Roy's Garage: '90 2.4-4G64 5-spd D-50

[royster]

What a huge difference the new throttle position sensor made! The truck ran well before it, but the CEL was always coming on, and the truck would hesitate at about thermostat-opening, and a few other times.

With the new TPS working with all the other components, it runs really terrific. I'll be fine-tuning it soon, but right now the F-150 is in my garage with a leaf-spring frame bracket rusted and tearing. About 1/2" of metal is keeping the rear end up on the passenger side. RockAuto and Advance sell the replacement part, and I have one at the ready...it's getting the old bracket off that's taking time...and the disintegrated rubber bushing.

Not that anyone here gives a rat's ass, but here are a couple pictures of my garden.

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Anyone interested can see and read more about it at http://halfpast.oceanfalls.org/index...27925#msg27925 ...it features some pretty inovative designs, not the least of which is an underground water feed from kitchen drain water.

[royster]

Now that the truck is running great with no deferred maintenance, I can start thinking about some cosmetic changes. The following photos were taken this morning.

I'd love to find some bucket seats to install, so I'm not going to agonize over my Indian blanket seat covers: they cover that dreadful factory "baby-shit-brown" plastic upholstery. My home-made console, too, will get upgraded when bucket seats go in. Last but not least, I want to modify the door panels.

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I'll start working on body work and paint soon. Meanwhile, I'm going to paint the hood of the parts-truck black and use that until the original hood can be painted the Sahara Gold the truck was originally painted.

The truck was involved in a collision sometime during its history, and the paint was never matched very well. The clear coat also gave up the ghost. I will remove the fenders and recondition them off-frame. Hood, too. The rest of the trucks' paint and clear coat are fine, though I will have some rust spots to contend with eventually.

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The F-150 just got new u-joints, and in conducting that repair I found the leaf spring mount on the passenger-side severely rust-damaged and cracking, so I replaced it with a whole new unit...5 hours worth of banging, hacking, drilling and enduring rust falling on my stubborn head. I'll replace the driver's side later: it isn't in critical condition. The truck then got a much-deserved cleaning, in and out, after such great service over the winter.
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[royster]

What a huge difference the new throttle position sensor made! The truck ran well before it, but the CEL was always coming on, and the truck would hesitate at about thermostat-opening.

With the new TPS working with all the other components, it runs really terrific.

$135.00 well invested: I was able to get the idle where it belongs, and therefore properly time the engine...you can barely feel it run.

I opened the old TPS up to see what's inside. It's a thick, circular circuitry board. Three prongs make the connections inside when the throttle is opened or closed. Though the electronics are beyond me, the positive results of replacing this part cannot be exagerated. I ordered it through RockAuto and used the discount code.

Next parts order will be leaf spring bushings...about the only part of the truck I haven't touched, yet.

I'll also be switching out the rear window, using the nicer one from my parts truck. My understanding...via info from Merrill and Noahwins...is that this is simple to do. I'm guessing to start at the bottom. Noah spoke of using a lubricant, and I'd be prone to use mineral oil. Any comments are very welcome.

[royster]

Started the D-50 up this morning and it was blowing smoke. [Incert cuss words here]. My guess is another valve guide dropped. I'm waiting to see. If I have to re-do the head-job, I'll certainly have had enough practice to do it swiftly. (If it IS dropped valve guides, I'll just have them all repaired. It is unlikely valve seals wear out in 4,000 miles). The smoke stopped after warm up, so we can be sure it is valve-related.

I spent a LOT of time and energy locating chrome beauty rings for the front tires, but I finally prevailed. I also painted the parts-truck hood black (with some satin enamel I already had) and switched the hoods out: I can work on restoring the original hood off-vehicle.

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[royster]

Not that anyone here gives a rat's ass, but here are a couple pictures of my garden.

...and my prize tomato, with a few pickings from the morning I snapped these shots.
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BTW, RNMM, a digital camera is on my shopping list. It is quite possible these are the last film-based photos I'll be posting...and quite frankly, I'm glad. Thanks for keeping on me about that: digital is so much clearer.