Rod's 84 BabyBajaF100

[AussieRod]

I was just thinking about this build yesterday.
Good to see you back on it!!

Thanks. Not before time, though.

[AussieRod]

Well, it's in and secure:

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Autofab race mounts installed:

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What a bastard the left side was to install!The right side was ok, although I had to loosen the rear trans mounts and slide it rearward 1/4" to align the engine mount to block holes up. Other than that, the RH side was good. The LH side, the mount to chassis bolt holes only came close on either the top or rear (barely). In hindsight, I should have used 7/16" bolts, as the chassis mounts were drilled for that size, but all I had was M12's, so I had to drill the chassis part holes out, but luck was with me in the end, as the holes I had to drill to align were accessable with my drill. It was a bloody battle, though to get the bolts into the engine for the top section. Had it almost done when the rear bolt dropped out. I caught the bolt, but the washer hit me square in the eye. I blew a gasket. I put my knees under the chassis and lifted the left side of the truck clear off the ground in my red rage. After letting it down, I lay there for about 15 mins, trying to regain my composure. Luckily, I saw the washer coming and managed to close my eye before it hit, so no damage done. The pain was incredible, though. I went inside to make sure I hadn't done any serious injury, got some bread and went out back and sat with my chickens, feeding them for 10 mins. Then, I went back and finished the mount install. Considering I paid FULL price for these at Autofab, over the counter, it would have been nice if they would fit a little better. Anyway, the engine is in, BUT, the distributor is broken. While I was installing the convertor nuts and turning the engine, unbeknownst to me, one of the cap clips had fallen into the reluctor and it got jammed. Once the dissy turned and jammed on the intake, the clip broke the stator. I heard the loud crack, and immediately investigated, but the damage was done. I do have a spare distributor somewhere, so I'll have to dig it out and see if I can use it or salvage the parts to make one out of two. Failing that, I'll cough up and get a full MSD kit for it.
Anyway, much of the accessories are on, the manifolds and starter are in and it's mostly topside to finish. We are going out tomorrow, so I'll get back into it on Thursday.
More soon.

[AussieRod]

Tuesday 31 July:
Found my spare distributor today, cleaned it up and measured the pilot. It's the correct one for this model block, at 0.500". In Aus, the 79 and later blocks cast here had 0.500" shaft pilots, not the earlier and us 0.530" dia pilots. That means MOST aftermarket distributors WILL NOT fit, including this block. Luckily, I had a spare. Anyway, its been cleaned and lubed and installed to the correct marks, ready for cap and leads. The carb is on and all the accessories are on, so I'm going out in the cold (it's in the carport) to fit the front rad support and install whatever I can.
Later.

[VintageIronFab]

Stories like this make me laugh, because I feel your pain on the shittiness of the fit! Im almost used to terrible R&D on aftermarket stuff-- gotta have the carbide die grinder handy for all this kind of work always! I have a set of these mounts to install and I just wonder if I want to put them in as I already have the bushing style mounts installed already.

Btw Rod what industry are you working in now? You in oil & gas?

[AussieRod]

Stories like this make me laugh, because I feel your pain on the shittiness of the fit! Im almost used to terrible R&D on aftermarket stuff-- gotta have the carbide die grinder handy for all this kind of work always! I have a set of these mounts to install and I just wonder if I want to put them in as I already have the bushing style mounts installed already.

Btw Rod what industry are you working in now? You in oil & gas?

Currently working for an earthmoving/mining company as a "boilermaker", although my trade is auto/diesel mechanic. My ability to fab, cut, weld and design things on the go, combined with my mechanical skills, makes me a useful addition to the workforce, maintaining heavy haul and mining equipment for a open cut copper mine out near Cloncurry QLD. I also do general fab, like stairways and platforms for the double deck containers, handrails, tool carriers, parts hanging racks, etc. etc. 12 hours a day, 14 days straight, then home for 2 weeks, and repeat. My food, flights and accommodation are all paid for, so it's a good deal. The money isn't the greatest, but it's FAR better than I've been getting for a long time. My boss(es) there are really happy with me, because they can give me a job and it gets done, they don't have to keep on me or look over my shoulder to keep it going. Considering I am at LEAST 20 years older than almost all the crew, I think I do ok.

I've read here that the Autofab race mounts can be "difficult" to install, but really, I could have waited and got 7/16" bolts which would have made things definately easier. My bad, though. Once on, they look good, and will do the job as planned. Far superior to the factory mounts. I should have it ready to run today, barring any other issues.
Cheers.

[AussieRod]

Aug 1:
Well, apart from a coil and a few wires to be connected (alternator, oil light switch, fans) and a muffler, it's ready to start and bed in the cam. Went out and cut a heap of wood at my block this morning, then after lunch, did the fan install on the radiator. As this is a cheap Chinese made radiator, I'll consider this a temporary solution until I get the copper radiator cleaned and repaired. It could last 5 mins, 5 hours, 5 months or 5 years. The electric fans may not cope with the cam run-in, so I'll keep the hose handy to spray cool the radiator if needed.
Fan install:

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Radiator in the truck:

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Lots of room here (for a Procharger, maybe ):

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Almost ready:

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Once the cam is run in, and I'm happy it's all good, I'll fit the shift cable, TV cable and double check the brakes work and go for a drive.
More tomorrow.

[AussieRod]

Someone doesn't like me upstairs. I've got everything working/ready for a start, turn on the ignition, hear the fuel pump prime, give the pedal a few pumps to get fuel thru the accell pump and turn the key......... click. Click. No starter. Get underneath, do the usual checks, but nada. I have power to the solenoid terminal (hot), the starter turns if I jump the main terminals with a screwdriver, but the solenoid is dead. The multimeter says open circuit. GRRRRR! On top of that, the 3 places in town, neither have a solenoid replacement, OR a replacement starter, they have to be "ordered", which means Monday at the earliest. Castlemaine Rod Shop has a hi-torque starter for $295 and they are only 30 mins away, so that looks like my option. (I wanted a hi-torque starter anyway, so now is the opportunity to upgrade.) I'll have lunch and decide.
Later.

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[AussieRod]

Rang CRS, I'll go over and pick one up tomorrow arvo. In the meantime, I'm fitting the shift cable and trying to set up the TV cable so once the cam is done, I'll go for a little drive. Getting a little giddy here, it's been 6 1/2 years since I drove it

[AussieRod]

Going to look seriously at the Wilwood rear disc set-up, only need to find out if they have, or can be drilled for the F truck stud pattern/hub centre:

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[AussieRod]

No deal on the brake set-up, according to CRS. The axle flange offset is wrong and can't get 5 on 5.5" drilling. Never mind. I can buy a set-up online that does fit, so I'll check that out and go from there.
Picked up the starter and after a coffee, installed my new headlights, trims and headlight surrounds. Then I pulled the old starter out and fitted the new one. One of the peculiarities of our Ford combos is that the top starter bolt goes in from the back, due to the orientation of the solenoid on these Bosch starters. The new starter also has a tapped hole for this set-up, which doesn't work on the AOD. However, I've re-used the 8mm bolt for now, and I will drill out this hole when I fit the headers and re-orient the starter body, same as Mick's Bronco. Unfortunately, the starter main cable is now 6" too short due to both the shorter, more compact starter body and the solenoid stud being on the side facing the engine. I'll have to source a new longer cable tomorrow morning and re-hash a little of the wiring to make it all sit nice. My new LED headlights throw some serious light, too. I'll see if these pass RWC, but I'm happy with the light output for now.
Starter installed:

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Exhaust Y pipe installed:

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Angel eyes:

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Angel eyes as park lights:

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[AussieRod]

Combined with a good light bar, or my 4 Narva spotlights with LED bulbs, I should have plenty of light. Of course, my trafficator switch crapped out, too. I have lo-beam and flash, but no hi-beam. Bugger! Something else I need to replace. Hopefully, after I attend the protest in town tomorrow, I can get the truck running (FINALLY) and progress.
More tomorrow.
Angel eyes (parking lights):

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Lo-beam:

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Hi-beam (camera position and angle changed, so light is different):

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More later,
Cheers.

[AussieRod]

Saturday, 4th August:
Well, it's been a day of mixed emotions for me. Mr Murphy has been at his best. However, the end result is what is important.

I started off by picking up an extra long battery cable with lugs at each end. Once home, it was trimmed, jacketed, heat wrapped and installed. With everything in place except coolant, I turned the key and it spun over. It took a few goes before enough fuel came up and it fired up, but start it did. I ran it for about 30 seconds at about 1800 rpm, then shut it down. Premonition must have made me fill the radiator with hot water, leaving the coolant out. However, 5 mins into the cam run-in, it was clear that without a muffler, the noise would be too much for the neighbours, so I shut it down and quickly knocked up a connector pipe to fit the shitty muffler from the Bronco:

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That fixed the noise issue. Then Murphy came along and screwed the pooch. 10 mins more into the cam run-in, steam and water erupted from the defrost duct as the heater core let go big time. The sudden release of coolant pressure sent the temp guage off the dail and I shut it down. It took 30 mins to release the pressure and cool down the radiator enough to get the cap off, but the passenger floor of the cab was a swimming pool. Dunno if you can see the steam:

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Once it all cooled down, I mopped out the footwell, then bypassed the heater at the propane convertor before refilling the engine slowly with boiling water from the kettle until it was full again:

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Then, the bastard of a thing wouldn't start, would it? A quick check, after I turned off the fans, the noisy fuel pump told me the bloody thing was out of gas! Sure enough, no fuel at the accell pump squirters. I used my chainsaw fuel to get it running again and for the first time in 6 and a half years, it moved under it's own power when I reversed it under the carport. So, I packed up, grabbed a jerry can, went to the local servo and filled it, came back and tipped that into the tank and now all's well, fuel wise. I finished off the cam run-in, A 20 minute job that turned into 3 f*****g hours. Once I did a complete once over to check for leaks, loose shit, etc, I gingerly drove it out, down the driveway and out onto the road, turned around and drove it back in, then reversed it back into the carport and shut it down. It still has no front shocks, and the vibration and noise was loud, BUT IT FINALLY RUNS!

[AussieRod]

So, apart from the heater core letting go, and running out of gas, the day was a success.
Some of the good points:
No oil leaks from the engine, trans or power steering.
No water leaks (now).
IT DRIVES!
Trans seems good (needs topping up).
LED headlights are good, too.
The bad:
Starter, trafficator switch and heater core shit themselves in rapid succession.
Carb is flooding a little, maybe a rebuild required.

Backing it in, I spun the rears quite easily:

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The engine, after all the problems, ready to finish off the rest of what needs to be done.

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In the next few days, I'll pull the heater box and see if I can source a new core. Failing than, I'll fit 2 ceramic electric heaters, one for defrost and one for heat, OR I'm looking at a super compact A/C slash heater assembly that might fit in place of my existing set-up. After I clear the area, I'll take a heap of measurements, send some emails and consider my options. IF the combo unit will fit, I'll go the whole hog and get the complete kit.
I will also start 2 lists, to do list, to get the truck finished, and a parts list of what I need to make the to do list happen. Stuff will be ordered so it arrives when I come back on R&R, so I'll have plenty to do.
The best part now is, I don't have to PUSH the bloody thing into and out of the garage. I'm having a day off tomorrow, going to shoot my new Savage and get aquainted.
More soon,
Cheers.

[300]

Good to hear it's running! Still following along.

[AussieRod]

Good to hear it's running! Still following along.

Thanks. It's a relief to have it mobile again. Gives me extra motivation to get it finished.

[AussieRod]

Well, I couldn't leave it alone, could I. After a day at the range, I came home, cleaned up in the garage and then started to remove the heater box. I'd assembled this into the firewall and then fitted the dash, so I was expecting a fight. Exercising extreme patience, I slowly removed the demister ducts and frame, the heater duct and then the box itself. It took a bit of wiggling and patience, but out it came without anything getting damaged.

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As it turns out, there is a lot more space than I thought.

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I then dissected the heater box and removed the core. It's very corroded, and was likely leaking before.

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Found a couple of pens inside as well, they likely fell in the demister ducts and ended up here:

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After an hours research, it appears that the core is the same as the 80 - 84 sedan heater core. I've sent an email to a local supplier to confirm the measurements, and if they concur, I'll hit the buy button and get one ordered. That will save me some headaches and I'll likely order an extra one for Mick's Bronco too, for his shits itself. Tomorrow, I will pull the steering wheel and see which trafficator switch I have and order one. I have both in my watch list, just need to make sure I order the correct one. Levelling springs and gas front shocks are ordered, once the heater is fixed, I'll install the dash top and get a new windshield fitted and install the gearbox cover. Then I can lock it up.
Progress, progress.
Cheers.

[ChaseTruck754]

Good to see this still plugging along and making progress. I bet it feels good to drive it again - even if it was just in & out of the carport for now.

[AussieRod]

Good to see this still plugging along and making progress. I bet it feels good to drive it again - even if it was just in & out of the carport for now.

It does, it does. It's been a while, too (6 1/2 YEARS). Mostly my own fault for taking so long, but now funding isn't such a problem, I can get it finished much faster, on top of having the spare time to get it done. Sad to see yours up for sale. You have your reasons, I guess. Would have liked to see both our trucks finished together, but, oh well.

[AussieRod]

Tuesday 7 August:
I head off tomorrow, so the baby is securely locked up in the garage and the trickle charger is on the battery to keep it up while I'm away.

I've decided to dump the Holley 500 2 bbll and use a Edelbrock Performer in 600 cfm. The Holley is a pain for a stockish engine, the 50cc accell pump is way too big for daily use and it's a pain to get it to idle unless it's fully warmed up. It's also a bodgy rebuilt, so putting a new carb on makes it easier to get everything right. 98% of my driving will be on propane, and if I run it once a week for 20 miles on gasoline, it will survive. Gasoline is my guarantee I'll make it to the next gas station if I run out of propane I've ordered Lovell's levelling springs for the front, new cams for alignment and I just got a screaming deal on a pair of new Rancho 9000's for the front for RWC. The new heater core is on it's way, I've ordered the windshield for the second week of my next R&R to be fitted and there is a mirad of other stuff on the list to arrive once I get back.
I'm gonna be busy. It's FINALLY heading towards being finished. Once it's safe to drive (brakes re-bled, windshield installed, etc), I'll get a permit and drive it for a few days to get the feel for it and make sure all systems are good. Then I'll focus on the tub and bedcage and get the front bar, rear bar and bedcage powdercoated, installed and the bed painted up. Should have this baby legal for my birthday, so I can CRUISE........
Cheers.

[ChaseTruck754]

Good to see this still plugging along and making progress. I bet it feels good to drive it again - even if it was just in & out of the carport for now.

It does, it does. It's been a while, too (6 1/2 YEARS). Mostly my own fault for taking so long, but now funding isn't such a problem, I can get it finished much faster, on top of having the spare time to get it done. Sad to see yours up for sale. You have your reasons, I guess. Would have liked to see both our trucks finished together, but, oh well.

Yup. Sadly mine is for sale. I'd love to finish mine, but it's not in the cards it seems. No time at all anymore. At least you are getting to drive yours again. Mine hits the 10 YEAR mark since I tore it down this September. It deserves to be finished & enjoyed, but I'm having a hard time letting go so I'm not pushing the sale much at all. Just sad, but that's life I guess.