1984 F-150 302 Windsor 2WD - "Old Red"

[ArdWrknTrk]

I just bend the fender liner a bit and reach up to pull them out.

Then I flush it out with a hose

[JMUBullnose]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I just bend the fender liner a bit and reach up to pull them out.

Then I flush it out with a hose

Oh okay, cool. You flushing from above or below?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Sometimes it takes both!

Usually I pull out what I can and flush down each side of the cowl plenum.

When I did it back in August I decided to leave the drains off.

There are pics if you can find where a changed my wiper motor.

[JMUBullnose]

Gary Lewis wrote

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Not the heat, just the blower.
The slower the speed the hotter the wire gets.  😲

Yep.  My first Bullnose did that to me.  Nice crisp autumn day and I took my wife for a ride.  Turned on the heat and wondered who was burning leaves.  Then I realized there wasn't anyone w/in a mile.  It was US!

As soon as I read this - a smell I noticed earlier in the day just made sense! Maybe I crisped a few leaves after all.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, I'll bet you did.  Doesn't take many leaves as they like to hang out where it is warm.  And those resistors get WARM!  From there it is a direct shot into the cab, so you smell it immediately.

[JMUBullnose]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Sometimes it takes both!

Usually I pull out what I can and flush down each side of the cowl plenum.

When I did it back in August I decided to leave the drains off.

There are pics if you can find where a changed my wiper motor.

Yup - found the post. Thanks for doing that! I'm going to do it this weekend.
Permalink to the Cowl Removal (Is this thing in the DIY section?)

[JMUBullnose]

Gary Lewis wrote

Yep, I'll bet you did.  Doesn't take many leaves as they like to hang out where it is warm.  And those resistors get WARM!  From there it is a direct shot into the cab, so you smell it immediately.

Indeed - I look forward to keeping the leaves out from here on out!

Gary - do you know if the speedo cable is supposed to be 'free floating' in the engine cavity? I think that's what has been making a slapping noise when I'm at speed - the noise sounds like it's in front of the firewall and slapping the fender liner. I didn't see any obvious hooks that it should run through.

[Gary Lewis]

Usually the speedo cable is constrained by all the wiring and brake lines around it.  But I don't think there's anything it is supposed to fasten to.  So it could slap other things if nothing is constraining it.  You might loosely zip tie it to some wires or brake lines.

[JMUBullnose]

Gary Lewis wrote

Usually the speedo cable is constrained by all the wiring and brake lines around it.  But I don't think there's anything it is supposed to fasten to.  So it could slap other things if nothing is constraining it.  You might loosely zip tie it to some wires or brake lines.

Good to know Gary - there's definitely some room. Now to start figuring out some of the random vacuum hoses I've found plugged off (one underneath the carb coming from the intake confuses me). Looking at the vacuum diagrams...maybe I found it.

[Gary Lewis]

Don't know what you found, but we have some 302 vacuum diagrams here: Documentation/Underhood/Vacuum Diagrams/302.  But that may not include yours.  If you know or can find the calibration code I can probably find the right diagram.

[JMUBullnose]

Yup - that's the exact diagrams I found!

I'll have to see if I can find the calibration label this afternoon when I get home!

I was browsing RockAuto late at night last night (bad idea...) - I noticed they had window regulators/motors available now. I'm beyond fed up with the LMC kit that has slowly been falling apart. Do you think I could pull the LMC guts and put in the parts available on RockAuto?

AC Delco parts at Rock Auto

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure what "LMC guts" you mean, but I think that part from Rock Auto will bolt into your door and give you a very reliable system.

[JMUBullnose]

This is good to know! My grandfather installed the LMC window kit years ago - now the internals are starting to skip and grind on the way up/down. Almost making it useless.

So what I'm hoping to do is get those regulator/motor combos, install and still use the switch that is on the door from the LMC kit. (This guy...)

[Gary Lewis]

You will probably have to do some minor wiring as it isn't likely the LMC connectors will plug into the factory connectors that come with the ones from RA.  But it shouldn't be a big deal at all.

And, it is possible that the LMC unit didn't use the factory holes in the door.  But the ones from RA will.  So they may not go back into the same holes, but the holes should already be there.  The factory power window units bolt into where the factory crank units go.

[JMUBullnose]

Gary Lewis wrote

You will probably have to do some minor wiring as it isn't likely the LMC connectors will plug into the factory connectors that come with the ones from RA.  But it shouldn't be a big deal at all.

And, it is possible that the LMC unit didn't use the factory holes in the door.  But the ones from RA will.  So they may not go back into the same holes, but the holes should already be there.  The factory power window units bolt into where the factory crank units go.

I like this idea. I think I know my March project!

[grumpin]

JMUBullnose wrote

ArdWrknTrk wrote

And of course, the cowl drains behind the front wheel wells, on either side of the firewall.

How do I get to those? Internal kick panels or pull fender liner?

From the inside you pull the plastic panels by your feet.

You’ll see the inner panels screwed in under there.

I pulled the cowl up on mine and vacuumed in there and where the blower motor and resistor are.

Pulled the inner panels and pulled out the most of it by hand then vacuumed

[JMUBullnose]

Great - thanks grumpin.

I don't know how it is for y'all but it rained most of last week and will rain most of this week. Of course this past weekend when I planned to work on the truck, folks had other ideas. I'm complaining too much, got 1.5 bed loads of fresh oak rounds to split for next year thanks to my Dad and his pickup.

Speaking of heavier loads, has anyone put Gabriel shocks on their trucks? I saw Rock Auto had some at a decent price. I'm also planning on switching out the leaf springs/shackles/hangars this spring to a F-250 set so the backend won't sit down so much when I do haul something.

[Gary Lewis]

It is so wet here that we have water standing where its never stood before.  And more rain in the forecast.  

On the rear springs, there are several F250 springs.  The ones on Big Blue are way too stiff.  You don't want them!  They are the same ones Bill/85lebaront2 has on Darth, which is a crewcab F350, and they don't flex at all on bumps.

When the engine for Dad's truck was delivered Tim placed it on the rear of the bed and partially on the tailgate.  In other words, at the point where all of the weight was on the rear springs.  And that 400 just barely flexed the springs.

It is sprung way too stiffly for my likes, so I plan to pull some leaves out and go with air bags to level things up when/if I have a heavy load on it.  The hope is that by doing so I'll get an acceptable ride out of the truck.

[JMUBullnose]

That's a great insight Gary! I'll have to pay attention and figure out which one to buy when the time comes. I'm assuming the ones you have installed are some sort of Heavy Duty model.

[Gary Lewis]

Big Blue's GVWR is 8600 lbs IIRC.  So yes, those are HD springs.

In your case I'd seriously consider air bags rather than heavier springs.  You can keep the ride you have and then level things up when you put a load on.