1980 F150 4x4 Flareside Project

[Rembrant]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

So, nobody in Canada has a 300 but the P.O. couldn't find a 302 and decided to put a 300 in it?    

The VIN must have you scratching your head more than once.

Haha, what? I’m not sure I’m picking up what you’re laying down Jim. He probably couldn’t find a used running 302 on the island, which doesn’t surprise me much.

[Rembrant]

The previous owner of my project truck (well, one of the previous owners) sent me a couple pictures of it from about 25 years ago. He owned the truck from 1995 until around 2008 or so. They're a bit skewed since they are pictures of pictures, but that was her in all her glory back when Grunge Music was a new thing (now being played on classic rock stations...lol).

[Rembrant]

As for project progress...I didn't make nearly as much as I had hoped today. I was planning to install a new power steering pump, new lines, and a new steering box. I removed the old pump and removed the pulley from it...the same nasty old way I removed it on my 1984 a couple years ago. I put the pump and bracket on the chop saw, and very carefully lowered the disc between the pulley and the pump bracket, and cut the snout of the pump off. Then the old stub shaft is a snap to remove in the hydraulic press lol. Anyway...that was the easy part. I then tried to remove the steering box from the 1995 frame, and no way is it coming off easy. One of 3 bolts came out (the upper most one) and the other two are stuck in the frame. A friend helped me and with 3/4" power bar and a snipe, we snapped the heads off the other two bolts...and about 3/4" of bolt came out with them.

Not sure how I'm getting that box off the frame now...I'll have to sleep on it tonight. Hopefully I can cut the ear off the pump on the bottom, and then maybe I can free up the last bolt by prying the steering box away from the frame.

Any suggestions, and I'm all ears;).

[ArdWrknTrk]

Plenty of PB Blaster or Kroil and a drift the same size as the shank so you don't mushroom it inside the frame.

Worst comes to worst you can put some acid in there the same way I remove corrosion if an alternator is stuck on the pivot.
It will consume most all the oxidation before it will attack solid metal.

[Gary Lewis]

So, the bolts aren't really seized in the box, but in the frame?

After the PB Blaster that Jim suggested I think I'd put a pry bar between the box and the frame and put steady pressure on it while tapping the end of the bolt with a drift.  If it doesn't come free then I'd turn to heating the frame as close as you can get to the bolt and then tap the drift.  Heat and quench with PB Blaster.  Tap.  Heat.  Pry.  Tap.

Having said (typed?) that, I'm not sure you can get close enough to the bottom back bolt if it is seized near the box to put heat on it.  

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

So, the bolts aren't really seized in the box, but in the frame?

Correct Gary, stuck in the frame not in the box. They're out, but boy oh boy were they stuck in there. Top bolt was no problem, it screwed right out. I tried some prying pressure between the box and the frame while pounding on that bolt, and it wouldn't budge. So from underneath, I reached up with my grinder and zip-cut disk and cut into the box ear next to the frame. I put a couple other deep cuts here, and was then able to pry the box away from the frame. The 3rd bolt...the one closest to the cab, is a little different. It's not in a tube like the others, but in a channel...like there's an "S" shaped brace welded inside the frame. I then ran a drill through the one bad hole to get all the rust out, and even that took several attempts to free up. Anyway, it's all good. Everything cleaned up great in the end, and the new box is installed with brand new Gr8 bolts.

The next nightmare was the steering shaft...the two sections that slip together were seized together. That was another hour or more trying to free them up...good grief. Turned a thumbnail black in the process...lol. Got my thumb between the vise and a ballpein hammer.

In any case, the steering system is all complete again. New box, new pump, and two new lines. All new bolts and hardware, and lots of antiseize.

Interesting...I noticed that the pitman arm on the 1995 chassis was different from the one I removed from the 1980 chassis. (Also noted sketchiness...the pitman arm on the 1980 was installed upside down...lol).

Anyway, the 1980 had an E0 pitman arm, and the 1995 had an E2 pitman arm, and they had noticeably different angles too them. Not drastic, but definitely different.




That E2 pitman arm was a pain to remove as well. I couldn't get the hooks of my puller behind it, so I ended up having to cut the snout of the pump to make room for my puller (I had already ruined the pump removing it from the frame anyway, and I still had the 1980 pump to use as my return core).

So, lots of progress. After having a weekend of picking rust out of my hair, eyes, and teeth, and smashing a thumb with a hammer, I still feel pretty good about it all. Brake booster arrives tomorrow so I should actually be able to drive this thing by next weekend or soon after.

Annnnd...my friend Rodger came by today not only with fresh coffee, but he brought his buffer kit to see what the paint on the old truck looked like under all that grime and oxidation. The old 3B Midnight Blue Metallic looks really nice under there...amazing really. It's too bad the old thing is in such rough condition overall. She sure was a beauty in her day 4 decades ago.

[salans7]

If you end up having Rodger polish the rest of the truck, maybe you'll want to keep it in the end?

[Gary Lewis]

salans7 wrote

If you end up having Rodger polish the rest of the truck, maybe you'll want to keep it in the end?

Yes!  You can't give it up.  After all, you have a lot of blood (in your thumb nail), sweat, and maybe even tears invested in it.  

Anyway, well done!  Good day's work, for sure.  

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

Yes!  You can't give it up.  After all, you have a lot of blood (in your thumb nail), sweat, and maybe even tears invested in it.  

Gary,

The guys at the local auto parts shop had a good gut laugh at my expense lol. When I went to pick up my steering box I asked if they had any mechanic thumbs in stock. When they said no, I said I was going to go home for the afternoon and cry lol.

[Rembrant]

salans7 wrote

If you end up having Rodger polish the rest of the truck, maybe you'll want to keep it in the end?

Haha, that crossed my mind. It's too bad the rest of the truck wasn't nice enough to simply polish up. It needs both cab corners done, and both front fenders are also pretty rusty. Also...the cab is full of screw holes. There's 3 on each B-pillar I assume from handles that were removed, and then holes at the top of the A-pillars and on the front of the roof from one of those visors that was removed, and then another couple holes on the roof from what must have been a light bar or something similar. Even after this thing is REassembled and driveable, it is still going to need a lot of body work. If I paint it myself, which I'd like to try...it will likely end up one solid color.

[Gary Lewis]

I think the rule-of-thumb would apply and even an SAE thumb would fit.  

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

I think the rule-of-thumb would apply and even an SAE thumb would fit.  

Haha!

[salans7]

Rembrant wrote

 If I paint it myself, which I'd like to try...it will likely end up one solid color.

I vote for that beautiful metallic blue.

[grumpin]

As Jim has said, that’ll buff out!

Great job!

[Rembrant]

Gentlemen,

Have any of you ever used a brake line plug before? I have one on order with some other stuff arriving today. I'm going to install my new brake booster and used master cylinder tomorrow and I will only be able to hook up the front brakes. Anyway, I bought one of these plugs:

https://www.amazon.ca/Dorman-785-450-Brake-Line-Plug/dp/B004SF0ZGM

I wonder, can I just install this in the residual pressure valve on the master? I should be able to bleed it through the threads and then tighten? I don't need super brakes...I'm just talking about moving the truck around the shop is all.

The company I work for goes under new ownership on Monday morning, and that might mean the end of my free work and storage space. I want to get the truck mobile enough that I can move it around in case I need to get it loaded on to a trailer or flat deck to bring it home.

[Gary Lewis]

I have not used one, but there's no reason it shouldn't work if it is the right thread size.

Sorry to see that you might lose your shop space.  Hope not, but it is best to prepare anyway.  Good luck!

[Rembrant]

Found out why my 300 was showing no oil pressure LOL.


I installed the old original one from my ‘84 and boom, I have an oil pressure reading!

[ArdWrknTrk]

You realize that starting in '88 ford moved away from having a gauge that actually read oil pressure, and that some time in the aeronose era stopped fitting a sender and started using a switch, right?

That sender looks grody.

[Rembrant]

No Jim I didn’t know that. I see people often complain about the Bullnose gauges being no good and inaccurate, but I find they work pretty well myself. I expect the hot idle oil pressure might be a bit low on this old thing so I might throw some 10w40 in it next oil change.

[ArdWrknTrk]

'87 or '88 was the last year for a gauge that was an actual reading.
I posted some comparison photos of my old flex circuit and the 1990 one Gary sent me from Huck, showing the resistor Ford put across the oil pressure gauge so it had a steady reading.
I cut the 20 ohm resistor out and soldered in a wire.

I am not exactly sure when Ford did away with using a sender.
It was definitely in the OBS era.
Maybe Bill or Shaun would know?