roll is $40 bucks which I didn't want to spend. 5/16" hose would likely be $10, but then I need to find a way to connect it at the pump.

Anyway, all else is good. I got the passenger side wiring all re-attached. Will do driver's side tomorrow, and I plan to fill the trans fluid and install a new shifter kit in the 5spd (the seal and bushings at the top where the shifter stub is).

Wednesday my new clutch master cylinder and hydraulic line arrive, so I'll be doing some firewall work and swapping in the manual pedal box, and doing some conversion work on the auto steering column.

Hoping to try and flash this thing up by the weekend and see if it will even run at all. Fingers crossed.

[salans7]

Rembrant wrote

Wednesday my new clutch master cylinder and hydraulic line arrive, so I'll be doing some firewall work and swapping in the manual pedal box, and doing some conversion work on the auto steering column.

How are you planning on converting the column? I "converted" my automatic column, but the shift collar still moves a bit since it's not solid mounted to the column. Are you gonna tack it from below to keep it from moving?

My bricknose parts truck came with a manual column, but the tumbler was busted out, so that whole section is junk.

[Rembrant]

salans7 wrote

How are you planning on converting the column? I "converted" my automatic column, but the shift collar still moves a bit since it's not solid mounted to the column. Are you gonna tack it from below to keep it from moving?

I was planning to strip the shifter and everything out of the column. I actually have the plastic collar from a floor shift manual trans steering column, and it screws in place. I haven't done that part before, so I'm hoping it fits in there OK. On the bottom end of the column (in the engine bay) I'll simply wrap a piece of thin sheet metal over the hole where the shift lever sticks out. Pop rivet it in place on the back side where you can't see them, and spray paint black.

I did the same...sort of, with my three-on-the-tree column. It is basically the same as an auto trans column. Anyway, the sheet metal on the bottom end worked perfectly. For the shift collar, I cut the boss off where the shifter handle used to attach, and I filled it with epoxy and smoothed it down. It can still turn, but it doesn't move that I'm aware of.