New to the forum

[sbedell]

No, you'd be there all day on just one of those rivets! And there's a bunch of them. Several come up from the bottom as well. The only way I know of is th grind the heads down and then punch it out, I don't even think you could get a torch in there.

Cool Ted, Indian Head huh? Right down the street!

[Moosee1955]

Sounds like way too much work for an area that's not that structural to begin with. Maybe after you sand blast, you can add a sound piece of steel over the old one, and rivet or weld it in. Your not restoring the vehicle, so it really won't matter much.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

[sbedell]

I was thinking exactly the same thing! The only somewhat structural concern is that the rear shocks attach there. But the attachment point for the shocks looks pretty solid. I'll blast it and see how it looks. They make some pretty good rust inhibiting primers these days. I might just shoot it with some of that and call it a day. But you're right, I was thinking of welding a piece of angle iron or channel in there to beef it up. I'll post more pics after I get it all blasted. Probably have to hold off until after Christmas though. Cash flow issue!!

[Moosee1955]

Yeah, understand that. You should download the Ford Expedition app that I'm on. Way more traffic there, and essentially the same vehicle. We've got some real talent there, I've been wrenching close to 48 years now, and they make me feel like a novice sometimes. Anyhoo, good yakking with you, Moose.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

[sbedell]

Thanks Moose! Yeah I was turning wrenches for 47 years myself before I finally retired. Now I turn them for kicks in my backyard shop! I know what your saying about feeling like a novice sometimes! I see guys in You tube videos sometimes doing crazy stuff and I think "what a great idea, why didn't I think of that!" My daughter's boyfriend is just starting out as a wrench turner and I tell him all the time it's a good thing getting someone else's opinion on tough jobs. Always good to get a second set of eyes on things! Even with the experience I have I frequently ask him about stuff. Merry Christmas!

[Moosee1955]

Merry Christmas to you too buddy. I feel sorry for the kids just learning about new cars/trucks. Back in our day, toughest thing was diagnosis of is it spark or fuel. These days, it's a million different scenarios.Is the chip not working, is it the relay for the fuel pump not making solder connection, etc. I've seen boneheads over on the Expedition forum that litterealy change every part under the hood, cause they don't know to diagnose.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

[sbedell]

Ha, ha, that's right!! You should see me trying to explain to my daughter's boyfriend (22 years old) what a set of points is! I beat my head against the wall one day explaining what an ohmmeter is and how to check for continuity!! You're absolutely correct, the so called mechanics today just throw parts at problems. If they don't have a scanner to tell them what's wrong, they're lost!
I got a kick out of your comment, spark or fuel. One day before I retired from the government one of the young-ins there had one that wouldn't start. I asked him if he had spark and he arrogantly said "of course!" So I asked him if he had fuel? Very annoyingly he said "yes". So I laughed and told him "well the only other thing it needs to run is air, and the last time I checked, there's plenty of that out here"!! Very funny!!

[Moosee1955]

This generation is smarter than ever, but only in a narrow field. Its amazing how even the techs they hire at Ford dealers don't really know how to diagnose. If their isn't a Tsb bulletin straight from Ford, a lot of the younger ones are lost. Show your daughters Beau, how to measure one of the coil on plugs from your F150. When you say see the primary and secondary resistance are fine, I just saved you $70.00 from buying a coil you didn't need. Years back I used to run Kragens auto parts, now Orielly's. Every day a customer would come in with coils from every make, I'd keep a cheapie volt/ohm meter behind counter. I'd show them how the coil wasn't their problem. They thanked me time and again. The company took back any part, but what a waste and frustration. The ones that had a clue, came back and bought a module or pick up coil, that was the issue.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

[sbedell]

Yep, the multi meter is your friend! Especially the ohmmeter! The kids eyes glaze over when I try and explain continuity to him! I find the youngsters now a days really don't have any interest in knowing how to diagnose anything or even how stuff works. Personally, I'll tear something down into a million pieces just to see how it works! By the way my F-150 doesn't have the coil on plugs for each cylinder. Old school, one coil with 6 plug wires! 4.2 V 6. I'm tearing into that thing as we speak as part of the restoration of the truck. Man, that thing has a balance shaft! Who knew!? I haven't seen a balance shaft since I tore down my old 87 Dodge Caravan with that old Mitsubishi V6 and carburetor! That's what happens when you lay around the federal government doing absolutely nothing for 30 years!! A lot of stuff just passes you by!

[Moosee1955]

Now you know where the original saying close enough for government work came from! Early Expeditions used that same coil setup like yours. I just looked up 99 expedition 4.6, some used coils like yours, some used coils over plugs. All 99 5.4 motors used the coil over. You can still show your possible son in law, how to measure primary/secondary resistance on your coil. He can impress his bone head pot smoking buddies!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk