1972 F100 rust pile

[kb426]

Mid day at O&S. Doing small stuff today. In the spirit of quick and easy, we have a registration holder. The ac replaced the glove box. I bent up some sheet metal and welded it together. Functional, not pretty or cool.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Glove box space is limited by the a/c .... I'd rate the a/c more important than glove box space.  Just me

[kb426]

Refrigerant pressure transducer sensor. That is today's important phrase. Another learning escapade. When I finished up the ac and charged it, the truck idled for quite some time while charging. It had a leak so I repeated the process. More than a month ago, I take the truck for a 30 mile drive. I find out that with the ac on, when you put it in gear, it kills the engine from load. This is drive by wire so it's supposed to self compensate for load. I figure I'll have to do some programming in the ecu with software that I don't own, yet. Returning from Scott city a week ago, the last 50 miles, the torque converter didn't lock up. I look through the service manual and it refers to a Ford dealer computer that I don't have access to. I'm looking through the wiring diagrams to see if there's anything in the harness that I had removed that could be part of the problem. On one of the many pages I see that there are a few items that affect trans pressure during operation. This is my 1st exp. with an electronic controlled trans. One is a brake input that releases the lockup when disengaging the cruise control. The other I find is connected to the ac. When it builds pressure, the sensor supplies voltage to the ecu which tells the trans to lower the pressure and therefor not kill the engine when idling in gear. I ordered a sensor, pigtail and a metric to sae adapter and went to work. I traced the 3 wires out of the harness from the ecu and ran them across the engine bay to the location of the sensor in the dryer. I had to blow the system down to install the adapter. I have recharged the system and it does do what it's supposed to. I don't know what is the trouble with the torque converter lockup, yet. This only happens when it's warmed up from at least 30 minutes of operation. I'm wondering if there is a problem with the ecu. One less item on the punch list.

[kb426]

Some time ago, I looked at dropping the front coilovers through the lower a-arm. It didn't look like there was enough clearance to make it worthwhile. A few days ago, my son sends me a link that has a pic with a description. It includes lowering links. I google and find a company that makes the 4 links for $30. I almost buy a set. I do a little research on youtube and find out that they won't clear anything but a stock steel wheel. I found another video that showed a guy changing the brackets to solve the problem. I used his drawing and made 4 brackets. It's really nice for a blind guy to have a digital readout to measure with. I tack welded the 4 brackets together and went to work. The pics are of using the mill to drill all the holes and the end result. As weather permits, I will need to jack up the front end and do a fair amount of work. The end result is supposed to lower the front end by 1.5". I'm excited about that.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Sounds like a plan...  results should work well.   In the photos , the truck seems to sit level. Although that may be an optical illusion ?

[kb426]

Tony, you are correct. The truck has a 3/4" of rake. The front wheel opening is 2" higher than the rear. The hood is higher than the bed rail so it does look uphill.
Another day at O&S. I got started after noon after waiting for the temp to rise from 19 degrees this am. I did the right side 1st. I double checked everything before bolting the brackets for the last time. I have plenty of clearance between the wheel and the brackets. I started on the left side and everything went in the toilet. The lower a-arm isn't shaped the same as the right side. I can only drop the left side 1.375" instead of 1.5" as the right. The offset in the brackets run the spring cup into the a-arm. I'm going to have to change the offset of the brackets to neutralize that issue. I'm tired enough that I have quit for the day. I'll start looking everything over tomorrow to see if I missed something before proceeding.

[kb426]

Mission accomplished. The truck went from 3/4" on the body line to 3". The drop on the coilover is multiplied by the ratio on the a-arm. I cut the brackets and moved them around 3/8" to get the springs to clear the a-arm. It probably needs a front end alignment now.

[enjenjo]

Looks good from here

[idrivejunk]

Aw yeah! );b(

[Crosley.In.AZ]

ah yes...  I see what you did.  Slight difference.  Looks good.

[chimp koose]

lookin good  

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Did You pull the suspension parts off?  blast, clean?  Powder coat?

[kb426]

Not yet. I have got sidetracked, again.

[kb426]

This should be the last part of the puzzle. I've looked for a year for one of these seats. This is from an 87-92 Ford standard cab truck. The deluxe option has the arm rest and lumbar supports. I found one on a classified ad on the far side of the state. By shear luck, the seller was friends with a guy who works for a construction crew that has been working in my town. At 6am, this morning, he drives into McDonalds drive and I saw the seat. The man walks in and I said "you have my seat". He replied " I thought it might be you". We had no idea who each other was. He's just part of the crew that comes in for breakfast. Next will be deciding on upholstery options.

[kb426]

I had enough time this afternoon to make the swap. Changing the brackets to mount it was minor. I did connect 12v power and found the lumbar supports work. I didn't have a place to store it so it was easier to install it. The original seat is easier to store.