1978 F150 4X4 Regular-cab/Short-bed... close enough to an FSB?

[charleskh]

I figure the F150 of this era is pretty close to an FSB..

Backstory: I ended up having to sell the last Bronco I built back in 2015. Was moving around the country a lot the last 10 years, ended up buying the F150 from a guy in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. Since then I've made it back to CA as of 2019 and spent most of that time keeping the truck on the road/maintenance as it was my only vehicle for awhile. Finally was able to rent a house with a garage and room for all of my tools and get more serious with it, got it to pass CA smog and now I'm gathering parts/saving up money for the 1-ton swap.







Started with:
1978 F150 4X4 Custom, Regular cab, Short bed (Federal emissions)

• 351M - Edelbrock 4 barrel intake, Holley 4-barrel 600cfm, long-tube headers, and ratty dual Flowmaster exhaust.
• C6/NP205.
• Stock axles - D44 hi-pinion/9-inch. 3.50 gears.
• Unknown leveling kit/cobbled, busted leaf-kit.
• 31" all-terrains.
  
  
  

Currently:

• SandJEngines.com remanufactured 400 - stock 2 barrel intake and 2150 carburetor with all emissions set-up and passing smog (EGR and all that vacuum crap). 3G alternator, MK VIII fan with autocoolguy.com controller, Champion 3-core aluminum radiator
• Rebuilt C6/NP205
• Stock axles rebuilt
• Superlift 1-2" coil springs/Deaver 4" 10-leaf pack (H57) with the factory lift-block removed.
• 33" BFG KM3's
• Bilstein 5100 shocks
• Other stuff - Lund Toolbox, Viair 76CFM air compressor, Vintage Air AC

Next-up:

• 1-ton axles - F350 Dana 60/Sterling 10.5 with factory e-locker, 3.73 gears, WFO radius arms with Metalcloak bushings, 37" BFG KM3 and Procomp 17x9's
• Hydroboost
• Hydraulic-assist steering

 

[charleskh]

Since I installed a new motor 2 years ago I've been having running-hot issues which kept me from going off-roading and enjoying it as I was troubleshooting it with a new e-fan + controller, going through the whole cooling system even though everything was new etc. Turned out it my EGR valve exhaust port was blocked off and I didn't notice. This means my smog-calibrated 2-bbl carburetor was running lean at RPMs higher than idle causing the truck to run hot... which presented itself whenever I would be climbing hills or crawling along. I had also installed a coolant-sensor for the fan controller that wrapped around the radiator outflow, which gave slow/inaccurate readings making the fan spin slower/later than it should. Replaced that with an inline-radiator-hose sensor.

Yesterday took it for a test-run up Santiago Peak which is a decent climb (5,689ft) and also the first place I realized I had a running-hot issue... made it up without incident! Ready and excited for TDS.

 

[Sally]

She’s a beaut. Are you going to TDS or Etds? the So Cal Bronco one is the weekend before. Hope to see you there.

 

[charleskh]

Sorry, I'm going to eTDS. Gonna come up on Saturday afternoon