The FORD Lounge

[Gary Lewis]

[RenoHuskerDu]

Happy New Year to all from your wacky Texas Bullnose friends!
Hoping 2022 brings you satisfaction and happy wrenching.

2 of these trucks are running, the other 2 are WIP.

Spartacus might be the most curious, he's a 97 F350 7.3 PSD getting a Bully front clip and bed.

[Gary Lewis]

Happy New Years!!!  

[grumpin]

Just saw a 1982 Bronco on Mecum Auctions. 3500 miles on it. Sold for $80,000.00.

[Gary Lewis]

This one?

Do we need to capture these pics?

[grumpin]

Yes that’s the one.

[salans7]

That is a great example of an early 1982. Threaded shift knobs, early bullet hole wheels, etc.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Do we need to capture these pics?

I would vote yes.
On my side, I did.  Always interesting to document "real original" looks.
As an example, I am pretty sure Big Brother original rear bumper was much smaller that the new ones available on the market today.  This could explain why my hitch is bit too much far under the bumper.

[BigBrother-84]

I am curious about the mirrors...  I bought new ones for BigBrother, and installed them.  But I was not satisfied, since the OEM ones were not "angled shape", but more "rounded".  I found very nice used ones and plan to change them next spring.
This «OEM» Bronco has the angled shaped mirrors...  Were they changed (I suspect they were), or are these the real original ones?

[Gary Lewis]

The angular mirrors were used 1980-81, and the rounded “aero” mirrors were introduced in 1982. You can see that on the Parts List tab on the page at Documentation/Exterior/Exterior Mirrors.

[salans7]

Gary Lewis wrote

The angular mirrors were used 1980-81, and the rounded “aero” mirrors were introduced in 1982. You can see that on the Parts List tab on the page at Documentation/Exterior/Exterior Mirrors.

The angled ones were on the 1982 trucks as well. They may have been phased out mid-year, but they were definitely installed on 1982 trucks and Broncos from the factory.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Shaun.  I'm just going by the MPC, but I thought that some 82's got the angled ones.  So maybe '82 was the transition year?

[BigBrother-84]

Thank you Gentlemen!
As always, your profound Ford erudition is simply amazing, and keeps me astonished.  You have a wealth of knowledge!

[Rembrant]

Gentlemen,

I know lots of you guys know way more than just Ford stuff, so I figured I'd throw this oddball at ya. My friend's young fella has a 1987 GMC 4x4 half ton with throttle body EFI 305, and it all appeared to be factory. This truck is not a beater...it's quite nice, and had been garage kept for the last 20 years or so. Anyway, it wasn't working quite right for the longest time, and suddenly one day while his wife was driving it, the engine started making a racket and quit. He found two of the spark plugs smashed to bits, at almost opposite sides of the engine.

Anyhow, he finally took it apart yesterday and pulled the heads, and found these little stainless pieces between the intake ports in the heads. I guess one of them or a couple of them got loose and fell down into the cylinders. What's odd to me is that the "wall" between the intake ports is not flush with the surface of the heads. He said the gaskets were wide open between the ports.

You guys ever see anything like this before? Wouldn't you want the ports well sealed from each other? This is so strange to me.

[mat in tn]

That seems odd to me also . However, we just pulled apart a 350 version of that same configuration and i will review it in the morning. I actually took the block and heads to the machine shop this morning and was told all techs were out under covid quarantine so i had the priviledge of unloading them back at the shop for another day.

[Gary Lewis]

I did a little Googling and found tons of problems with those heads, but not specifically the one you've described, Cory.

As for the open ports, I would think that would be counter to everything I know of in intake plumbing, but I'm obviously not an engineer, much less an engine engineer.  Still, it sure is strange.

I think I just figured out where Ford got the "engineers" that designed the always-hot brake switch in the 90's that burned up a bunch of vehicles.  And then they let the same engineers design the solution - put a fuse in the ground circuit - when the power was going to ground through the master cylinder itself.  

[FuzzFace2]

Would that little part between the ports be that big a deal?
The valve to the other port would be closed so I cant see it being a big deal.

Now what is that part used for is the $64 question?
My guess is it holds the gasket in place as the motor is going down the line before the intake is placed on it.
Other wise why would it be used and what was used before them?
Dave ----

[ratdude747]

Here's an off-topic boodoggle I'm in:

Back in 2020 I bought my wife a 2006 Kia Sedona. To put a long story short (it's in another thread), it has engine issues due to horrible sludge buildup that keeps flaking out and plugging the oil pickup when driven for an hour or more continuously (my fault for running B12 Chemtool in the oil ). Not to mention it has wicked drainback issues (clatters the chain on cold start until it gets oil pressure to tension the belt, takes a couple seconds).

Anyway, apparently Kia recalled it a few months after I bought it due to a fire prone relay (bad seals, water intrusion issue) and I just now got the notice (must have missed the first one in June 2020???). I don't know if it will make it to the dealer an hour away, and the last thing I dare do is take a dead vehicle to a dealership... if it blows up while they're working on it (driving it to the bay, swap relay, slap sticker, drive it out), that would be a very uncomfortable situation.

Alternatively, I can just buy and replace the relay (or not bother, it's not an fully exposed relay AFAIK and the recall is more of a lawyer pencilwhipping)... but that doesn't satisfy legal requirements and since it, besides the engine and filthy interior (never could be bothered to clean it, neither can my wife), is in decent conditions, I'm not sure I want to condemn it as a "never to be sold as a good vehicle" driveable hunk of scrap.

And I don't feel that towing it is warranted.

Due to the engine issue it's worth scrap value (worst $1600 I've ever spent!)... and I'd rather not cut my losses and burn my car money on a replacement. Anything that replaces it has to be 2000+... her rule not mine ("I don't want to drive ancient cars!"  ). She's OK with driving it locally and using my two trucks for long distance.

Not sure what the best way to proceed... since I'm not sure how much of this is me being a half depressed wreck and how much of this is logical thought.

[Gary Lewis]

What about driving it, changing the oil, driving it, changing the oil, etc?  That might get the engine cleaned up enough you could then take it in.

[ratdude747]

That's what I've been doing... and routinely pulling/changing the cartridge filter in between (how I know it's still losing debris). I'll change the oil (and drop the pan) next this spring... maybe get it in then.