Elyza Dual-little. 1985 F350 DRW

[Gsmblue]

As threatened earlier in the year, a project thread for the last musketeer in my fleet.

Elyza is a 1984 F350 crew cab, long bed, dually, all wheel drive, 4sp MT with granny, 460cu engine and a sticker on the door declaring it as a “Centurion”. The bed is a later 1987+ model. Has ~95k original miles,

All in all she is in decent shape, but needs some TLC.

Initial issues:
Clutch pedal sticks on way up
Shifter is “notchy”
Transfer case won’t go to 4L
Power steering fluid leak
Valve cover oil leak
Interior is trash
Tailgate latches sticking
Horn not working (grounding issue on steering column)
Drivers door handle falling off
Headliner hardly there
No carpet
Lots of aftermarket wiring.. I hate that
Speed control not working
Gas tanks puke when filling up
Instrument cluster needs new bulbs and needles painting

The follow parts have arrived or will be arriving next week:
Junkyard steering column - fancy tilt version
New door seals
New power steering hoses
New valve cover gaskets
Clutch linkage bushing (metal bit not worn so no need for heim joint fix yet)
Dash protector
Clock and clock wire harness

I know there is more, I will update later.

I took care of the following so far

Clutch linkage bushing
Drivers door handle fixed
Put a junkyard radio in
Painted wiper arms
New wiper blades
Sorted all the hard water marks on the glass
Polished the paint and ceramic coated, looks pretty.

Such a fun truck, the plan is to use it to haul horses around.
 

Before pic


Current pic


Interior

[Gary Lewis]

Wow!  That is really looking good!  

And I like the name.  Reminds me of your native country.  And it is fitting as the truck is demonstrating the Pygmalion effect - you have high expectations and it is living up to them.  (Did it drop it's h'atches?)

[FuzzFace2]

Yes nice looking truck and a good base to start with, not all rotted and banged up!

As for the notchy shifting trans being a granny and 460 that would be a T19 right?
My 81 F100 came with a T18, needed a rebuild, so I replaced it with a NP435 both granny transmissions.
They were both notchy in shifting as they are a true truck transmission, no speed shifting with them!

What I did find helped a lot in the NP435 was to drain the fresh W75-80 gear oil and fill it with Red Line MT-90 gear oil. It took a little bit for it to work into everything and push out the normal gear oil but it shifts a lot easier and even more so once there is a little heat in the trans.

What I like of the slow shifting transmissions is it makes you take your time (no speed shifting) so you get to enjoy the drive.
Dave ----

[Gsmblue]

Yes, a T19. Slow shifting is about right! Never in a rush when driving this truck around.

Thanks for the oil tip, might have to give that a go.

[FuzzFace2]

Gsmblue wrote

Yes, a T19. Slow shifting is about right! Never in a rush when driving this truck around.

Thanks for the oil tip, might have to give that a go.

It is also important that you use GL-4 gear oil in the trans.
When I filled it when I first installed the NP435 the bottle said GL-4 / GL-5 so I was not really happy running it as the GL-5 oil they say eats yellow metal (syncros / bushings) in transmissions so I was happy to swap it out. Took almost a full gallon of the RL MT-90 oil for the trans.

Yes the RL MT-90 oil is a GL-4 oil, no GL-5 listed on the bottle.
RL oil was what was sent with my Advance Adaptors over drive because of the syncros in it.
Dave ----

[Gsmblue]

Well. A few little items done today.

LED dash lights ordered - HiPo brilliant white, loved Gary’s write up on those

Driver side door seal replaced
Driver side door panel replaces
All window winders replaced

Dash needles painted







Truck washed



Bumped into the original owner of the truck!!!!



He said it was an Ag truck for a local high school. He changed the bed and tailgate out, the original bed had a gooseneck in it. He also is the guy that painted it!!

He was so happy to see it still running and being brought back to life.

Small world.

[Gary Lewis]

You are motivating!  

And it is a small world.  Meeting the previous owner is cool and may pay dividends when you need to know what was done.  

[Gsmblue]

I didn’t get his number!! I hope i bump into him again..

Couple more bits done today.

New radio antenna
Unclogged the washer jets. They were GROSS!
Installed F350 badge on passenger fender
Replace a couple bulbs in the dash for the blinkers
Replaced license plate light

Drove her about 70 miles today. Didn’t miss a beat…

Can’t wait to get under the hood and stop some of those leaks…power steering and valve cover gaskets.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, you know where he teaches, right?  

Anyway, you are making progress.  Just keep ticking those things off the list.  

[Gsmblue]

The junkyard tilt steering column arrived a few mins ago. I immediately grabbed the multimeter and tested for continuity between the steering shaft and mounting bracket.

Good news, there is continuity! Plan is to install it tomorrow night.

[Gary Lewis]

Excellent!  Good luck!

[Gsmblue]

Thanks to Gary’s advice i got my new fancy tilt column straightened out. I quick coat of paint and it is ready to go in!

I guess i should have a beer as the paint drys…

[Gsmblue]

Got the new column in and “tacked” in place.

I can confirm the horn works when the engine is running and thanks to the tilt i am WAY more comfy in the drivers seat. Before the wheel was so low it was hard for me to get in.

Tomorrow i will tighten everything down and go for a joyride to homedepot..

[Gary Lewis]

Congrat's!  

[Gsmblue]

Elyza is driving great, so i am tackling the interior rehab.

All trim and headliner has been pulled out. Going to clean it all up, replace the headliner material and spray the panels. Need to seal some holes where after market wiring goes through the firewall and treat some surface rust in the driver footwell.

Hope the carpet arrives this week.






I have degreased the engine bay will tackle the fluids this week too…

[grumpin]

That’ll keep you busy!

[Gary Lewis]

That is a noble task!  It'll look great when done.  And you can take the whole family and half the house with you wherever you want to go.  

[Gsmblue]

Well. That blend door was every bit a pain as I remember.

Made worse by forgetting to put the screw retainers on the top of the new hinge. Ended up sticking a couple of rivets in the wholes instead.

I have the dash almost completely apart and i can see now it has some cracks in it. I am tempted to go to the breakers and pick up another one and paint it..

While the dash is apart i am going to add the harness for the clock. And i am going to clean back there as best i can. Already found 15c and a bullet 🤣

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, there's no joy working on the blend door in the truck.  Even when you are done your hands will be bleeding.  But, several years later my hands have healed and the door still works, so there's hope.

As for the cracks in the dash, are they visible?  If not, can you reinforce them?  I fear you may find the ones at the breakers cracked as well.

[Gsmblue]

Some pics:

Blend door with 4 rivets is nice and secure..



I actually have a complete spare dash. I will clean it up and paint it. This one has a dozen cracks




Using a wirewheel to pull the foam off. Definitely an outside job! 25% done..