Poncho Loco build thread, yes here it is ...

[RenoHuskerDu]

It's a 351W.  The gap you describe exists. Also, thermostat housing is in the intake manifold. 3 bolts hold down the valve cover on the exhaust side.  The Windsor was produced from 1969 to 1991. At some point it was given the ignominy of being called a 5.8 litre motor. The horror, the horror...

[RenoHuskerDu]

Looks like the PO splurged on these spark plugs. They look relatively new.

Anybody running them?

SuperDuperNiftyWiftyPlugs

[RenoHuskerDu]

I guess nobody's running those fancy plugs. They'll work fine to get her going, at least.

Right now we're finding TDC on cyl 1 with a stiff length of copper wire. Then we'll insert a small USB camera and see if the valves are open, so we'll know if we're on compression or exhaust stroke. I suspect the PO was unable to get the motor started because he put in that fancy new distributor 180 degrees off. We'll remedy that.

I told one of my boys to clean the timing marks and put a dab of white on 0 ... but the motor has no timing marks that we can find so far.  Just this 4-sided crank position sensor, which I assume worked with the factory ignition (discarded).

I guess we'll set the timing by ear. Won't be the first time.

[Gary Lewis]

I don't think I've seen a harmonic balancer w/o marks, but I guess they were some.  And yes, I think that star wheel is picked up by the sensor to the left center of the pic to give TDC.

But copper wire or even a straw usually works to find TDC.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You can put a finger in the #1 plug hole and feel the compression stroke as the piston comes up.

Those plugs look pretty fouled to me.
Everyone I know says stay far away from platinum and "fancy" plugs in these trucks.
Many won't use anything but copper core Motorcraft plugs.
I prefer the V-power NGK's (these are still a basic copper spark plug)

While it's possible the HEI distributor is way out of time if it doesn't have at least a 30A circuit feeding it the GM ignition module built into the cap isn't going to be happy.
(There is an HEI conversion tutorial in the Bullnose Upgrades or DSII conversion section of the documentation)

I can understand why your son has no experience with engine management schemes that weren't in production for decades before he was even born.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Have you considered measuring the damper diameter and adding a cheap timing tape once you find TDC #1?

That way you would not only know where your base timing is, but you could observe vacuum and centrifugal advance with the timing light as well.
Ford engines from this era seem to do well with ~12° initial and about 38-40° maximum.

Changing weights and setting limits on these GM style distributors is a lot simpler than disassembling a DSII style to change baseplates or bush the stops.

[RenoHuskerDu]

Thanks to all for the useful ideas.

We did get Poncho Loco to run tonight.  The fuel pump even works, but of course it was pumping onto the ground, all the nasty ethanol rot in there from sitting for 18 months. The USB camera idea didn't work to find TDC, image was too grainy. So we pulled the valve cover to find #1 TDC with a stiff wire.

A timing tape on the damper would be sweet but I'd need a pointer too. We have to  straighten the PS pump mount and I'll take a closer look at the damper then. For now I'll probably just advance till it pings then back off a few degrees.  That 30A HEI tip is excellent.

Daughter is quite happy, and she's getting pretty good at routine ops, knowing what tool lives where, etc.

On the yestertech front and why it's still important at times, my eldest who had never seen the inside of a carb until this project just got a raise at work. He was given a 79 Dentside to get the carb sorted out and succeeded.  Boss was obviously pleased to the tune of $3 an hour.

[RenoHuskerDu]

We pulled the bed today. Ack phltt...it has 8 bed bolts? All our other Bullys have 6, but this is our only F150 and only 1982.  Somebody has undercoated heavily.  Right over some low body rust. But in we found no unpleasant surprises. The pinion seal is leaking slightly. Somebody put in spendy KYB shocks ... then undercoated them. lol.

We're going to remove the front tank and tank selector. Both look OK, but the selector itself is smaller than I've seen on our Bullys and Brickys, which are all diesel, maybe that's the diff. Anybody need 'em?

I prefer to run a bed tank with valve for gravity feed into the rear tank. We have to drive 30 minutes to get non-ethanol gasoline so more fuel capacity makes sense.

Nasty 2-into-1 exhaust looks like a welding school beginner did it. That will go on the scrap pile and we'll build a 2.5" dual system once the front tank is gone. Exits before rear tires.

Who has defeated the evap emissions malarkey and how did you do it? In the past I've routed that vent, diff vents, and gearbox vents up to a high point then have an inverted U form at the end.  Perhaps one of you has a more elegant solution?

[Gary Lewis]

I think the bed bolt change happened in '85, but I'm not sure.  We have that documented somewhere.

On the vents, here's how I handled the tank vents.  I like the filter as it keeps crawly things out.

[RenoHuskerDu]

We're tearing into Poncho Loco more every day. Today after draining the rotten old gas, my daughter and I lubed both window mechanisms. There appears to be new felt in the window channels, and new rubber at the top of the door panels.  Lubing it all up with silicone lube and grease reduced effort considerably. The driver door crank has a lot of axial play but still works. We have a spare out in the field too.

The door panels have sheet metal pockets in them, never seen that on a Bully. Do you think somebody fab'd  these up?  The door panels themselves have almost no cracks. Even the push pin attachment points are unbroken. Hard to believe for a 1982 truck, I wonder if the panels were NOS. If they were repro they wouldn't have these Ford numbers on them, afaik.

Take a look, what do you think?



Here is one of the door pockets. Very well done, no sharp edges.



Here is the back side. Looks fab'd to me.

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's fabri-cobbled.
Door pockets on these trucks are soft vinyl with elastic at the top.

[Gary Lewis]

That's an interesting use of space.  But Jim is right, that ain't factory.

[RenoHuskerDu]

Our 86 XLT Lariat has those pockets, indeed. Tomorrow in the light I am going to compare.

The back of the pockets looks like a kluge, but the front is remarkably smooth.

We also determined that this truck is an assembly of at least 3 Bullys, as revealed by factory paint found when removing parts.

[RenoHuskerDu]

Jim's spot on. Here is a factory door panel from our 86 XLT Lariat. More bright trim but elastic pocket.

I guess Poncho Loco started life as an XL and his PO wanted more door cubbies, spotted that wasted space below the armrest.

If LMC were to offer door pockets that we could install in there, they would sell like hotcakes ... to the tiny audience of us Bullnose lovers.



Here is the door panel of another XLT Lariat we got as a parts truck, blown motor and rusted cab down low. This may find its way into Poncho Loco some day. If only it were blue ...

[RenoHuskerDu]

Dear UPO,

I do understand the concept of undercoating and why it's done. But this is Texas. Rust only happens down by the coast. I researched your truck's history a bit and found it was owned by an Austin business, hours away from the coast. I just wonder why you undercoated it.

Furthermore, why did you undercoat right over accumulated dirt?  As in soil. Seems curious,  given the time you took on many projects.

Thank you for the new brake lines and hoses!  It was cool to see that shine come thru as the black goo came off.

Finally, did you really mean to undercoat the 9" diff so heavily that the cast webs almost shrunk from  view? And the wiring? And the driveshaft?  It's balanced, ya know.

Welp, it's mostly cleaned off now. We presoaked it with kerosene twice, then squirted it with 50% Pinalen. That product sure beats Simple Green. Still remains to send a kid under there with a putty knife and scrape off the low horizontal spots... I know that not everyone has a handy cattle guard for this kind of op. If you tried it in a suburb, the HOA would have a siezure.

In cleaning up the black goo off my pressure washer later, I became very appreciative of the fact that Acetone is sold in gallon bottles. Man that stuff eats thru undercoating fast.

[RenoHuskerDu]

We've removed both tanks and cleaned off the black goo. Now it's time to start plumbing in the rear 36 gal tank we have on hand. It came out of our 86 Bully diesel after we had one too many sender and pickup issues. Time and thought have convinced me that those problems were due to poor install by a production garage. Swapping a bigger tank into an 1986 pickup is outside of the range of their competence. While that gentleman has done excellent work for me on newer vehicles, on older vehicles I believe firmly that we should do it ourselves, or given the budget, contract with a restoration specialist in the area.

Here's my question. We have a 36 gal rear tank, which has a poor sender arrangement, having been modified from the original 18 gal tank.  It just hit me that my rear 36 gal tank was originally designed for a Bronco, right?  And Broncos are very collectible now, so I bet somebody makes good repro sending units for Bronco 36 gal tanks.

UPDATE: I'm not sure about that anymore. Bronco Graveyard lists 25 gal tank for 80-83 Bronco.

All I need is to find a vendor.  I tried Carolina Classics, but they don't do senders.  Jeff's Bronco Graveyard is still there, but they offer nothing for a pre-85 Bronco. It looks like Ford put an electric EFI pump right in the tank around that time. Our pump was mechanical on the block (but will be electric soon). The pickup in the tank is also the sender, see pics.

I did find this ACP on the CarID site, but its slick marketing makes me suspicious. Their idea of details is just marketingspeak, which was my job for decades.
"Expertly manufactured from the highest grade materials...Meticulously Tested for the ultimate in quality...Innovative engineering, solid design, and proven reliability" All they need is Billy Mays to jump in and pimp the sender. They don't even mention the capacity of the tank, but if I dig around a bit I find it fits 16 or 19 gallon tanks. Didn't all Broncos some with big rear tanks? Hence the spare tire on the back door crane.
UPDATE: CarID has chat support. I got a Karen on the line (really!) who confirmed that it only fits 16 or 19 gal. Why aren't nice girls at home with their family? Don't get me started....

Anyone have an idea where else I could buy a 1980-1984 Bronco fuel tank pickup/sender? Here's one of my old ones. Not reparable, and we already tried extending the arm on our 86 Bully. Fabbing a longer fuel pickup is easy, but not the float/sender. Too much weight, eventually breaks the arm.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bronco tanks aren't exacty the same as the deep truck tanks.
Bronco's are shorter behind the axle for a better departure angle.

I don't personally have any experience with the deeper truck tanks but Big Blue is wearing one and I'm sure Gary has well documented what pickup/sender module he used.
On further thought Gary is using in-tank pumps because he has plans to fit fuel injection to the engine that Scott built....  🤔

It might be worth doing a search on Big Blue's thread if just to see what he's figured out about the deep tank and which manufacturer he decided to go with.

[RenoHuskerDu]

That EFI in-tank pump would be the bee's knees.  Until its high pressure hit the float needle valve in our .... carburetor.  Eh ... nothing is easy on old trucks.

Maybe we'll just run this truck off a bed tank, as we do with our 86 diesel

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, the '87-on senders also read backwards and a different range than the 10-70 ohm Bullnose gauges.....
So that would be another stumbling block.

Let me poke around Big Blue's thread.
I don't have everything categorized and saved like Gary does.

[RenoHuskerDu]

I poked around on FTE and found a bunch of threads on this tank. It's not for a Bronco and never came on a F-series, as far as I can see.  It's a Spectra Premium aftermarket tank. LMC sells it too. Nobody mentioned finding the correct pickup/sender for the deep tank.

Lots of guys stood on their heads doing fancy fab to get a stock rear tank 19gal pickup/sender working correctly in that 38gal tank.  After due consideration, I'm taking the path of less resistance.

NAPA (whose prices often rival RockAuto these days) sells that pickup/sender for $70. I'll extend the pickup with fuel hose, just as we do when the pickup tube breaks off part way down (ask me how we know). Then I'll bend the sender float arm down a bit. That should make the gauge read full for about 10 gal from full, and hit empty with 8 gallons to spare.  Give or take a country mile...my daughter can also monitor the trip odometer. And we'll drop in a 50gal bed tank in for gravity refill.

Should be an acceptable setup.  FYI