Old Blue, '88 R&R Project

Old Blue

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First post here, long time lurker.

I got the pickup in my sig several years ago off a used dealer lot and never did much with it due to lack of time/money - recently that has changed, so I decided to give the old girl the TLC she deserves. My dad bought a 92 SC new off the lot when I was a kid, and I've loved these trucks ever since, only thing is I wanted the manual; he had the E4OD and managed to kill it and had a problems on the rebuild until he sold it...

Here's mine:
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Always seemed like a slow lunk since I got it, my dad had the Banks kit and I'm going the same route on this one. But, it's smoky, starts hard, and needs gone through first. Here is a list of some of the stuff I need to fix/look at (other than the injection system) off the top of my head:
  • Both tanks leak when full, senders intermittent, dies under 1/4 tank
  • Rear brake line rusted off this winter, RABS light on since I bought it
  • Clunk/rattle in the front end over bumps, maybe caliper pins?
  • Rusty Frame needs painted (had to wait for the undercoating/oil slime from dealer to dry out and fall off to see it well)
  • Tach dead
  • Rear lights work only when in a good mood
  • Turn signal cancel cam broken
  • Rusted out pan/rocker area underneath, bed arches and wells need redone
  • Needs new/larger tires IMO, I would like a skinny 33 or 34" on there, no lift (suggestions?)
  • Headliner/seatcovers/interior/air con, seat belt retractors, ad nauseum
  • 4WD shifter, needs the Hulk to move that lever.

First thing I did was pull the old glow plugs, all Champion brand, luckily none stuck in the bores, only one was open circuit. Picked up these at Rock Auto, just came in:
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Next, I wanted to check compression without spending a lot of money, so I got this thing:
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Of course, it's been posted around before, the adapter with the proper threads is too long, so I cut it down with a parting tool on the mini lathe and took some emery cloth to the end cut to smooth it out a bit, overall length is now just shy of 2.125":
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These adapters have a common schrader valve in the end to hold pressure, in the part I cut off. It's a real odd-ball tap size, so I tried several things:
  • Drilled out to 0.210" and JB Weld in place - leaked
  • Tried 'tapping' threads with a 4-in-1 tire tool thread chaser - wrecked the tool LOL
  • Made a tap out of 3/8" drill rod on the lathe - not the best but it "worked", still put some grease on the seal and JB weld on the threads to seal it up 100%: (.209 OD x 36 TPI, about a 1 degree taper on the end to below the root diameter - used a #17 or #18 drill bit I think)
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I did the compression test cold as my new glow plugs just came in today, and I already had the old plugs all out. All within a few percent of each other around 330-340 PSI, I'm comfortable with that on a cold engine.

Here is the odo:
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Not sure if that is the -only- 96k this truck has done, but I couldn't find any rebuild stampings on the side of the IP by the little fuel adjuster door, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? Original grey injectors and painted return caps (leak like a sieve). I want 8 new injectors, and a good rebuild on the pump, I've heard a Moose setup might be the way to go? Either way, it might not be the only 96k miles on the truck, but at least its the most recent 96k miles...

I'm working on pulling the bed off now, replacing both tanks with poly ones, SS pre-bent lines for the brakes on order. We'll see how it all goes. I'm gonna strip the rear frame as much as I can, give it a little DIY blasting and shoot some Rust Bullet and "Black Shell" up its skirt. (Used the RB before, I like it, never tried the black paint from them). I can't get 2 of the 6 bed bolts off with the impact, the ones above the axle area, gonna try once more later then cut 'em off.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks ;Sweet to all the guys on this site ( and that other one), without all of the info and support I probably would not feel as comfortable doing all this work!

One last thing, I always try to get the factory manuals for my cars/trucks, they seemed to help on other cars I've had:
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EVTM should be here within the week I hope!
 
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CaptTom

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Awesome!!!

Good luck with it all.

People give me a bad time about all the dough I spend on mine... but I don't own some **** sports car, this is my sports car....so why the heck not?!
 

91idi

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Sounds like she will like you now. LOL
 

Old Blue

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Well the weekend came and went, got a few things done on the truck. First, someone put a bunch of boxes on my porch:

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And the EVTM came in!

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As far as work goes, it seems like everything goes slower when there is rust involved. Popped out the tool box, bed liner, and 6 bed bolts. I only had to weld a nut to the top of one of them, but I had to leave two soak overnight in PB Blaster before the impact would take them off.

Later, I dropped the old tanks. I had to grind off the heads on the rearmost outer two bolts for the midship skid plate, and I had to weld some 'supplements' to the back bolts for the rear skid plate.

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I won't be able to install these until I am finished prepping and painting the frame parts:

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On another note, both sending unit rheostats are bad after testing them with a DMM. I am thinking of sending in my specs and ordering two of these type of senders: http://www.centroidproducts.com/ Has anyone ever used a capacitance type fuel sensor before?
 

hesutton

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Sweet, a new Banks Sidewinder! I remember getting the big pile of boxes too, that was a happy day. LOL

Keep up the good work man. A lot of good stuff is going into your rig and you'll love it even more when you are finished. And, thanks for the good photos, we all love project photos here.

Heath
 

Optikalillushun

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Just like my truck, only in F250 flavor. That paint looks great, and the decals make me think its been repainted. Sure makes me want my truck to be all shiney after seeing urs.
 

Old Blue

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Just like my truck, only in F250 flavor. That paint looks great, and the decals make me think its been repainted. Sure makes me want my truck to be all shiney after seeing urs.

Yes, the truck has been repainted, not a great job I must say, although it does look shiny in the pictures. The bed has weld in arches in it, they are in ok shape, but bubbling through the paint because the back side was never sealed up, so I've got to redo all that before it breaks through. Some clear coat is coming off the roof, hood, and the front fenders, and there is also a few spots in the clear that look like moisture got in when they shot it. I don't want to repaint the whole truck, but I'll do a few sections to clean it up.

I'm waiting on a trailer hitch for my quad, then I'm going to pull my little utility trailer out back, drop the bed on it and start stripping the rear frame parts. My stainless pre-bent brake lines from Inline Tube came in today, they look like they might fit. I'm going to have to pull the truck around with my quad, at least until I get my pump and injectors from Mel - I hope the quad can drag it around ok, we'll see - I certainly can't push this truck around the yard by myself I don't think!
 

Old Blue

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I put stainless steel brake lines on my 93 F-150 and they are great pieces, they came from inline tube via NPD.

I just noticed your 350 has the 315's on it in your sig, do you have those on without a lift? I was wondering if they would clear on my truck, the front is a little saggy though. I really want a narrower tire I think, probably will try the 285's.
 

Optikalillushun

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Ya they clear with no lift, but i leveled the front end after i put them on. They wont fit urs since its a 250, but i would stick with the 285/75/16 or a 255/85/16 (i think) would be narrow like the stock tires but taller like the 285.
 

GOOSE

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Welcome!!:thumbsup: Nice to see another truck getting the respect it deserves. Good luck with your build, I'm liking the pics of all your new parts.-Drool Was that truck in an accident? you have the 4x4 placard instead of the diesel one. Good luck and keep the pics coming;Sweet
 

Old Blue

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Welcome!!:thumbsup: Nice to see another truck getting the respect it deserves. Good luck with your build, I'm liking the pics of all your new parts.-Drool Was that truck in an accident? you have the 4x4 placard instead of the diesel one. Good luck and keep the pics coming;Sweet

No records of any accidents, but the 4x4 badge was added and the Diesel badge is over on the other side next to a "Mack" plug in block heater socket, I'm thinking they might have moved/added the badges when they repainted the truck. They also added those 4x4 Off Road bed stickers, I think those were '92+ parts, or aftermarket.

I like to post pictures of the builds and projects, mostly because when I'm doing research or looking for ideas, the pictures sometimes help as much or more than the descriptions or words do!


Also I missed it before, but what does "via NPD" mean, in regard to the Inline Tube brake lines? Is NPD some kind of vendor? And yeah, I think I'll be best to stick with the 285 or those tall 255's if I don't lift the truck; I probably won't.
 
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