Deer killed my Bullnose... Mangled the front

[ratdude747]

I'll be stopping in Rolla for an evening/overnight to see a buddy. No bueno. Plus I want to see what I come up with before yanking at a JY.

On the way back is still an open question... but unless they're open on the Sunday before Labor Day, no good. Otherwise, given that the two things that would inspire me to hit up Texas before coming home aren't happening most likely (nobody replies to messages, COVID paranoia, etc.), I could make the return a two-day affair and stop in Springfield to spend an afternoon yanking parts.

I have a lead on a local yard that may have parts... but it's from a buddy who isn't a Ford truck expert so I dunno.

Either way, I'll make a note to pack my JY toolbox and bring it with me. Just like the "old" days (a handful of years ago) when I lived in an apartment/at my parents' house and all my hand tools were stored in my Ranger's camper shell.
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Gary- If I take the radiator support, I'll take the brackets too... I'll still need upper and lower valences (and a RH headlight holder if I don't straighten mine) but IIRC those are easy enough to pull with any grille parts needing pulled.

Dunno on the shroud... mine came off in pieces. I can piece it back together though and see.

Fan clutch: left or right thread? On mine it's left handed (but some like my Ranger's 4.0 are right handed)

[Gary Lewis]

Larry - You can have the brackets whether you take the radiator support.

As for valances, I may have them as well, but I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the term.  Can you point them out in a pic?

On the fan clutch, I'll check.  May be later today or tomorrow as we are running errands today.

[ratdude747]

The sheet metal above and below the grille. Thin stuff.

My upper might be able to be straightened (the one with the vacuum diagram). The lower was already messed up and is now pretzeled beyond recognition.

No sweat on the fan clutch. I might just buy a new one if they're available... I have had them fail before.

[1986F150Six]

Regarding the radiator: It appears that your truck is a 1984. Gary mentioned that he had a V8 radiator with the inlet and outlet on opposite sides. I have a radiator for a 4.9L. The thing is that it was pulled from a 1985 and the mounts are different. I can bring it to the show and you may have it for free and see if you can make it work. If not, give it to someone else.

The donor truck was a city utility truck with 61K miles [I have had the radiator for several years]. It is an aftermarket radiator and looks pretty new. The donor truck had an automatic transmission, so the radiator has the internal cooler lines.

[Gary Lewis]

What an offer, David!  And if he takes Big Blue's '85 radiator support I think it'll bolt in.  Or another '85 or later support.  Or modify an earlier support using the tabs off of Big Blue's support, as shown in the documentation.

As for the other bits, we just got home from getting our booster shots and picking up BB from the A/C shop, so when I change and get out to the shop I'll see what else I have.

[Gary Lewis]

Larry - I think these are the "valances" you need.  Right?  If so, they are in the ever-growing stack for you.




And here are two views of the 1990 460 fan and clutch.  As you can see it bolts to the water pump and the fan bolts to the clutch.

[1986F150Six]

Garagemahal... the go to place! It reminds me of years ago: guys helping each other.

[Gary Lewis]

We are a community, and that's what friends do.  

(And apparently I'm about to meet another friend for the first time.  Someone is coming to look at wheels.  )

[ratdude747]

Yes on the valences. You got 'em.

The clutch is different; yours has a water pump pulley bolt flange (like my former 1995 Chevy Astro had), mine has a threaded stub, threaded to self tighten (which way the pump rotates dictates which way the snout and stub are threaded).



Rockauto has them for $25-$40 a pop... so no biggie if I buy new. I have had these fail before (bad bearings, won't lock up when hot, etc.) so may not be a good idea to go used in the first place. My fan is good as far as I know.

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Unrelated item: while I have this system apart, there's no better time to install a tranny cooler. Something else I need to figure out I guess...

[ratdude747]

Missed this!

Hmm... Are there rubber pieces I'd still need to find? I have the 1984 ones still... but I don't know if the difference is up top or down below.

On further review Gary's fan shroud looks completely different than mine. Mine was a lot squarer, his looks more like what my ranger uses with the fan hole being bigger than the "funnel" Maybe because of fan size differences? Hopefully my wife neglected to take the driveway trash out... I'll pull the chunks out and try to piece it together after work...

[Gary Lewis]

Ok Larry, Plan C or D on the radiator & support.  I just realized that I have a nice, pretty, painted radiator support for Dad's truck and the one I took out of it is available.  (Shown below leaning on Larry's tires.)
It looks to be in better shape than the one off Big Blue as it only has a little surface rust, and no chunk cut out by .

However, David's radiator is from an '85 and won't quite fit in Dad's 1981 radiator support.  But, if you go to Documentation/Cooling Systems/Radiator Supports there's a how-to on upgrading an earlier support to take the later radiator.  And since I have BB's '85 radiator support laying around you could take the brackets off of it, put them on Dad's support, and install David's radiator.

[ratdude747]

Never mind. I posted and realized I was being stoopid.

[1986F150Six]

1986F150Six wrote

Regarding the radiator: It appears that your truck is a 1984. Gary mentioned that he had a V8 radiator with the inlet and outlet on opposite sides. I have a radiator for a 4.9L. The thing is that it was pulled from a 1985 and the mounts are different. I can bring it to the show and you may have it for free and see if you can make it work. If not, give it to someone else.

The donor truck was a city utility truck with 61K miles [I have had the radiator for several years]. It is an aftermarket radiator and looks pretty new. The donor truck had an automatic transmission, so the radiator has the internal cooler lines.

I just retrieved the radiator and have it ready for the trip. This is the information on it and it does look nice!

Vista-Pro
MOD: 0432184
PWO: 9451385
REF: A12G

Larry [edited], please confirm that you want this as I will not bring it if you do not.

[Gary Lewis]

ratdude747 wrote

Never mind. I posted and realized I was being stoopid.

Not sure I understand.  Didn't see anything stupid heretofore.

David - Did you mean Larry/ratdude747?

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

David - Did you mean Larry/ratdude747?

Yes. Thanks, Gary!

[ratdude747]

Is it all brass, all aluminum, or aluminum with plastic tanks? Looking at the design, it looks very similar to what my rangers use (with the side wings for mounting).

I'm not keen on plastic tanked radiators. What got wrecked was a factory all-brass unit that after a good flushing last year was still working great. Plastic tanked ones I've not had great luck with.

Edit- what I have found on that number indicates it's a plastic tanked unit... meh. I can get all-aluminum ones... so it's a pass for the moment at least.

Edit2- Maybe not a pass... since it seems pretty much everything 1984 and earlier is out of stock and/or discontinued... I can get them for the 1985+ setup. Would have to transfer (weld) the brackets over though... perhaps I use the vista pro for now, and if it blows up then spend the $$$ on a proper all-aluminum one???

[ratdude747]

I posted a comment about the second radiator support about not having the air intake hole I need, and then I realized 1 minute later that I was overlooking said hole's existence like a moron. I forgot that nabble doesn't show that a post was edited... hence the fact I overwrote something wasn't obvious.

What I meant to post when I got back from lunch (and didn't get to until now, yay work!) was that the second support looks a lot better and for what I'm doing, will hopefully work out a lot better than the first one.

[Gary Lewis]

I agree that the 2nd support is the way to go.  However as said you may need to mod it if you want to go with an '85 or later radiator.

[ratdude747]

See the second post's most recent edit. I know.

The fan shrouds are different too... the radiator is wider and shorter. A lot less square. Edit- yep, confirmed it in the parts list.

Unless I score a used stock radiator, looks like I'll have to redo things to the newer design. I was hoping to keep things somewhat stock... I wish, lol.

[ratdude747]

Looks like the local pull-a-part has no less than three 1984 F150's on the lot right now. Some have been there a long time though... by Pull-a-part standards, that is.

Might make a trip this saturday...