Update: it turns out the cam synchronizer did the trick. The Road Ranger is roadworthy again!
When I finally got the sync in the other day, I was out of time that afternoon, so all I could do was rev it. It had the same warble that it had before I ever touched it.
@Peter_'86_2.9L_Auto was over here today to help out, and we did a couple things to his truck. He must’ve brought me luck! After he left, I did a test drive in the Road Ranger, and it purred like a kitten under acceleration and under load. I’m sorry for the thoughts of gooey lizards and slimy frogs on all you guys because you put your lives, your wives, your families, your jobs, etc. in front of fixing my truck that you’ve never seen from a thousand miles away. You are all out of the doghouse.
On the other front, I took the new brake light switch on and off and apart and back together another 20 times on the Missing Linc.
Two brand new switches, and a new bushing kit, and it was still doing the same thing it was doing before: you could push it lightly, and the brake lights would come on, push it further, and then pull back on it, no lights, and then step on it again and brake HARD, no lights. No lights when you were braking hard. Not good.
Stupid design. The really stiff spring actually holds the switch open as you step on brakes. Eventually, if you step hard enough, it compresses the spring and makes contact. To fix it, I finally replaced the spring (which was NOT designed to be replaced) with a thinner/softer wire spring with a much lower spring rate. I had to do a trial and error about seven or eight times, taking a little bit off the spring each time, but I finally nailed it. I can now take that switch in and out with my eyes closed.
In retrospect, I’m thinking the linkage between the foot pedal and the vacuum booster/master cylinder may need adjustment to remove any slack in the motion in the connection. In any case, the lighter spring ended up doing the trick.
That’s how I feel, times 10!!! I’ve been fighting them both for months
