86 Flareside "DARLA"

[blackdog]

hey all, i'm JM aka blackdog. this spring, my dear DARLA took my expectant wife and me from the oregon coast to our hometown in long island in a ten-day trip. we pulled a 5x8' uhaul trailer, and by the time we got here, we had spent all our trip money, worn the front brake pads through to the rivets, and worn our dogs out on the thirty-six thousand mile journey. I will be pulling the engine this week, after doing a compression test. seems like a tree or other fell on the hood, hood was repaired/bondo'd, but radiator core support is mangled a bit, so i might be replacing that while i am at it, along with upper molding for grille. i also want to replace the stock grille with an 80-81 badgeless one, and replace both headlights, as well as install clear parklights with amber bulbs to keep it kosher. In addition, I look forward to removing bed parts and front fenders and doors, removing any rust that has accumulated (I was actually inland from oregon coast by 40 minutes and there was a mountainous divide so my frame had less rust than my brother's 2014 f150 when I returned here to LI in june) and repainting it, as well as running new chassis wiring. I plan to use this truck as my daily driver and shop truck for my signpainting company, which I am in the process of starting, so I would like to sandblast the paint and airbrush grey automotive primer, over which I will paint my company logo as well as couple cool little designs for a "rat-rod" look (although an automatic trans couldnt be a rat ROD, could it?). The seat is out of a Dodge Durango or something, so I would like to find a parts truck from which i could pull an original bench seat (and reupholster myself), dash pad, dash panel, steering column (mine is loose and missing/incomplete horn bar pad), and maybe a few other parts. My goal is to simply get it mechanically and electrically sound by the start of summer, and do the paint and interior stuff by piecemeal thereafter. I'm really excited that "Steve83" directed me to this site from another f150 forum. This place is SWEET! Looking forward to learning from yall and sharing my experience with you guys.

Peace and Love,

blackdog

[Rembrant]

blackdog wrote

we pulled a 5x8' uhaul trailer, and by the time we got here, we had spent all our trip money, worn the front brake pads through to the rivets, and worn our dogs out on the thirty-six thousand mile journey.

Thirty-six thousand mile journey??>...Sounds like you did that coast to coast trip about 10 times, no?... J/K!

Welcome aboard blackdog! Sounds like you've got a nice truck there.

[Gary Lewis]

Darla?  That's an unusual name, but I'm sure there's a story there as well.

On the engine, I'd do a leak-down test instead of a compression test.  This Mobil Oil page explains what it is and why it is better.  But I'll explain it in different terms.

A few years ago I had a 351W that ran horribly.  At a stop sign you wanted to shift to neutral or it felt like the mirrors were going to shake off.  I ran a compression test on it and it passed, with all cylinders within the recommended pressure range and with little difference between them.

But someone suggested a leak-down test, so I built the apparatus, which isn't that complex.  And the test with that determined that I had 3 cylinders with burned valves - and they were adjacent in the firing order!

So I'm sold.  I never run a compression check any more as I don't find them helpful.

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[blackdog]

LOL 36,000 mi. !

Leak-down test is interesting. Will definitely be performing this check.

[Gary Lewis]

You won't go back to compression tests.  I'm sure of that.

[blackdog]

Moved her around the block to my pop's garage. Did compression test just for kicks. Cyl 3 was 55 dry, 120 wet. Will do leak-down in a couple days, we ran out a daylight. Took of rear bumper in order to access and remove aftermarket hitch that I installed to move our RV around Oregon, but didnt remove the hitch. When I do leak-down, I will take pictures before removing grille and radiator/radio core support. Then maybe next weekend we will pull the engine and get it on the stand. I guess I should really post this in another thread but I will do that when I add pics and such. Hope yall have a great week

On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 5:39 PM Gary Lewis [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]> wrote:

You won't go back to compression tests.  I'm sure of that.

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[Gary Lewis]

You may have ring problems then.  That 55 is low, and the oil can seal it.  But, the leak-down test should prove whether the valves are bad.  However, if you are pulling it down you will probably want to send the heads out anyway.

Yes, start a new thread so we can follow along.