77 LTD II

[rusty ol ranger]

My dad had a really nice '76 F250 that had a 390 and a C6 in it. That truck was an animal, stock for stock it would have easily out pulled my old '85 that had a 460 in it. Drove a clapped out '75 high boy around on the ranch when I was a teenager, it had a 360 that ran super strong... my buddy had a '69 F100 that he built a 352 for, also a very strong running truck. Never had the muscle car experience but I like FE's in pickups.

460 guys all seem to have the attitude of "ya gotta do this, and that, and get D0VE heads, and headers, and a timing set, and a cam, and a big carb, and ..............." and THEN you've got a good engine... after all that work. Stock form after the late 70's were just smog choked turds.

My 97 has plenty of snort.

 

[Blmpkn]

My 97 has plenty of snort.

That sort of thing isn't good for your heart I hear..

 

[19Walt93]

No i know everything was in CI...but i was reffering to if ford had kept the 400 past 82.

The 351M/400 had the EGR system built into the block i believe is what was being reffered to,. It was eaiser to tack the stuff on to 385s/Windsors then retool the 335s to meet emissions.

No offense...cause i know youre an FE fan...but i really dont understand the folklore around the 390. In stock emission form a 400 would rip its asshole out.

But thats a debate for a different day lol. I like the M blocks

I'm not actually an FE fan but I have built a bunch of them. It's hard to love an engine with a 95 lb intake manifold. I prefer the Windsors, especially a later 302 with a one piece rear seal and roller lifters. If you had a 400 that could outrun/outpull a 390 what you had was a sickly 390. Cutomers who traded 360 F trucks for 400's were pissed at the lack of power.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

So i went back out today with every intention of working on the motor...and what did i do? Fiddle F around inside the car again.

Pulled my old cluster out...

Its looking pretty rough...i noticed when i was messing with it the other day it seems the lenses were seperating from the body of it...and i was correct...

Also looks like damage to the printed circuit...

So whats a guy to do? Well test fit his sport cluster of course...

The sport cluster isnt in much better shape then the regular...and im not 100% sure if im gonna run it yet or not. But you can buy everything needed to "rebuild" the sport cluster...including the plastic "chassis"....not so for the original...all i can buy for that is the printed circuit.

Whats your guys opinions? Sport cluster or standard? The sport cluster gives off that swanky 70s vibe like crazy...but itll require wiring work

So now...come monday...no more procrastination...itll be time to dig in and get dirty on the engine.

 

[RobbieD]

Sport cluster.

I like mo stuff to look at.

 

[sgtsandman]

Same. Sport Cluster.

 

[bobbywalter]

Like the 6.0 and 6.4 power strokes....and my 6.x Detroit/GM diesel in my junk....

The M has a well earned and deserved bad reputation.


But they can get er did...I always chide FE thankfully stands for finally extinct...

But that's just talking smack. I just got a new phone....and they swapped the chip and all...but the pictures in my messages are only recent ones.


I will drop a link and see if curt would let me post a pic...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Sport cluster.

I like mo stuff to look at.

Same. Sport Cluster.

Im leaning that direction.

As i get more off track and ahead of my self...it currently has an AM only radio...and since id like to listen to stuff other then talk radio does anyone know if you can wire a AM/FM stereo into a single speaker and not have it be a jumbled mess of noise?

I dont really wanna cut up door panels and things for speakers...plus its alot eaiser to find am/fm OEM stereos of this vintage then it is to find the rather rare AM/FM mono radios some had

 

[Roert42]

Why wouldn’t FM work on a single speaker?

I think you’re confusing a mono vs stereo system. Mono plays the same sounds out of all the speakers. With stereo, each speaker has its own output and the sound can fade across the speakers or have different sounds coming from different directions.

With Fm, even though the quality is better than AM, if you only hooked up one speaker on a stereo receiver, I doubt you would tell much difference. I think a lot of newer aftermarket radios will let you switch between stereo and mono outputs too, making it even less of an issue.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Why wouldn’t FM work on a single speaker?

I think you’re confusing a mono vs stereo system. Mono plays the same sounds out of all the speakers. With stereo, each speaker has its own output and the sound can fade across the speakers or have different sounds coming from different directions.

With Fm, even though the quality is better than AM, if you only hooked up one speaker on a stereo receiver, I doubt you would tell much difference. I think a lot of newer aftermarket radios will let you switch between stereo and mono outputs too, making it even less of an issue.

No i know FM can play through a single speaker....just didnt know if an radio designed for stereo would work with one speaker.

 

[Roert42]

No i know FM can play through a single speaker....just didnt know if an radio designed for stereo would work with one speaker.

If it’s true stereo sound like on a CD or something you will me missing some of the sounds by on having one speaker. Some FM stations do transmit in Stereo, but I think it would be as noticeable.

I’ve never tried it, but I did a quick search and it sounds like if you wire both the L and R channels to the same speaker it should work find and have full audio.

 

[Roert42]

 

[rusty ol ranger]

View attachment 95150

That simple huh? Perfect. One issue of 1,237 knocked out lol

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Ok went out and got dirty today.

Got the front end put up on blocks so i could get my fat ass under it. Once on cinder blocks i was able to sit between the core support and grille...lol

Anyways...got the crank pulley off, balancer off, pulled the fuel pump...and got the timing cover off....

Everything went supriseingly smoothly there.

Now....look at this chain/gear...

Hard to see in the pics but this is/was for sure the issue. The crappy plastic teeth are wore pretty good and the chain is loose as shit.

After getting this far i hung it up while i was ahead.

To be continued...

 

[19Walt93]

First, go get some friggin' jack stands, they'll be cheaper than getting crushed.
Those flat chains used to be called silent chains and they always stretched something awful, as the engine turns the cam snaps back and forth and will soon peel those nylon teeth off the cam gear and jump timing. Pontiacs and Ford 460's used to jump timing at around 40k, small block Chevys would often jump in the mid 30's, but everything had excessive slack. I always use a double roller chain in everything I build, when I built the new engine for my Mustang in 2009, I resused the Ford Motorsport timing set from the engine I built in 1992 and it's still in there.