The Dentside

[kiser]

No they aren't, I love old wheels! I pick up Turbines, 10 spokes, aluminum spokes, slots and Jackmans whenever I can get a decent deal on them. They look perfect on old trucks!

[ironchop]

I'm a Slots fan too. Was hoping to find a good set for my truck but I bought American racing instead after getting tired of looking

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[kiser]

My dad stopped down last night and we worked on my ol Ford for a little bit. We should have the wiring issue ironed out, hopefully! I sold my big bucket truck so that money is going to get rolled over into my Ford to get it where it needs to be. I contacted a local friend that builds hot rods to give it a look over. I want him to fix but preserve the body along with a few other things. I need to take the bucket off of it to fit in his garage, I want to move it forward about 1' so that will work out nice. Moving it forward should help with weight distribution on the truck and just look better in general. I haven't had a chance to get it to the spring shop yet but that is in the very near future. I'm beyond excited to get it on the road and usable again!

[ATC King]

I got home a week or so ago. Been away all summer and took a little vacation on the way back. North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming (Devils Tower), Colorado (A few days), and through the Oklahoma panhandle back to Arkansas. I've never felt an urge to drive completely across Oklahoma but I have always gone around the panhandle so decided to check it out this time and camped a night at the Beaver Dunes Park.

An entire day of driving across Oklahoma is a bit much, but I also stopped at the Kicker audio headquarters in Stillwater, as I normally do if in the area. They had a new vehicle or two on the floor since last time I was there and newer subs in the Wall of Boom. They had Captain Phillip Harris's motorcycle there, which I think was never delivered before his death. Kicker built a custom system for it.

The ol' Ford did just fine all the way and loaded with bicycles on the front and a motorcycle on the rear. A new addition I made some months back was a wideband AFR gauge. I've had a vacuum gauge in it for years, as also pretty much with most vehicle I've owned since first getting my license. That'll only indicate so much and has limited tuning uses. This AFR gauge is really letting me get that fine tune in with much less effort and time and shows real time driving changes.

I installed a dual sensor gauge, which is a little redundant on an inline six because of the intake design. Although I'm running two separate headers, all cylinders are fed by the same intake runners, so AFR discrepancies between cylinder groups 1,2,3 and 4,5,6 aren't easily accounted for and able to be completely tuned out. That, and the air/fuel distribution of a typical carbed inline six intake manifold is pretty bad. In short, I now have something extra on my dash to obsess over while driving.

The 1940 carb kit for the Edelbrock 1902 carb is out of stock, so I bought a new tuning kit for the old 600 carb, which I already have, but was back at home. That kit doesn't have as many jets and rods as the 1940 kit, so until that one is back in stock, I'm making due with what I have. Buying the kits is much less expensive than buying individual parts, and I also done the initial tuning a couple thousand feet higher in altitude than back home (a lot lower humidity too), knowing it'd lean out some when back.

Having the ability to quickly change rods is why I like the Edelbrock carbs so much. When driving through various part of the US, I can retune the carb in minutes if staying at certain altitudes for an extended time, and jet changes don't even require spilling a drop of fuel or taking more than 30 minutes. Idle and WOT tuning are pretty easy to set on their own, but when trying to ride that fine line of economy, the AFR gauge was a good purchase. It can also display lambda instead of AFR, which is a nice feature many of the other brands don't have.

More modern tech on the '79 Ford. It'll be keeping a carb for the foreseeable future though. The thing really needs and overdrive transmission. If fewer people liked old trucks, I'd get more fingers than waves from the people stuck behind me going under the speed limit on major roads. I think 99.99% of Nebraskans waved at me. That's one of the friendliest states I've driven through.

I haven't gone through any of my pictures since getting back, but I'll post some up of the orange dentside, maybe next week. I know I got one at the highest point in North Dakota

Edit: I had a little free time this evening.

[kiser]

Sounds like a nice trip! Glad your old Ford performed like a champ!

[big specht]

So what kind of mileage did you get on the trip? 18/20?

[ATC King]

So what kind of mileage did you get on the trip? 18/20?

I didn't check it during this trip. The best average I've gotten before was 17.5 with the old style Edelbrock 600.

I've got the AVS2 500 now, but am kind of wondering if I should have gone with the 650. They don't offer a 600 in the AVS2 series and Offenhauser suggest a minimum of 500cfm with the intake I'm using, max may be 650 but I'd have to look again.

I want to add and air damn under the front bumper like most trucks have had for decades. Those actually make a measurable increase in economy. Dirty air flow under the vehicle is just as bad as on top.

With the fuel capacity I have, a 19mpg average will get me 1,000 miles before empty. That's my goal. That's a 1,000 miles with a speed of 65 or less. Kiss the MPG goodbye at faster speeds.



Edit: That 17.5 wasn't with crap hanging off both ends, but was with a topper.

[Arky-X]

ATC King, looks like a nice trip!
We were in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming (Devil's Tower & Yellowstone), and Colorado in Sept 2020. Enjoyed that trip and would love to go back soon. We came back thru Oklahoma and yep, not much but a long drive thru that state.

Sounds like the old Ford purred right along. I get a kick out of people arguing over their tow vehicles (gas vs diesel, 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton vs 1-ton).....they have no idea how easy they got it with today's technology in the mountains. Just get one and go!
We went to Colorado (over the Wolf Creek Pass) in a 76 Ford F-150 (460ci) pulling a 24ft trailer.......with a camper and 6 kids in the back. And we lived to tell the story. It crawled its way up the mountains and eased down the other side. Carburetor could have used the tuning that you have but it still made it. Just couldn't smash the loud pedal too hard or it would sputter.

I didn't know Kicker was in Stillwater. That ford I mentioned above became mine and I had four 8" Kickers behind the seat. Nice thump for a truck.

Enjoyed the pics!

[ATC King]

Sounds like the old Ford purred right along. I get a kick out of people arguing over their tow vehicles (gas vs diesel, 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton vs 1-ton).....they have no idea how easy they got it with today's technology in the mountains. Just get one and go!


Enjoyed the pics!

Thanks and yes, people nowadays want to pull that toy hauler at breakneck speeds over mountains so they can get that selfie at locals to show everyone how happy and successful they are(nt).

Can't argue the difference between a 1/2 ton and the more HD trucks though, especially when full floating axles come into play. It's possible to do a lot with a 1/2 ton, but substantially shorten the life of the transmission and axles. Ford's new 7.3 gas engine is really leveling the playing field between diesel and gasoline engines, considering the extra expense of diesel fuel, exhaust fluid, and the increased repair cost of modern diesel engines. My car still has a larger gasoline engine than that though.

I really enjoy new vehicles and all they have to offer but part of me wants to keep driving the old stuff so I don't become the miserable cuss in a new vehicle that complains about the most trivial inconvenience and sounds like a spoiled brat. I even got rid of the power steering on mine, but that was about economy and a half ton, two wheel drive truck with stock size tires really doesn't need power steering anyway. Just hearing people turn their tires while motionless on pavement sends shivers down my spine. Please move the vehicle forward or backward while turning so you're not just destroying the tires. Anyone who's driven a vehicle with manual steering understands that.

[Shep1970]

Here's my older brothers 79'. He just recently put in a 302 (331 stroker) i guess it has a larger crank installed in the (new) 302. It's been moved around from a couple different garage's over the last 30yrs. Was show quality but moisture has gotten to a couple bolts over the yrs- still a 100% solid truck though, It was my dad and his high school project (I was into 3-wheelers and girls back then so missed out on the truck scene).
Anyway here's some pics-
have always liked this truck style-








shep


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[ironchop]

Nice truck Shep

[ATC King]

That's a good looking truck. There aren't a whole lot of stepside (don't know if they already called them 'Flareside' then) examples of these year Fords.

[kiser]

I like it!

[kiser]

After to much time, I finally got back to working on my Ford. I started with new rubber fuel lines and filter, new air filter, new battery and cables. I have new radiator hoses to put on. Fabio did me a huge favor and helped me get the manifolds off and headers and purple hornies put on. We had to drill out 3 bolts that broke off but it's good now! Next week I'm calling the spring shop to get it lifted, to look good, and stiffened up to hold the weight of the bucket. It has a ways to go but has came a ways in the last 2 weeks!

[kiser]

I blew a brake line today so the spring shop will be put on hold!