What color? I’ll keep my eyes open.
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Light grey!
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Tell us more of this miracle product! I wish to preserve my interior bits and share your disdain for the greasy. 
The interior is looking exceptional, man. Super clean and super nice. I like how the rest of the fleet looks grey and dreary through the windshield. Brokeh? 
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Love this. Takes the truck to a whole new level. I find patina looks cooler when it looks like it was left there on purpose rather than neglected. When the interior is this clean and restored? Makes the whole thing authentic, a d cared for, yet still vintage. If that makes sense?
Yes more info needed on interior cleaner.
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Makes perfect sense, yep, going for that well-kept survivor look rather than fully “showroom” restored.
Found the cleaner: 303. Looks like it’s the automotive version of a marine product?
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Well, three weeks later the dash has settled at just looking “new” as they claimed it would. Today I was able to give it a “dust test” while we sat in line at the dump for 20 minutes, windows down, with trucks blowing dust past us every few minutes. The interior still looks cleaner than I’d expect a new untreated dash to look, so yeah, that 303 Protectant stuff is pretty cool.
185,644.6 miles
New Stereo: Chapter 3 - Chrome Gets You Home
Normally I go for the murdered-out everything look, but the blacked-out badges, knobs, and levers on this otherwise blue-and-chrome brick just don’t sit right with me. The black wasn’t bad, but nothing drips with 80’s nostalgia like chrome and patina at golden hour.
“New Old Stock” has got to be one of my favorite terms, especially trolling eBay for parts to vehicles over a decade old (everything I own). Such was the story of the final touch on the dash restoration: this shiny new chrome XL F-Series badge.
I was going to call the locksmith to have them pin-out and re-create door keys for me, but then I found out the most expensive stainless steel lockset you can get for this truck is only $25 shipped. Sure, I prefer to do most things the hard way (repair and reuse), but this was a no brainer. I also tossed the faded plastic interior handles in favor of the all-metal 80-86 style, and re-lubed all the mechanicals while I was at it.
The doors I’m none too happy about. The only blue panel I’ve been able to source is noticeably darker than the normal blue. While Dashtop does list it as “Shadow Blue” and shows a “Standard Blue” part number, none of the shops have it listed in their catalog. That, and the fit and finish is garbage. I appreciate the free interior weatherseal, but it’s riveted to the panel (and too far back), the panel edges are far too long and scratch the paint going in, and the backer on the speaker area blocks nearly all of the sound (1/4" holes in solid plastic every 1+ inch). At this point I’ll probably recondition the original panels and just live with the fact that one of the screw points is blown through (the only reason I replaced them).
All new window weather seals! Getting the old ones out was a nightmare—brittle to the point of snapping every couple inches and getting stuck inside the door frames. Both windows now go up and down smoothly and with enthusiasm.
Get Back to Work
The house likes to subtly remind me on a daily basis, by way of cold concrete floors, that I’m supposed to be working on it for at least a third of my #DIY happy time. My driveway also likes to drop daily reminders, by way of a Forester and a 244GL on jack stands, that the Rooster is a shop truck first and a fun project second. This in mind, it was time to stop tinkering and start doing truck things again. I’ve been obsessed with L-track ever since working next door to Adventure Trailers, so it was the obvious choice for tie-down “points.” A 2-foot length is anchored to each corner of the bed. (Bedliner is pending bodywork and paint.)
I also replaced the brake fluid level sensor with a rescued junkyard part, and removed the last bit of aftermarket trailer wiring while I was at it. And then I spotted…
…the cause of the whirring noise from earlier this month. It’s the prop…er…driveshaft support bearing, that’s likely seized to the driveshaft, spinning around in what’s left of it’s bushing. Annoying, and needs replacing fairly soon before it damages something else, but thankfully not show-stopping. It’s a $25 part, that requires $500 in new tools to replace, and co-insides with another $100 in parts I should replace while I’m at it (because they’re all probably original 185,644.6 mile-old parts). I have maybe 20 miles total of Homey-D runs left to do, I think it’ll hold that long. If not, that’s why I have 200 miles of AAA towing on speed dial.
A little Sir Clax-a-Lot II teaser…
2,000 pounds of flooring and it doesn’t even sag.
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This is such fun to read on many levels. Your level of detail feels like it should be a special on Discovery Velocity where they go behind the scenes to show the viewer what there wasn’t time to see in the 42 minute timeslot. Loving it!
I’ve been obsessing over L-track too… Need some of it … somewhere. Its just so … Modular?
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Oh yeah. I’m lovin’ this one.
It would appear Chazz has intentionally hidden the exhaust manifolds on that EJ teaser. Such a tease…
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Now that I have it, I just can’t seem to not need the truck long enough to feel comfortable tearing it down. I blame the Forester for half of this, as large and supposedly rare parts keep showing up for a great price on a weekly basis. The other half I blame on summer, because the heat and rain are here and I’m compelled to finally finish the relevant construction projects on the house. (Last year I escaped into a remote assignment for the summer…and fall, and winter.)
185,695.8 miles
Gifts from Ulysses
I decided to tidy up the engine bay a bit more while waiting around for the driveshaft support bearing and other assorted bits to arrive. First things last, I decided to go ahead and move the BlueSea fuse block over from the Discovery since it’s the perfect size for the planned accessories on the Rooster (the Disco is getting a bigger unit with integrated relays). As fate would have it the custom bracket built for the Discovery fits perfect to an existing threaded hole on the Ford’s inner fender, and the old wiring harness I’d made happens to be just the right length to run through the wall and into the battery.
Next up, removing the extra four feet of slack from the 2.5-foot run to the alternator, and tidying up several other wires with way too much slack in them. New mil-style battery clamps replace the battered old lead and last bit of creepy green death, and I also ditched the bungee cords in favor of a proper battery tie-down. Yes, I still need to trim down the threads so they’re less obnoxious…
And last, the first new electrical accessory. I picked up the charger a while back and have just been tossing it on with clamps when the truck sits a while, but with the local-only “shop truck” duty it made more sense to just get on with hard-mounted convenience. It’s canted to a 45-degree angle because…that’s just where the existing holes happened to line up (no drilling FTW).
All the big stuff is here for the Forester project, so next on the list for the Rooster is finally getting that driveshaft bearing dealt with. I should probably get a battery blanket on it before the winter too.
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Very nice. Something to be said about products durable enough to be passed down one vehicle to the next. And nice work on the terminations. Looking beautiful as always.
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I mean, yeah, usually when I buy a used vehicle I immediately flush and refill all fluids. It’s kind of a rule, especially when planning to keep the vehicle for any length of time. I was lax in that this time around, partially because of the box of receipts and fluids the PO gave me with the truck, and partially because the truck sees less than a thousand miles a year (and usually less than five miles per trip). That was a mistake.
185,970.2 miles
Maintenance
I’ve been having a minor choking/slipping problem under load or at higher RPMs (in gear only, it revs beautifully in park) that pointed me at the leaky transmission, which was a pint low. Thankfully I’d completely forgotten about this jug of ATF that came with the truck, because I had to look up what kind to use…which is not Type F. It’s a fair guess there’s a bunch of Type F in there currently, but 1980s-2000s Ford AODs take Mercon V. I topped it off for now, but a full flush (and reseal) is in the near future.
Moving on to the very very very dirty oil I was pleased to find the drain plug and filter only slightly overtightened. The usual Ford design inadequacies were present though—seriously, how tough is it to lay out everything so you can do a mess-free oil change? Every Ford I’ve worked on has either had the drain plug facing straight back, the filter right over a crossmember, or both. That caked mess from likely decades of seep is a summer project, I’ll be stripping it down to lower the truck anyhow…funds permitting.
With the front-mounted oil cooler installed the 460 eats exactly one 5-quart jug of 10W30…probably. The internet is all over the place with the numbers, as is the owner’s manual: could be 4.5 quarts, could be 8 quarts. I tossed a couple extra quarts in the truck’s kit to be safe. (This has the safe stand-alone style oil cooler, not the heat exchanger style that’s prone to fail and dump coolant in the oil.)
So, question: is this nastiness just the nature of this kind of battery? Is it because I keep it plugged into a maintainer or perhaps from the cold? If this is going to be a thing I might just have to upgrade to an AGM (all of my other vehicles have had AGMs).
For me to poop sit on
I never really liked these seats in this truck. They’re comfy, and I love bucket seats, but it’s just begging for a bench seat. Pulling them revealed some minor rust issues in not-so-minor locations, fortunately affecting only the inner bolt holes which aren’t used with the bench seat. I’ll close them up permanently when I replace the carpet, for now…
@humming hooked me up with the seat from his truck. The photo is a little bleached here, but the brown matches the dash trim perfectly. Leaving it as is is pretty tempting, but I’ll probably put a cover on it to keep it clean since that velvet is way too nice to mess up with sawdust-covered jeans. Hmm…maybe I’ll make the cover out of denim, add a little brown leather trim and a couple pockets…
Looking the part. I wonder what they put in plastic lenses in the 80s to minimize yellowing? These look way better than the two-decades newer Subaru lights.
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Looks great!!!
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I always thought those were glass lenses. You’re right… They never seem to perish. Wow.
As per battery, I think you’re right about the charging, to some extent, but L/A batteries just gas off as they go through their charge cycles and there’s not much you can do beyond keeping those terminals scrubbed with a neutralizer. I’ve switched all mine to AGM except the new rig, which had new L/A’s when I got it. Hard to justify replacing a pair when they’re essentially new but eventually…
Bench seats just seem to belong in single cab old pickups. Good choice, and great find from @humming !
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To hell with lead acid batteries. Whether it’s due to charging or just nature of the beast, I hate it. You think about how much we all loathe salt on the roads in winter—but how long do we tolerate acid mist corroding entire corners of our engine bays because a new battery is $200?
One of the nastier projects on my list for the next year is addressing all the rust damage under the battery tray in Fezzik. Steering linkages, control arms, even the frame rail; I’m gonna have to wire brush and treat/paint a bunch of complex shapes on the truck, all because lead acid batteries can’t handle their shit, imo.
Bench seat looks REAL nice, though. Knowing it came out of Rob’s truck makes it even more special. 
Maybe you could mount the old captains to simple stool bases. On wheels. For around the studio or patio?
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For the record, I think batteries gas off more in the heat than in the cold. I rarely ever got acid on my terminals to the extent you guys seem to. And never to the point where the the tray underneath was rusty… But still. Lead acid is def not the way to go.
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Right? Even Superman can’t see what’s going on inside those things.**
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Good to know, I’ll drop an AGM on the to-do list. I think the only other time I’ve had lead acid was on the Saturn, which we didn’t maintain (or keep) long enough to care.
Thought about that, or retrofitting into another vehicle, but the fabric was pretty beat and the foam completely shot (though still comfy) so they’re off to scrap.
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@Brian por15 under your battery tray. Problem solved. That stuff is miraculous.
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Sad about the old captains, but I understand. Something about the upholstery of our childhoods.
I remember dad loved conversion vans. And he HAD to have the captains chairs. I remember him all excited, showing my brother and I how the table worked and how easily we could turn the back of the van into a mobile living room. You know, because cup holders cut into the tabletop.
His later vans were newer and had that same velour. I can still see my hands sliding back and forth on that blue, silver, tan, and wine red like it was this afternoon. They take me back.
His '77 Tradesman, though, had that deep, red shag carpet and some kind of coarse, vinyl trimmed fabric. Would be nice to make a Top Gear stage couch out of some kind of vintage machine.
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Hell yeah, swiveling captain’s chairs. Those same memories made me almost buy a Dodge minivan when they came out with the first ever first and second row captain’s chairs (which sadly, didn’t swivel).
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