Old School Cool

[old55pete]

I just found this in the page that Gary linked you to.

Oct 03, 2018; 6:26pmRe: Rear Bumper/Spare Tire Mount Thoughts
First Today
2 posts
In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Hey Gary and everyone.

Have you thought about using the factory swing away spare tire gate that was on the broncos?
Make sure you get the re inforcement plates that go behind the body.

I put one on my 65 f100 big body bronco i had made years back. I cut the roof  and tops of the doors off,  installed a rollbar, and added an 80's bronco spare tire gate. I didnt have the re enforcement plates, but had no issues with a standard tire on it.
Call me Kyle.


I copy and pasted it here for you

[Jacob84]

Gary- Thank ya, I’ve been looking it over!

Steve- Thanks for finding that for me, let me peruse the internet and see if I can find any leads. There’s some local guys I might be able to source one from too. It pays to be a Ford guy that’s in with all the other Ford guys

[old55pete]

[Jacob84]

So I’ve had some extra time and I’ve learned a lot of about my truck recently thanks to forum and documentation. I have noticed some curious things.

So my truck is an 84 F150. From the factory it came with a 5.8 HO, C6, 4x4 NP208, Ford 9 inch. Regular cab, long bed. It has a two tone paint job, bright canyon red and silver (don’t remember the exact name). It has a GVWR of 6,250 pounds, pretty hefty for a F150. One gas tank. Came with rubber floor and vinyl seat. It also came with AC, power steering, power brakes. A couple things that were added originally were the factory chrome bed rails and a Ford rifle sleeve that hung behind the seat

It has no designation for what trim level it is. There is no tag or emblem. I do have the original paperwork so I’m gonna look more into that for answer too. All it says is F150 on each fender. On the inside the bezel for the radio says “4x4” not “custom” or anything.

It has an am/fm radio, clock, and what appears to be the light package. Though I’m missing a couple things. So I have a cargo light, the optional passenger side door switch, dome light of course, and the optional under hood retractable light (I removed it because it wasn’t working and intend to fix it). But, I have no courtesy lights under the dash, there isn’t a light in the ash tray, and no glove box light? Kinda odd.

I looked through all the original paperwork and couldn’t find anything about the packages but I can tell you that the original owner paid $12,610 for it brand new in 1984. Imagine paying that for a new truck today??

Anyways, no big questions or urgency. Just some things I noticed and if anyone has any other observations or bits to add I’m all ears.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jacob, I don't have anything to offer, but I'm following because I find it curious.  

[Gary Lewis]

Jacob - I have the '84 dealer facts book, but just not online.  I'll take a look tomorrow to see if I can tell anything about trim levels, but I'm pretty sure that the base level was Custom.  So if it doesn't say anything else then it must be a Custom.

What might help is to find the build sheet.  You can see what they look like at Documentation/Specifications/Build Sheet Interpretation.  I've found them under the carpet and under the seat between the springs and the foam.

[Jacob84]

Jim- I’m curious too, I was thinking how nice it would be to have courtesy lights. Looked at the rest of the truck and thought “man, I should have those already??”

Gary- I’d appreciate that, whenever you get the time, no rush. I’m definitely curious about the build sheet. If it’s anywhere it’ll be under the floor mat, though I was told the seat wasn’t original. The second owner (original owners son) I’m good friends with so he may have it along with other docs that go with the truck.

I might also see if there are some pictures of the truck when it was new, that would be cool

[Gary Lewis]

Jacob - I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten.

Here's what the 1984 Dealer Facts Book says the different trim levels came with as standard equipment. And note that in '84 there wasn't a Custom trim level. Just Standard, XL, and XLT. (And an Explorer that was offered for only a couple of months each year and doesn't show in the book.) And that the Standard didn't have any trim designation.

Oh yes, I should say that while this chart says "4x2" that there's no similar chart for the 4x4 trucks as they had the same standard items save for the 4x4 bits.

[Jacob84]

Gary, sorry for the late reply and thank you for finding that for me

So an update on that. I don’t think my truck came with the light package. I’ll elaborate. I took my kick panels off expecting to find the pigtails for the courtesy lights and was gonna wire some extra lights I had laying around as courtesy lights. Saw what I thought was the pigtail on the drivers side. Pulled out the multimeter checking for voltage with the door open. Nada. Played around with the door jamb switch, still nada. Went to the passenger side, no extra pigtails. Reached into every little space, nothing there. Something wasn’t adding up. That led me to looking around all of the wiring inside the truck to see what I could find out and I noticed that someone had messed with the connector for the cargo light/seatbelt (the connector in the cab corner behind the driver). The previous owner had wired in the cargo light with some crude soldering. The third brake light pin in the connector had been removed and none of the wiring remained.

So this is my thought. My truck did not come with the light package. It had a factory third brake light. Owner used this truck as a work truck and wanted a cargo light so he removed the brake light and replaced it with a cargo light and wired it in. I also think he added the under hood light.

So I don’t have the wiring for the courtesy lights, the cargo light is an add-on, the under hood light could easily be an add on.

Here’s the kicker. I have the wiring for the headlight warning on the buzzer and it functions (I have since switched to a chime from my parts truck , so much nicer). I also have a door jamb switch on the passenger door. So I still don’t know but the plot thickens lol.

[Jacob84]

Got a few extra parts incoming- glovebox, new pads for the brake pedal and emergency brake, 4x4 emblem just because, and some new clips for windshield trim. Just some little things I wanted to fix. I also have my eye on a set of sun visors on eBay that have the extra anchor points so I’ll probably pull the trigger on them. They’re vinyl and they match my interior.

I always have some sort of question and here are a couple that have been going through my head.

1) I have a BW1356 from a 95 f150. 150k miles on it. Looks to be in really good condition and the previous owner (same person as the original owner of my Bullnose) was very good about taking care of his trucks. I’d bet that it’s only been in 4WD a handful of times. I’d like to put it in my truck. I know I’ll need a tailhousing that has a provision for the speedo so I’ll have to source one. My big question is this-

Will I need to have the driveshafts changed? Is it enough of a length difference between a NP208 and a BW1356 to have to modify them?

I’m gonna measure everything when I get the time but I figured someone on here has done that swap before and would have some pointers

2) My second question. I have holes in my floor pans and have good pieces to fill them with. Now I don’t have a Mig or Tig welder but I do have a pretty hefty stick welder and a gas welder/torch. I’m not in a position to buy a mig, the arc welder would not do well at all on that thin of metal, so that leaves me with oxy/acetylene

I was hoping to get a few pointers or tips on using the gas setup to patch the floor. I’ve never welded with oxy/acetylene but I’m a quick learner and I also have friends/family that can help. Would anyone recommend butt or lap welds? Tack or filler? Hammer weld? I’m a complete newbie to it. I know it’s the “old” way of doing it but I think it’s kinda cool and thats the tool I have available.

It’s just the floor so no one is gonna see the welds. I’m not worried about pretty, just functional. If I get really good and confident then I’ll tackle the cab corners, bed corners, and the edges of a couple of fenders. That’s way on down the road though and I’ll have plenty of practice before I try to do the actual body panels.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I wouldn't weld with oxy/acetylene, I would braze the patches in.

Not as much heat.
Brass is just as strong as welding and won't corrode (IF the flux is rinsed off)

This is how ALL body repairs were made before MIG's became common in the '80's

[Jacob84]

I knew I was forgetting something Jim. I’ve been researching body panel repair for a little while now and I came across brazing. I’ll look into it more!

[Gary Lewis]

On the driveshafts, I don't think there's enough difference between the NP208 and the BW1356 to cause a problem.  But I have those two t-cases w/in 10' of each other so will measure them tomorrow and we'll know.  And will I'm at it I'll measure the BW1345 on Big Blue.

But, your 1356 doesn't have the hole for the speedo?  Guess I didn't know they came that way.  

[Jacob84]

I’d really appreciate that Gary. On the speedo hole- So I was told by a mechanic friend of mine that the case should have the provision for the speedo, it would just be plugged. I was surprised to not even see a plug. I’ll take some pics of it. If I was a bettin man I’d say that Ford did away with the speedo hole in the later 90s trucks. At that point vehicle speed was determined from the speed sensor in the rear end and there was no reason for the hole. Maybe it was cheaper that way once they ran out of tailhousings with the provision?

[grumpin]

I thought by 95 the speedo sensor was in the rear differential.

[Jacob84]

Dane, you’re right. The speedo on the 95 is run off of the rearend tone ring and sensor. Well, that’s how it determines speed

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bill gave a little lesson in how the PSOM functions the other day in Big Blue's thread.

It might be informative.

[Gary Lewis]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Bill gave a little lesson in how the PSOM functions the other day in Big Blue's thread.

It might be informative.

Yep.  Start reading here: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Big-Blue-s-Transformation-tp28014p83258.html

[Gary Lewis]

Not sure the 1356 will work.  The measurements from the front flange to the point where the u-joint cap hits the output flange are:

NP208:    16 3/4"

BW1345: 16 7/8"

BW1356: 18"

But you should measure your 1356 to see if you agree on that measurement.  If so, you may find that your driveshaft won't fit.  And in that case it may be less expensive to find another t-case than to have your shaft cut down, find the right rear housing, and have the t-case worked on to put the housing on.

[Jacob84]

Well that’s a bummer. We’re supposed to have a ton of rain soon but if I can get the chance I’ll crawl under the truck and measure the 208 and get the 1356 measured also. I trust your measurements but just to confirm I’ll check it out. I appreciate it!