1981 straight six manual 4x4 project

[FuzzFace2]

Ford F834 wrote

Ahhh. Got it. Looks like you have the EFI valve cover which has a separate filler cap. It is different than mine. I do not have a spare  90* that is inside the air cleaner then, but I may be able to get one. I will look for you next time I go to the junkyard.

The 90* fits on the outside of the air filter housing.
This 90* has a flange that the clip holds this 90* and the breather to the main housing.
Wish I had a picture and I am sure when see it it will click and that light bulb will go on LOL
If you can find one would be nice but don't knock yourself out doing so what I got now is working.
Thanks
Dave G

[Ford F834]

Quick update:

I have my AC parts on order along with the filter element for the tear drop. Hopefully I will have functioning AC sooner than later as it’s getting pretty warm here in Arizona.

The visor shelf shelf is a success and much appreciated by my wife. My only complaint is it does seem to absorb engine vibrations. There is no rattling or buzzing or any sound whatsoever, but it does move in my upper peripheral field of vision. I might experiment with wedging a foam block between the shelf and the headliner, but it is a very minor annoyance and a small price to pay.

I found a good condition black carpet for it at the junkyard. It is aftermarket. Fitment isn’t perfect, and it’s thinner than stock but for the price I’m not going to complain. It’s good enough “for now” while this truck waits it’s turn for a full makeover. Installing it is on my to do list this week.

NotEnoughTrucks sent be a superb condition metric speedometer head. I have not installed it yet, but I did mess with the speedometer gears trying to get km to read as mi. I had a pink 19 tooth gear and tried that, but it still didn’t slow it down enough. I did the math and found out I need exactly a 22 tooth gear which does not exist... there is a 21 tooth gear from Ford and a 23 tooth gear from a company called Steeda. But no 22 tooth. I am leaning toward using the 21 tooth just because it would be better to have the speedometer read a little high than a little low, and word is that the 23 tooth gears wear pretty quickly. I’m not as bummed about the speedometer being off as I am about the odometer, as it complicates navigation by distance and mpg calculations. I may buy a correction gear box one day, but adding an overdrive is still not completely ruled out in which case I will be working with different drive gears and driven gears all together (in the overdrive unit) so a cheap 21 tooth Ford gear will have to be “good enough for now”. We will see how far off it is in real world use once I get one and install the km speedometer.

[Gary Lewis]

I understand the A/C issue.  I'm even contemplating having the A/C on Big Blue charged once to see if it'll hold as I want to take it to the Fordification show in MO in June.  It's 230 miles round trip, and since Janey is going with me.....

On the speedo, Big Blue's is about 5 mph slow across the board, which is hard to believe but seems to be the case.  And that's dangerous as I have to keep reminding myself that I'm going faster than I think.  So I do agree that showing faster is better than showing slower.

[Ford F834]

A different kind of junkyard haul for today. Needs cleaning, hatch struts and maybe new latches, but the price was very decent and it matches the truck fairly well. Summer camping soon! 😀

[1986F150Six]

Looks really good, Jonathan!

[Gary Lewis]

Looks great!  Fits well and seems to match the truck.  But the rear door is different from those I've seen.

[Rembrant]

Looks great!

[FuzzFace2]

Gary Lewis wrote

Looks great!  Fits well and seems to match the truck.  But the rear door is different from those I've seen.

It dose look good.

Gary, that door opens the full width & top to bottom.
If you look at the others they make the opening smaller so you can't get in large loads.
Look at ATV's or garden tractors they sit high so no go with the other types.
Dave - - - -

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks for the explanation.  It makes sense.

I've actually thought about a shell/topper for Big Blue.  It would protect whatever I put back there, and would give a place to sleep for overlanding.  But the jury is still out on that.

[Nothing Special]

I got a topper for my first truck ('85 F-250 regular cab) to keep the dog inside on hunting trips.  Never liked the looks of a pickup with a topper as well as a plain pickup, so I only had the topper on that truck during hunting season.

Then my next truck was a SuperCab ('95 F-150) so it became the family trip vehicle.  That truck needed a topper during hunting season and on family trips (including almost every weekend to the cabin in the summer).  I was never as stoked about the lines of a SuperCab short box.  With the topper it almost looked better to me (just like an SUV).  Between that and (mostly) the utility of it, I almost never took the topper off that truck.

Since then I've had three different trucks, all crew cab short boxes ('08 F-250, '02 F-350, '97 F-250, in that order).  They've all had toppers that rarely come off.  I've got so used to having a topper I really can't see not having one on most of the time now.

But I still like the lines of a regular cab long box with no topper the best.

[Ford F834]

Thanks guys, I have to agree that I prefer the look without the camper shell, but we hope to do some camping this summer without the travel trailer, and this will make it much nicer and easier.

It does match well, both color and style wise. And I have to say that it is very well made. They told me at the junkyard that they would bring it up front for me with a forklift, but I had to pull it and get it out to the aisle. This thing was so heavy I almost couldn’t get it. I am really feeling it today. 😩

Regarding the door, it is odd in that the lower lip extends below the edge of the tailgate. At first I thought this was an annoyance, but it occurs to me that with with properly locking latches, it does provide a small degree of security by preventing the tailgate from opening with the lid down. So hopefully I can find replacement latches. They look like fairly standard locking T handles with a square shaft. It also needs two gas struts to hold it open. Next step will be adding a rack to carry the kayaks!

[Rembrant]

I think it looks good with the shell on it.

[Nothing Special]

Ford F834 wrote

.... Regarding the door, it is odd in that the lower lip extends below the edge of the tailgate. At first I thought this was an annoyance, but it occurs to me that with with properly locking latches, it does provide a small degree of security by preventing the tailgate from opening with the lid down....

Every topper I've had has come down past the edge of the tailgate about that much.  I'm sure you're right about security since the topper always has locks in its latches and tailgates never did (until much newer trucks than I care about).

[Ford F834]

We are headed out of town for the weekend and I used the truck to take our iguana to a pet sitter in Sedona. I filled up the tank and calculated 250.27 miles and 14.44 gallons used. 17.33 mpg. That was a trip over Mingus mountain to go to Prescott and the round trip to work and the Flagstaff junkyard to get the camper shell.

My AC parts are waiting patiently. Along with a carb kit, fuel pump and new filter. I felt a small stutter with the “new” carb, so I’m going to try to eliminate that and do some tuning to see if I can squeeze a bit more advance out of it.

It’s running really really well, and is such a pleasure it’s hard to get me out of the driver seat. Still a lot of work to be done but at least it is functional while the rest falls into place.

[Gary Lewis]

That's quite acceptable MPG, but I suspect more is available.  If the vacuum advance is adjustable give it all it has and then start dialing it back if it pings.

Anyway, have a fun trip!

[Ford F834]

I am hoping I can squeeze a little more out of it Gary. As you know I have not tried that hard... just been trying to get it running well. I have never heard it ping, even dragging the camper up mountain grades at altitude so there probably is advance left on the table 🙂

[1986F150Six]

If there is no hesitation starting up, I would advance the static a little and listen for pinging, then do as Gary suggested.

[Gary Lewis]

David is right - start with the static timing and advance that until you get to 14 degrees or it starts to kick back on starting. Then play with the vacuum advance.

[Ford F834]

When you say hesitation on starting, do you mean cranking and starting the engine or starting as in taking off from a stop? I have the latter, especially if I stab the throttle. I’m wondering if the Venturi advance is too late or not enough or too much. I want to try dialing back the static timing but running manifold vacuum to the distributor.

Gary, what do you mean by kick back from the starter? Right now I notice that it will crank and crank pretty much indefinitely but if I have a little faith and let off the key it will light.

[Gary Lewis]

We were talking about when you start the engine. If you get too much static timing it will fire before the piston gets up and try to spin the engine backward. That’s “kick back”.