The Truck of Doom: An Occasional Build Thread

[kramttocs]

Glad you asked about that bracket - wondered the same when mine was off. Anyone ever seen one of those shields?

Yes - you can reach your hand up there and get to the drains. Loosening the 'tail' of the liner would help but isn't absolutely necessary.
Just be careful if you try to remove the duckbill rubber without a forked trim tool though as on one of the trucks I stripped down it was hanging on by a single retainer and the other was tore out.

[Sac79]

Here's some ideas for your cowl Matthew.



I don't know if yours still has a seal in place, but mine didn't. The screen I just cut out of some window screen I have and glued it. Don't know if it will hold, time will tell.

As for cleaning out the side ducts, have you tried sticking a shopvac hose down there? Even if you got the drain covers off it would still be a pain to clean the duct from there, the easiest would be from inside the cab through the vent. Although on the drivers' side you have the e-brake in the way...

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Start Here Matthew.

Yep, I remembered that post and looked at it before writing my post - yours answered a lot of questions, but not all of them.  For example, where the linkages meet the motor...I don't see a bushing on yours, but are your linkages as loose as mine are?

If you could share those cutaway photos you mentioned, that would be super helpful.

kramttocs wrote

Just be careful if you try to remove the duckbill rubber without a forked trim tool though as on one of the trucks I stripped down it was hanging on by a single retainer and the other was tore out.

Is that because without the tool the rubber will tear or break?  I'm currently planning on getting rid of the 'duckbill' (a far politer descriptor than the other one I've seen for these parts...) rubber altogether, since I really don't want trash building up in there again.  

Sac79 wrote

I don't know if yours still has a seal in place, but mine didn't. The screen I just cut out of some window screen I have and glued it. Don't know if it will hold, time will tell.

I don't have anything like what you seem to have made for your cowl, but mine looks like this:


I'm also going to put screen under mine, but I'm a little hesitant to use something as permanent as glue - I'm considering gaffer tape.  It won't hold as well as glue, and maybe won't hold at all...but if it does, it would then be easier to replace the screen if/when it gets damaged.

As for the shop-vac...I considered it, but (a) my hose is too big to get down there, and (b) there was enough wet, packed dirt down there to grow potatoes.  I got most of it out by hand through the kick panel vent, then got more out with a spoon.  If I can get that drain out I'm sure I could wash the rest away.

[ArdWrknTrk]

There actually isn't a picture of the drain with the fender cut off.
But this can give you an idea.



It's just above the cut line.
Here is the opening, looking up.



As for the wiper motor, not really a linkage bushing on the crank.
My wiper had wallowed out the output of the gearbox, resulting in a very sloppy crank.

I've never seen gasket on the underside of a cowl either, but I can see how it might help support it and keep rattles at Bay.

[kramttocs]

Dorsai wrote

kramttocs wrote

Just be careful if you try to remove the duckbill rubber without a forked trim tool though as on one of the trucks I stripped down it was hanging on by a single retainer and the other was tore out.

Is that because without the tool the rubber will tear or break?  I'm currently planning on getting rid of the 'duckbill' (a far politer descriptor than the other one I've seen for these parts...) rubber altogether, since I really don't want trash building up in there again.  

Exactly but if you are getting rid of it (which I've considered also), I'd just grab and yank. Yeah, I've heard it called the other...

[Dorsai]

So what’s the downside, if any, of getting rid of the drain plastic?  I just got my hands up to it (I’m literally under the truck as I type this) and it would be easy enough to yank it loose.  But I know Ford engineered every part with a purpose, and I’d love to know what that is before I rip something out.

[kramttocs]

Mice/critters is the only explanation I've ever heard

[Dorsai]

That’s all I could come up with myself. I think I’m just going to yank them out and see what happens.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I've been without since that August post.

There's chipmunks EVERYWHERE, but I haven't seen any evidence inside my truck.

[Dorsai]

Well, I was able to get the driver's side out tonight...I swear the passenger side has a smaller hole to reach up into, I couldn't get my hand in there.  I'll try again tomorrow, but I may have to shove it down from the top side.

I got the driver's side washed out and it looks real nice now.  Although with my luck a colony of these things will probably set up residence by morning.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, if they do you won't have problems with mice.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

I wouldn't mind a non-venomous snake setting up camp in my truck, as long as they poop somewhere else.

All these invasive species happening way down in the Southeast need a bounty before they become naturalized  citizens.

I'd like me a pair of ropers with that lizard hide, or even the Burmese Python.

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

All these invasive species happening way down in the Southeast need a bounty before they become naturalized  citizens.

Have you never been to Georgia before?  We shoot things for free down here!

In any case, it's all  fault.  He probably had some of these things as pets, then after taking too much meth one night they got away.  Georgia's the only good route out of Florida (remember, Big Blue lived here for a while), so like every other dumb thing from Florida, they're our problem now too.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You know it's bath salts if Florida man is involved!  

Really.
I bet you could put those down cleanly with a CB cap in the brain case.
Big pythons are another story.

Wonder how they taste?
Iguana is pretty good! :d

FIND a reason to harvest them and you'll get them taken care of.
It's not like those carp that aren't seen underwater invading upriver.

[Gary Lewis]

Doubt many know what CB cap is, Jim. Takes me way back. May still have a few. Are they still sold?

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

Doubt many know what CB cap is, Jim. Takes me way back. May still have a few. Are they still sold?

Well short of using a suppressor (silencer) which may not be legal in your area, there is a super quiet round available for your rifle that you may not be aware of. It’s called the 22 CB Cap (short for “conical ball cap”).
While not as powerful or accurate over long range as the 22LR round, it is still powerful enough to take small game such as rabbit or squirrel and provides the added advantage of being no louder than a pellet gun (and perhaps even less so). The reason for its silence is due to its minute propellant charge (in many cases it’s just the primer with no gunpowder) which results in a low muzzle velocity of around 700 ft/s (subsonic).
The advantages of this kind of round in a serious survival situation (urban or wilderness) are obvious. With a report no louder than a pellet gun, the .22 CB Cap round gives you the benefit of being able to easily take smaller game — even in a congested urban area — without anyone the wiser (Pigeon anyone? yummy…). It also allows for target practice without bothering the pesky neighbors.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I can use these in my MkII 5 1/2" target pistol and hold my thumb behind the slide.

They're *really* quiet if the action doesn't cycle and let the gas out that end.

[Gary Lewis]

David - What a good description.  

Jim - Never thought about holding my thumb behind the slide on my Woodsman.  Cool!  But in my lever action rifle they are super quiet.

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

David - What a good description.  

LMGTFY!!!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Now you're being Chris, David!  

Gary, if you are tasked with 'dispatching with prudence' many things, it becomes second nature.

We always used to have CB caps in the shooting galleries at the fair.
People would freak if you handed a gun and a full mag to a stranger in a huge crowd of people today!

Different times..... sadly.