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Not sure if it's still out there, but, didn't Offy make an intake to put the baby Holley 4 bbl on the 300?
I don't think I've ever seen that setup. That would be pretty sweet, but you'd want to make sure the bottom was in pristine condition. That 300 is a torque monster and will break things that are set up for factory HP/torque with just a little bit of tweaking. Doesn't have a very high top end, and the curve flattens out pretty quick after about 3/4 of the speed range, but it's STRAIGHT UP at the bottom end of the range. It'll easily take the 5.0 (302) V8 off the line, but thanks to another two lungs, the 302's gonna come stompin right on by when the 300 runs outta revs.
 
Ah haha that's awesome. I don't see me doing anything that fancy though. That Helm site unfortunately only appears to go back to 95 which doesn't do me a ton of good as I think everything was EFI by that point.

I'm definitely interested in learning to DIY this truck, but the amount of available information around these days is hard to sort through. The Haynes manual was honestly pretty meh when it came to this section of the book, I have been discussing it on a ford trucks forum and they've been helpful but part of the problem is knowing what to ask too.

Combine that with it being cold and it's going slower than I'd really like. But it's all good, once the weather warms up I plan to put it in my driveway and give it some love.
 
Ah haha that's awesome. I don't see me doing anything that fancy though. That Helm site unfortunately only appears to go back to 95 which doesn't do me a ton of good as I think everything was EFI by that point.

I'm definitely interested in learning to DIY this truck, but the amount of available information around these days is hard to sort through. The Haynes manual was honestly pretty meh when it came to this section of the book, I have been discussing it on a ford trucks forum and they've been helpful but part of the problem is knowing what to ask too.

Combine that with it being cold and it's going slower than I'd really like. But it's all good, once the weather warms up I plan to put it in my driveway and give it some love.
I got books for my 86 T-birds as well as my 92 F150 from there. Strange.

Haynes manuals ain't what they used to be, for sure. They only say "See your Dealer" when it comes to anything electrical or electronic. Probably some kind of downsizing in the company took out some of the good technicians and engineers they had to write up those kinds of topics. When I got my first VW, the Haynes manual for it was BRILLIANT. It's all I needed for that car, until I decided I wanted to rebuild the transaxel. The exact quote from the Haynes manual was "If you've never rebuilt a transmission before, DO NOT start with a VW Transaxle." I took that advice to heart and just bought a re-manufactured tranny for it. HOWEVER, I did actually help a Ford Master Mechanic (my step-dad's half brother) rebuild the back half of a Ford 8N tractor when I was 12 years old. I've had an interesting life.
 
Yeah it's weird cause I already bought one and had expectations. It was very meh. It's an 80-96 range so I think they tried to cover to much in one book.

I bought an electronic choke conversion kit cause I don't feel like wrapping tubing around the exhaust manifold. I want to learn to do this stuff myself as much as possible cause it's fun but damn it I wish the weather would warm up and stop snowing so I can get started again.
 
As you say ....

Offenhauser 300I intake

Take that, port/polish it, do the same with a good set of exhaust headers, that thing would pull the gates off hell.
Beware of polishing an intake,. The intake manifold walls need some roughness to help the air and fuel mix. Smooth is perhaps OK, polished not so much.

Exhaust is a different story: Mirrored is a good thing there.
 
I'm a long way from polishing an intake personally. Once we get it running the next thing is going to be body work. Down the road maybe I'll do performance stuff but it's just gonna be my runabout.
 
Yeah it's weird cause I already bought one and had expectations. It was very meh. It's an 80-96 range so I think they tried to cover to much in one book.

I bought an electronic choke conversion kit cause I don't feel like wrapping tubing around the exhaust manifold. I want to learn to do this stuff myself as much as possible cause it's fun but damn it I wish the weather would warm up and stop snowing so I can get started again.
I'm thinking all of them started going to electric after a certain year model and before fuel injection (throttle body style) became the norm, but I'm also thinking that there was something to keep it from pulling the choke off too fast. This may have been the earliest use for the ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor. Dunno. There were a lot of technology changes between 79 and 89. You may have to tweak an electric one with a resistor to lower the current through it so it stays on long enough in extremely cold climes, or perhaps just rotate it farther to keep the choke on longer. Rotating works too. That's what I had to do to my VW because the choke was staying on way too long down here in the sunny south. Don't need much choke at all, and once it's running, get rid of it. Some even came with a vacuum 'pull off' which would let the choke off when the throttle was opened up and the intake vacuum dropped. Others had mechanical linkage. In the fun world, you had electric choke with mechanical linkage that was blocked by a vacuum signal. Now, there will be an exam following this lesson, LOL.

Sounds to me you've got some basic knowledge, otherwise you'd already have run away screaming. I used to love tweaking and tuning on my old carbed/standard ignition vehicles. Then came the day you have to have a computer to do it ...... Pulling wrenches is fun, but most of that requires being bent about halfway over, which I can do for a whole three minutes now before my legs start to tie themselves into a square knot. Sciatica is real, I assure you. When I was a kid, I didn't understand old folks grumbling about their back so much. Now I'm old folks and don't understand kids that won't listen when you tell them "You're gonna regret that when you get old."
 
Yeah I wrench a lot on motorbikes and had an 86 F-150 as a kid I worked on. But it's been 20 years since I've spent any real time working one carburetors so it's basically a new learning experience. I apprenticed as a millwright for a couple years before I ended up going into IT cause I didn't want to destroy my body.

If the electric carb doesn't work I'm probably going to look into one of those progressive ones and just replace the whole damned setup.
 
My weekends have been a complete write off for the last month, but next weekend we're scheduled to work on the truck with a city mechanic who owns an 83 he does his own work on. Friend of a friend might save my ass. In the meantime, I made these last weekend in an axe making course. The handles were a bit of a trick but I can't wait to take them to the farm and throw them at something.
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My weekends have been a complete write off for the last month, but next weekend we're scheduled to work on the truck with a city mechanic who owns an 83 he does his own work on. Friend of a friend might save my ass. In the meantime, I made these last weekend in an axe making course. The handles were a bit of a trick but I can't wait to take them to the farm and throw them at something.
View attachment 20234
Sounds fun!
 
My weekends have been a complete write off for the last month, but next weekend we're scheduled to work on the truck with a city mechanic who owns an 83 he does his own work on. Friend of a friend might save my ass. In the meantime, I made these last weekend in an axe making course. The handles were a bit of a trick but I can't wait to take them to the farm and throw them at something.
View attachment 20234
I like the one on the right looks like a knurle patten in the metal?
 
I like the one on the right looks like a knurle patten in the metal?
That is an old farrier file. I have a few more I intend to work out tomorrow unless I burn myself.
 
How do you make the eye for the handle? Do you make a really wide piece and then fold it over and weld it for the blade?

More or less, you try to leave as much as possible in place so you don't need to fudge it later. I hope to adjust it in such a way that allows it to install the handle as I want.
 
So in conversation with @Donoroto I have a few of these hatchets in case anyone is interested.
View attachment 20481

I made the bottom 4 lately and just need to put edges on them.
What did you use for the handles? I'm diggin' on the one in the upper right corner. I'd feel like a berserker holding that thing.
 

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