'70 F100

[Maverick]

Found the problem with the turn signal indicator ground. The copper strip in the circuit board that provides ground for the signal lights had about an inch burned out of it. Must have been a short at some time. That strip was connected to one of the screws that mounted the circuit board to the gauge cluster body. A jumper was added to ground that screw to the chassis and the turn signal indicators are working fine.

The ground jumper didn't solve the gauge issues. Son Barry said the original gauges didn't work when he had the truck -- that's why the aftermarket mechanical gauges were hung under the dash. I don't like having hot coolant and oil piped into the cabin so the mechanical gauges will be replaced with electric. Ordered a cheapy set (oil press, water temp, voltage, and fuel level) of this style gauges from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FJQWVM/ref ... 25410_item If they work, they'll be a bargain.

They'll get mounted in the original gauge bezel. Four 2.125" holes were cut into a spare bezel for practice.



The original four gauges were mounted in the two rectangular cut-outs on the left and right. One new gauge will go in each of those spaces and the other two gauges will go in the new holes cut in the left and right areas.



The rectangular areas where the original gauges were will need some black background around the new gauges. Think I can just paint the lens in those areas.

Now that the directional light indicators are working, the emergency flashers flash way too fast. No idea what that's about.

WXO offered up a Corvette exhaust system he was about to junk as parts for a temp exhaust. Some of it looks like it could be used. That'll be a project when we get back from Michigan. We're heading up Sat/Sun for a week or so.

Lovin' the AC!!

[Maverick]

Got the gauge housing and bezel ready for the four gauges. Here it is with three old gauges in for mock up. The light area under one gauge is just some camera effect, its not really there.



The new gauges will have a black rim rather than chrome.



Back side cut out for clearance.



The oil press, water temp, and voltmeter will arrive next week while we're away. WXO agreed to get them in out of the weather if necessary. Fuel guage won't be delivered for several weeks so one hole will be empty or have a place holder for a while.

Still need to polish the bezel lens so you can see thru it and paint the area black behind the inboard gauges.

[Maverick]

The three (oil press, water temp, and volts) gauges arrived last week. Fuel gauge won't be here for a few weeks. The gauge cluster is wired up with spade connectors to allow it to come out. Still haven't tested everything.

WXO came over and we TRIED to get the discoloration out of the bezel lens. Made a big improvement but it still looks like smoked glass. The dash lights will have to be improved and then it will be OK, at least with the lights on.

I swear this F100 is infected with electrical gremlins. The 4-way flashers, which had worked find earlier, have been doing a rapid flash. Swapped the turn signal flasher (same part number) with the hazard flasher and then the turn signals did the rapid flash. Put a new flasher in and that's OK now.

The parking lights, which I think worked OK before, come on when the headlight sw is at the first stop (parking lights) but go out when on the second (headlights) stop. I don't think that can be anything but a bad switch so one is ordered and should be in at Advance on Friday. Don't think that problem could be caused by misplaced wires.

WXO brought the Corvette exhaust over. I won't cut it up unless it looks like it can be used for a temp exhaust system. It looks like stainless, has no rust, but the scrap yard guy said it wasn't stainless because a magnet stuck to it. Isn't some (cheaper?) stainless magnetic? If its stainless or aluminized steel, I'm not sure I can weld it without some special materials.

[GMJohnny]

There's a chance that exhaust could be a titanium exhaust, in which case I wouldn't
cut it up.... it's probably worth $300 if it's titanium. The stock steel exhaust on my
vette had black painted mufflers.... if you look at my thread about the vette, one of
the first things I did was change exhaust, and I know there's a pic of the two types
of pipes sitting next to each other. I did weld on my stock pipes when a collector failed
and it was fine....


GM

[wxo]

Those are stock pipes and mufflers from my 2000 C5. Definitely not titanium.

[Maverick]

When the tail lights were ON when headlight sw was in the parking light position, but went OFF when the sw was in the headlight position, I assumed the sw must be bad. Bought a new one and, CRAP!!, it does the same thing.

I looked around on the Internet and found this.



Although the solution is intended for '67-'69 F100s, it should work for the '70 as well. The terminal marked "Brown" in the diagram is marked "R" on the switch, receives power thru the sw when sw is in the headlight AND parking light position, and provides power to the dash light Rheostat.

Hope you guys don't mind me using the project thread as a record for details I might need in the future.

Its probably a good idea to replace the headlight switch. These old Ford headlight switches wear out and trip the internal circuit breaker, killing the lights. That happened with the Maverick on a dark night on an unlit road.

[ttamrettus]

Nice catch.

[Fred32v]

Keep posting and I'll keep reading.
Pictures and diagrams are worth a thousand words.

[Maverick]

Fred, you have a deal.

The Lokar shifter has been getting some attention lately. It mounts VERY SOLIDLY to the transmission.

.

The hole in the floor is bigger than it needs to be because the new cut is beside the one for the floor shifter that was in the truck. I'll have to put a patch on the floor but it'll be easy -- its almost flat.



That's a 16" handle. Should be about right.

The fabbed transmission cross member put the transmission a little higher than planned so there's very little (maybe no) clearance between the shifter brackets and the floor. Since this is a temporary installation (till it gets transferred to the F150) I'm not concerned about it. It was a bear getting the shifter brackets bolted to the transmission. The transmission support was removed and the transmission lowered as much as possible, which wasn't much. The left head hits the firewall when the transmission is lowered.

The little box up by the firewall with all the wires is the transmission controller. Its also a temporary installation since it'll go to the F150.



Got the transmission pan off and the gear selector shaft changed to the Lokar one that mounts the Lokar shift lever. The shaft and lever are just in loose. Still trying to decide if I'll change the seal on the selector shaft. It wasn't leaking and it'll be lots easier to change when the engine and transmission are out for the swap to the F150. And, the seals don't seem to be available from Advance, Summit, ...

A transmission pan drain plug was ordered from Summit today. I usually get their stuff in 2-3 days. Also ordered a repair manual for the transmission. A performance valve body will probably get installed at some point so I expect the drain plug will get used.

I'm waiting for delivery of some 5W bulbs for the gauge cluster before it goes in. The inside of the gauge housing was painted white. With that, the 5W bulbs, and the new rheostat in the new light switch, the speedo should be readable behind the "smoked" lens. Hope the bulbs arrive in a day or two so the guage cluster can go in. Still need to run some wires for the voltmeter but, other than that and the fuel gauge (expected delivery in August ), the guage cluster is done -- I think. Unless some more gremlins show up.

[Maverick]

Got the gauge wiring done and the gauge cluster installed, minus the fuel gauge which is SUPPOSED to arrive in August. Voltmeter works and the coolant temp and oil pressure gauges appear to be working. They come up a little with the engine off.



The transmission is mounted again and shifter installation is finished. I'm happy with it -- after the tedious install. Waiting for the trans pan drain plug (on the FedEx truck for delivery today) before installing the drain plug and pan and refilling the trans. Then the engine can be started again.

The transmission controller is still displaying error codes. The controller display normally shows the shift selector position and the current gear engaged in the trans. But, its currently displaying either "2 2" or flashing an error code indicating a problem with the signal from the selector position sensor. Need to get the transmission refilled and engine running well enough to test the transmission on the jack stands. Then I'll contact the controller tech support to see what's up with the error codes. I expect they'll want me to replace the integrated neutral start switch/selector position sensor/backup sw.

[Maverick]

The truck moved, under its own power, for the first time in 10+ years. Just out of the garage and back in (after a much-needed sweep out) but it felt like an accomplishment.

With the gauges in, it was apparent that the 3G alternator wasn't working. It just needs to have a hot-when-run wire attached to "excite" the fields and all is well. Tested it with a jumper -- now I need to find a permanent power source for it.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday.

[Maverick]

After I slept on the alternator issue, I remembered that the wiring harness included an "Excite Alternator" wire which we left unattached because I wasn't sure it was needed. The one-wire alternator on the Maverick didn't use it but now I think there must be an internal "excite" wire on that one.

So, the "Excite Alternator" wire was cut to length, had a terminal added and was attached to the unused lead on the alternator. Alternator works fine. Also resolved an open question on another alternator wire. There is a 10 gauge, or so, wire marked "Alternator Power" that I didn't know what to do with. There's a 6 or 8 gauge wire directly from the alternator to the battery, so why is one needed from the alternator to the fuse block? Looked at the fuse block and learned that the alternator power wire and the wire from the battery attach to the same buss in the fuse block. The fuse block can draw power directly from the battery or the fuse block. I decided to do as E Z Wire intended and provide direct paths from both the battery and the alternator to the fuse block. The two wires can share the load.

Tech support, aka Kevin, at Bauman Engineering knew right away what the problem was with the shift selector indicator errors. We modified one of the supplied tables to set it up for the "paddle shift" function with the Ford cruise buttons. The table we chose to modify had the early, analog MLPS (Manual Lever Position Sensor) selected rather than the later ('97 up) digital MLPS that's on the transmission. I modified the table for the correct MLPS and loaded it into the controller and that fault went away. TWO problems down.

But, now its getting a fault for low voltage from the throttle position sensor on idle. The TPS will have to be re-calibrated. Think that needs to be done anyway now that the engine is running and the idle screw can be set. Maybe next week.

[Maverick]

Its been a very good morning! The TPS was recalibrated and now, NO ERRORS from the trans controller.

So, the rear axle went up on jack stands to test the transmission. It worked flawlessly. The trans controller display indicates, among a lot of other things, where the gear selector lever is set, what gear the transmission is actually in, and if the torque converter clutch is engaged. With the gear shift lever in "O" (Overdrive), the trans stayed in "1" while the engine was idling and moved up thru "2", "3", and "4" (Overdrive) with a little throttle.

The TC locked up (a GOOD thing) in "3" and stayed there in "4".

Pressed the steering wheel "Cruise Off" button (it toggles between manual and auto shift modes) and the display indicated the transmission was in manual shift mode. With the gear shift lever in "O", the display indicated the transmission was in first gear, "1". Tap the "ACC" cruise button and the transmission shifts to "2", then "3" and "4" with more taps. Tap the "Coast" button and the transmission down shifts as designed. With some throttle in "3" or "4" the TC will lock up as it should.

If I knew how to do videos, I'd do one of the display as the controller runs thru its functions. WXO might be available when he gets home in about 3 weeks.

No OD lockout switch has been set up yet. Or alternative shift tables. Think I'll have "Normal" and "Race" tables which will be selectable by a (yet to be added) toggle switch. Lots more to explore with the trans controller.

BTW, the engine is running great with the old Holley carb I gave up on with the 347 in the Maverick. Sounds like the cam is more aggressive than what was in the 347, but it starts and runs well and sounds mean with open exhaust. I like it.

[Maverick]

Finished reassembling the front fenders, grill, etc. Wired up the front lights and everything there is working correctly. Had to make a run this morning to Bullock Salvage to get some springs for the headlight buckets. One was missing and one was stretched. No charge.

Its ready to receive the hood but I need a helper to do that task.

The Corvette exhaust system was returned to WXO in tact. Rather than do some temporary exhaust, I'll drive the F100 to the muffler shop and have them make a permanent system. One reason for doing this is I don't think the exhaust shop can/will do an exhaust system without catalytic converters for a vehicle that had a cat from the factory, e.g., the '81 F150 from AZ. By getting a good, no cats system made for the '70 F100, which never had cats, I'm hoping that system can be transferred to the '81 F150 without too much modification. The headers will transfer so that's a start. We'll see how that works out. I'll see if the exhaust guys want to give me some pointers on welding aluminized steel.

Still have a few odds and ends to do like installing wire looms and securing the currently unused wires from the MSD ignition and trans controller. Those devices are on the F100 temporarily and will get transferred to the F150. That'll be soon enough to clean up the unused and too long wires.

Also ordered up some junk yard parts for the '81 F150. It must be time to start a project thread for it. The catalytic converter exhaust was a complication not considered before but there is also some good news on lowering potential. That's a teaser to get ya'll to check out the project thread when it comes.

[Maverick]

Spent the last week on odds and ends getting the F100 ready for the road.

. Picked up a set of wheels and tires off a '94 F150 at the junk yard. Only planned to get one wheel/tire for a spare but got the set of four with lots of tread for $125. The tires on the F100 must be going on 20 years old so I don't trust them. I should have checked the sizes of the replacements more carefully. Got 3 235X75X15s and 1 204X70X15. I'll see if I can get an exchange for another 235X75. That put a wrinkle in my plan for no mounting and balancing required.

. Picked up a brake system warning light. Before installing it, the switch in the distribution block was checked and the plunger must be offset. I'll ask WXO to help me bleed off some fluid, back then front, to get the plunger centered.

. The junk yard has a pair of 6-cyl engine frame stands for the F100. They'll be needed when the '81 6-cyl is swapped into the F100. Still need to find the small block Ford engine frame stands for the '81 F150.

. Lois helped me install the hood today. That's a heavy hood that spans the entire front end but we managed.

. I don't know what happened to the driven speedometer gear off the old, broken speedo cable?? The gear and the clip to hold it on are not there. Installed a new cable and gear, without the clip, to see if the speedometer works with previously unused drive gear and replacement driven gear. It does. Also got the gear back out of the tail housing, with no clip to hold it in place, without losing it inside the tail housing. Now I'll have to get a check on speedo accuracy and maybe get a different size driven gear. They're cheap. A clip is on order -- should have it this week.

. Put another 3-4 gallons of gas in the tank to ensure it won't run out on a test drive, installed a bunch of wire looms and tape to neaten up the wires a bit, made a sheet metal patch to cover the hole in the firewall where the clutch rod was, checked the grease level in the rear end, washed it, removed remnants of the old exhaust system, etc., etc., etc.

The transmission still has a leak. I'm hoping it will be slow enough that fixing it can be put off till the engine and trans are swapped into the '81 F150. If we take it to the drag strip, I'll have to fix the leak first.

Maybe this week it'll get out for a test drive and to the muffler shop or maybe next week when WXO is here will be soon enough.