I'm about to start the rehab on my '71 F100

[dolinick]

Okay, yesterday we finished hooking up everything
to the engine and cranked it... backfired a little
through the carb. Timing is probably way off.
My uncle said it could be 180 degrees out but
we're not sure yet. We had to stop working on
it and I couldn't go work on it today.

We'll probably get her fired up by next saturday.
That may give me a chance to get the registration
insurance updated.

I put together this little slideshow of pictures
from our first day of installing the engine.
Sorry there are no pictures of the engine
actually in the truck because I killed my camera
shortly before we dropped the engine in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldsb_t2duhE

I also got some good hood hinges, heater valve, and
a couple of other things including window regulator
today from Hotrod Ford.

And... I bought an old air compressor. It is a 20 gallon 4hp
belt drive Campbell and Hausfeld. I played around with
a sandblaster this morning. I blasted the paint and rust
off of the '69 lower valence I got with the 69 grill I'm planning
on installing. I just have regular masonary type sand.
I had to "screen" it myself because it kept clogging the
sandblaster. There are a few holes all the way through
the metal from the rust on the underside of the valence.
I was going to practice painting with some flat black rustoleum
because a paint gun came with the air compressor but I
ran out of time. It's too late now and probably will make
too much noise for the neighbors anyway.

Dan

Dan

[dolinick]

It's been almost a week since we attempted
to start the 360 for the first time. I plan on
working on it by myself friday because my
cousin has to work all day.

I need some advice or help on getting her started.

I have to set the timing. We think it may be 180 degrees
out. In other words the rotor is set to cylinder 1 on
top dead center of the exhaust stroke. Actually I don't
really know what i'm talking about. I'm just repeating
what my uncle said about the carb filling up with gas
and backfiring through the carb a little.

The second thing is I have to get the spring back on the clutch.
I might be able to figure it out but I didn't remove it and don't
really know where it goes.

Thirdly and maybe not lastly I need to put the driveshaft back
in. I replaced the rear universal joint before so I think I can
put it back together without much trouble.

I just hope I can get the thing running. I don't know what I'm doing
so I don't want to damage anything or cause a fire or something
like that.

Thanks,

Dan

[rjewkes]

before you scre with the timing to bad bring it to tdc on the compression stroke. one way to tell is to remove the #1 plug from its hole and put your right thumb over it and bump the selenoid with a screw driver keeping your fingers and bottom of hand away from the handle. and leave the key off too or it may start up.

bump it a second or two at a time until it tries or does blow your thumb out the hole when you first feel this feeling stop bumping it.

then see where your tdc mark is and bring it the rest of the way with a breaker bar or by hand if you can. then remove the dizz cap and see where your bug is pointing.

if it is pointing around the # 3 and #6 area then you are 180 out. if it is pointing around the
#1 and #5 then double check your firing order should be 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 running counter clockwise. i'll dig out a pic if i can.

[dolinick]

Thanks, that is very helpful. We should have the firing order
but I'll check it again too.

Dan

[rjewkes]

here is a pic for referance not best drawing but will work to help.

also when sitting the static timing with it on tdc dizz should turn clockwise until its just about to open the points with them set to .017 with a feeler gauge shouldn't be more than $5 at autozone. or a match book.

[dolinick]

It has an accell electronic distributor.
The old engine had points though.

Dan

[rjewkes]

ok no worry about the points then. hope everything else helps you out.

[dolinick]

Okay, so I started my truck today.

I flipped the distributor around 180 degrees.
Actually I hooked up the drive shaft and clutch
spring first. Then I replaced the dust cover (freshly
painted). I tried a little carb cleaner and
it tried to start but no luck. I then checked the
firing order. It seemed to be correct. I decided
to get some fresh gas. I put some in the carb and
in the tank and it finally fired up! It was running
smooth for a while, maybe a few seconds and
then would simply die. It did this over and over.
I would depress the accelerator to the floor and
crank it a bit. Then it would fire up and run smooth
but after a few seconds die.

We'll get it adjusted or figure out why it's doing
that soon i'm sure. Any ideas?

We ran out of time again to work on it today.
I still have to pry off the old gasket on the driver
side tailpipe. That's why the exhaust wasn't connected.
It's hooked up on the other side however.

Oh, here's a little video. Very short clip of engine running
because the batteries were dead in my camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzPJslPBeRo

Also, I disassembled my '69 grille last night. I only had
trouble with one rusty bolt but a channel lock pliers was
enough to pry it loose. It doesn't look nearly as bad as
the lower valence which had some rust holes in it. It does,
however, have a dent. You can see along the bottom left
side under the louvers it ain't straight like the right side is.

And, I got insurance and registration for the beast today as well!
This is actually finally coming together.


Large: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1076/138 ... e67c_b.jpg


Large: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1275/138 ... 754b_b.jpg

Dan

[dolinick]

Progress! I really wanted to figure out
what was wrong with the carb so I went
to look at the truck. I still don't have it
at my house. It is at my cousin's across
town. I started reading (kind of skimming)
the Holley manual and read something about
not hooking up the electric choke to the coil
power because that was only 7-9 volts instead
of 12. That just happens to be exactly where
we had the fuel pump connected! I already
had a switch under the dash which had 12 volts
with the ignition on so I hooked up the fuel
pump there instead. I also connected the
electric choke to the same spot. The truck
started and ran pretty good.

I decided to drive it two blocks down to the
muffler/tire shop to get the donut on the driver's
side exhaust manifold installed. The old gasket
was stuck on there and my cousin wasn't available
to help me today anyway. That shop was very busy
so I had to drive about another half a mile to this
other shop. I was very impressed with Riva's. they
had about six bays to work on cars and a number of lifts.
Also, the shop was very clean and well organized.
He was just finished with another vehicle and had me
drive up on the lift. I had a bit of trouble because of
my clutch and brakes not working too well and the
slope of the driveway from a very busy road into the
shop. I managed not to roll out in the street and to
get it into first gear. We found a very leaky brake
cylinder on the passenger rear wheel.


Large: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1100/138 ... 4a25_b.jpg

I was getting nervous because of all the steam coming
out of the overflow hose on the radiator. I didn't want
to overheat the engine. I had found some loose hose
clamps and tightened them up but couldn't find the source
of the steam. It was the overflow hose. I put the new
licence plates and registration sticker on and left a copy
of my proof of insurance in the cab.

I drove back home those few blocks and got her safely
back in my cousin's driveway. I'll have to wait a few more
days and make sure the timing is correct and brakes and
clutch are working properly and adjusted.

Dan

[ezernut9mm]

progress is good!

[Ranchero50]

Yep, that's pretty cool, even if you are limping at least you are moving. Now just to take the time to fix the stuff that's failed while it sat.

Good luck

Jamie

[dolinick]

When I first bought my truck I went to the salvage yards
looking for some parts. I'd see a few bumps. I even
found one with excellent interior and everything intact.
I don't go looking around the salvage yards much anymore.
I was there recently to get a door and fender for
our 2000 lumina. I guess regular trips to the yards
would yield some excellent finds around here. I just don't
think I have the time to go very often.

Some things I found at the salvage yards were fomoco
brackets and mirrors, radio antenna, spare tire holder
thing that goes in the side of the bed (or at least that's
what I think it is), some knobs for dash, a washer fluid
reservoir (from a dent i think). I got my ford wheel
covers from "mr hubcap" and traded some kind of (baby?)
moons for them. OH, I got a steering wheel from the bone
yard too. It's not a '71 I don't believe. It's the three spoke
horn button/ring type wheel. My truck came with a little
bitty rubber steering wheel which I just thought looked silly.
It also had bronco style mirrors and black boots on the wiper
arms. Changing all that stuff changed the look of the truck
quite a bit. Also changing the bumpers from silver to black
paint changed it a lot too.




Oh, how to go about replacing the worn out shift
linkage. Is it a simple fix or can there be worn
out internal parts of the actual transmission. I'll
definitely be checking it out this thurs-fri when I
have a couple of days off from work.

I want to try and replace the leaking wheel cylinder
and see if the clutch can be adjusted. When I drove
it about a half a mile the other day I could really
shift very well. I ended up just stopping and turning
the engine off to put it back into first or second gear.

Dan

[dolinick]

I drove my truck home last night. I was pretty nervous
about it. I wanted to drive her home even though she
still has some major problems. I drove a couple of blocks
to a gas station and put just enough gas in to get her home.
I forgot the engine was hot and when I opened the radiator
cap I almost burned myself when some coolant sprayed out.
Then it didn't want to start. The battery had gotten to weak
from all the cranking we had been doing before hand.
Someone offered to give me a boost and it started right up.

I needed to get about 10 miles to the other side of town so
I decided to go down the side streets instead of take the
highway (interstate). That idea didnt' work very well because
my clutch isn't adjusted correct. I couldn't put it in gear if
I came to a stop. I ended up stuck again with a weak battery.
I tried starting it for a while but finally asked someone for
a boost and it started right up again. This time I didn't mess around
I headed straight for the on ramp and never looked back.
It shifted fine: first, second, third! I was a pleasure to drive
even slowly cruising down the highway. When I got off the highway
a few minutes later I timed the two traffic lights so I wouldn't have
to slow down too much or stop and made it safely to my house.

I also have very weak brakes and one leaky brake cylinder.
I'm probably going to ask the guy who put the clutch in my nova
if he can adjust my clutch. I hope it is a simple fix and not a
major issue.

Dan

[dolinick]

After I got my truck home I started noticing lots
of noise I thought was coming from the lifters.
I still haven't figured out why it was making
all the noise but ever since I filled it up with
fresh gas It seems easier to start and I think
the valve cover gasket is leaking. These are
good signs to me. Maybe It wasn't too happy
on that old gas and maybe it has good oil pressure.

I still gotta find out for sure what's going on with
it but I'm a little less worried about the engine.

I started it for a couple of minutes today and
noticed some smoke coming from near the spark
plug on cylinders six and seven. I'm pretty sure
it was from oil dripping out of the valve cover.
They probably got loose when shipping the engine
over here and while the engine was out of the
donor truck.

I've gotten the brakes working slightly better but
still need to adjust, replace and flush not necessarily
in that order. It has four wheel drum brakes.

The clutch seems to be fine except for the spring
that helps the pedal return to the upper position when
you take your foot off from it.

There is quite a bang coming from the front end when
hitting dips or bumps in the road so I think there are
some worn out parts in the suspension or something is
loose.

I hope to at least have the truck road worthy soon because
I've got some small trees that need hauled out to the country
(about 50 miles) and planted. It's about the right time of the
year for planting the trees. I got lots of work to do out there
and I'm gonna need my truck for most of it!

Dan