Archives December 2020

Adding a new Ford emblem to my grille and sticking on a set of chrome center cap stickers was a quick and easy way to add a little bit of flair to my bullnose. Both add-ons are cheap and I think they turned out nice!

The Ford emblem on the bullnose trucks that have them is a little under 7 inches wide, so a 7 inch replacement fits just right. If you have an early 80’s model bullnose, your grille probably doesn’t have an emblem like this, but replacement grilles from later model bullnose trucks will bolt right in if you want one.

I also want to give a shout out to House of Grafx for the excellent center cap stickers and some amazingly quick turnaround time. Check them out at https://houseofgrafx.com.

You can get the emblem I used here: https://amzn.to/3rwSDlt

Installing and using Speed Bleeders for your brakes is a no-brainer upgrade if you work alone or value your time. In this quick tip, I’ll show you just how easy they are to install and use in both calipers and wheel cylinders.

I’ll also quickly cover an issue I had with one of my bleeder screws and how I solved it to get a complete bleed on my new brake system using my new speed bleeders.

Speed Bleeders I used:
Front – https://amzn.to/2Kqy4q7
Rear – https://amzn.to/38mGC9R

Bleed Kit I used (plus an empty bottle):
https://amzn.to/3adOg8N

Brake Job Videos:
Part 1 – https://youtu.be/4Ibk_P7l1DA
Part 2 – https://youtu.be/qwVwLimpfxU
Part 3 – https://youtu.be/sl7ht-gbPVc
Part 4 – https://youtu.be/kjTLogUQGl0

Finally finished my brake job… no thanks to my broken parking brake cable, broken torque wrench, and broken (dry) master cylinder. In this final episode I bench bleed my new master cylinder, re-install my front brake cable, lament about my problems, and talk about the pain that bleeding my brakes turned into.

Turns out that letting a master cylinder run dry turns into a huge headache. Since I had to bench bleed the master anyway, I just replaced it. I also learned the hard way that bleeder screws can leak around the threads, making it seem like your brake system has an endless supply of air bubbles trapped in another dimension.

I also learned that you get what you pay for when buying a torque wrench. :-/

Here’s the good stuff:
New good brake cable: https://tinyurl.com/y5cveov3
New master cylinder: https://tinyurl.com/y679wcd9

See how I replace the entire front brake system – rotors/hubs, bearings, calipers, and pads on my 85 Ford F-150. It was an interesting experience and something I’ve never done before, so I learned a whole lot.

For instance, I learned that new hubs/rotors often come with bearing races pre-installed… and that getting them out is harder than the internet makes it seem. I also learned that trying to prevent a brake line connected via a banjo bolt from spilling the entire contents of your master cylinder is a lost cause unless you want to try to clamp your brake line… a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

In the end, I thought I had it all figured out, but then… I didn’t. Make sure to stick around to part 4 where I’ll talk about everything I learned and some of the ‘above and beyond’ steps I had to do in order to get my brake system back in working order.

Some of the parts/products I used in this video:
Hubs/Rotors: https://amzn.to/39N8PJ1
Inner Bearing Seal: https://amzn.to/2VBPJNR
Inner Bearing: https://amzn.to/2JBsYXT
Outer Bearing: https://amzn.to/37R2Lgf
Bearing Packer: https://amzn.to/39IQ6hV
Grease: https://amzn.to/39KLlEq
Driver’s Caliper: https://amzn.to/39FxAHb
Passenger’s Caliper: https://amzn.to/37ux4c4
Brake Pads: https://amzn.to/2IgTwgs
Spindle Nut Kit: https://amzn.to/3mJNFPI