Salan's 1980 Something

[ArdWrknTrk]

      That's happened to me in Ocala!

Some stores keep the AC so cranked (go into Food Lion or something) the sweat starts evaporating and you feel you've taken the polar bear plunge.
About the time you get used to it you're done and step outside, bam!
I want to wilt.

I know. I'm just a damn yankee who is not accustomed to it, but I'd be fine with the AC at 85* and some of  the humidity gone.

It doesn't matter how hydrated I am. If there's high humidity and no breeze I will be covered in sweat and can't cool down.

[salans7]

I rarely do anything outside during the afternoon in the summer months for that reason. It's just uncomfortable. I've had heat exhaustion twice back in 2008 and I don't take the heat lightly after that.

I'm happiest at around 75* with clear skies and a nice breeze.

[ArdWrknTrk]

There's a reason snowbirds flock to Florida in winter!

75 and a breeze is very nice.
But it's not summer in the swamps of central Florida.

Anyway, don't refrigerate your parts and you shouldn't have rust problems if you simply keep them oiled, waxed or greased.

There are plenty of products that will do that.
Some -like T9, Boshield- are too expensive for what they are, IMHO.
But -whatever- is priceless if it keeps your tools and parts undamaged.

[salans7]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

There's a reason snowbirds flock to Florida in winter!

75 and a breeze is very nice.
But it's not summer in the swamps of central Florida.

Anyway, don't refrigerate your parts and you shouldn't have rust problems if you simply keep them oiled, waxed or greased.

There are plenty of products that will do that.
Some -like T9, Boshield- are too expensive for what they are, IMHO.
But -whatever- is priceless if it keeps your tools and parts undamaged.

Thanks for the reassurance. I'll be keeping them oiled and an eye on them regularly until they go to the machine shop.

[salans7]

Brought some parts home this weekend. Mainly wanted the Sterling full float with 4.10's and the 460 frame perches, but ended up bringing home the entire front half of the frame so that I can rob the 4x4 specific parts from it. Also brought home a bricknose manual steering column, HD rear leaf springs, and some misc. odds and ends.



All of these parts came from the below "truck".

[Gary Lewis]

Looks like quite the haul, Shaun.  How did you get that stuff loaded?  The axle by itself is HEAVY!

[Rembrant]

That's quite the swamp buggy.

[ArdWrknTrk]

 

Was the pinhole cowl in one piece???

[grumpin]

Nice haul!

[salans7]

Thanks guys!

Gary, my buddy's father has a landscaping business, so we used his Bobcat to load everything in my truck. I used my engine crane to lift the axle, drove the truck out from under it, and then lowered it to the ground. Then I did the same thing with the frame, so as not to risk damaging my truck.

Jim, the pinhole cowl was in rough shape, and ended up getting cut in half with the rest of the cab.

One interesting thing to note, the cab was cracked around the passenger side hinge area, just like my cab is. I'm relatively new to this cracking phenomenon, is this a bricknose thing? Has anybody seen this on a bullnose? I cut a section out of my spare bullnose cab to repair my cab, but just found it interesting to see another truck with the same issue.

[Gary Lewis]

Good plan on the lifting.  

On the cracking, I've not seen that in any of the Bullnose trucks I've been around.  Have you posted pics of the cracks?

[salans7]

I will create a new thread to gauge other's opinions. That way more people can see it and chime in.

[salans7]

Pulled the diff cover to gauge overall condition of my new axle (I was looking for water/mud intrusion) and I'm happy to report that I don't see anything crazy. I'll eventually be going through this axle when I throw in a True-Trac, so it's good to know there's nothing too rough in there.

[Gary Lewis]

That's great news, Shaun!  That in itself is probably worth what you paid for the truck.  

[salans7]

Yea, I'm pretty relieved. I took a gamble buying the truck strictly based off of a few pictures. But the axle and the 460 frame perches would have cost me more than what I paid for the whole truck if I were to buy them separately. Sometimes it pays to buy a complete (or in my case incomplete) truck for parts.

Also, the one thing  did not cut up on this truck was the engine crossmember. It's perfectly intact.

[Gary Lewis]

LOL!  He cut up the one that mattered and left the one that didn't alone.    There's no reasoning with how and why  does something.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Hey Shaun, can you weigh in on the 'Lila-'81 F100' thread about what it takes to put a later hydraulic clutch pedal box into an early 3-on-the-tree cab, and what happens with the steering column?

Jaci and her husband (who is a mechanic) have a Aeronose donor, but I've pointed out that she needs to figure out how to drive the '81 speedo with no cable boss on the M5R2.

I know you have pics and experience with changing the tabs on the firewall to mount the pedal support, but Its a bit beyond me to explain the two piece column with a universal in the cab, and I know the whole retro/resto thing is a path you've walked before.

Thanks!  

[salans7]

Well, the semi-float rear axle is out. I also took out the light duty springs and have been working on cleaning up the HD springs from my parts truck. I'm in the process of cleaning up the brackets for the sway bar links and will work on mounting those while I have unlimited access to the frame before I throw the rear leaf springs back in. I'm looking forward to seeing those hubs sticking out a mile past the center bores of the wheels. Something about exposed full-float hubs just looks cool to me.

[Gary Lewis]

I agree, Shaun!  Those hubs sticking out look "mean"!  Good progress, and as Jim says, progress is good.  

[salans7]

Got some work done on the F350 over the new year's weekend. I managed to drill the six holes needed for the 4x4 sway bar link brackets, painted the brackets, and then installed them with new hardware. I finished cleaning up the rear leaf springs, and layered them with a couple coats of paint. I re-installed them, but have decided to replace the center pins, hence the c-clamps. I also moved the full-float Sterling back under the truck, and cleaned the green paint off of the hubs and coated them in black paint as well.

On a side note, does anybody know where to get new U-bolts for the rear sway bar brackets that go on the axle? Mine are crusty, so I need to replace them. Ford only sold them in a kit, so that's not an option.