I bought this 59 F100 pickup from Florida in June and was told it had a 351 engine fitted around 1985. When I got it here it would not run. It had a Rochester Quadrajet Carb fitted which was all gunged up so I fitted a new Holley 600cfm carb. It ran good, even though a friend of mine said it sounded as if it was missing, it started and ran down the road well.
I've used it a few times since with no problems, as long as I let it warm up, it would run and idle fine
Xmas day I got it out the garage and it would not run continuously...it would start, run for a while then die. I called the breakdown service out who said electonically it was fine, getting a spark, but the points / contact breakers were not great and suggested I fit an electronic ignition.
He fiddled with the points but said it seemed fuel related. I managed to limp it home but it ran really rough...I think he messed the timing up by adjusting the gap on the points
It came with two fuel pumps, and AC delco electronic pump pushing to the lift pump
Well up to now I've never checked the engine number but it starts D9AE...I cannot see the rest it is behind the starter motor. well it seems this is either a marine engine ( possible with the Quadrajet carb ) or an emission era type 351M
I'm stumped...which engine do I have and which is the correct fuel delivery syste? why two pumps? Could this be a cause of it cutting out, not getting the correct fuel pressure......if so any suggestions?
Also I'd like to fit an electronic ignition, but which distributor do I have fitted and what would be a good system to improve what I have
As usual, budget is always an issue!!
leewiffen's photosets on Flickr

 

Pertronix ignition fits inside the stock distributor and does away with the stock points and condenser Pertronix Performance Products .
Just so you know, if it's a '79 truck engine, it would already have an electronic ignition. My guess is someone already swaped distributors so they wouldn't have to convert the '59's wiring to match the Dura-Spark ignition.
A previous owner probably added the electric fuel pump because he was having unidentified fuel issues and figured that would "cure" them.

 

In IMG_0255, the intake says "*MASTE*R 35*W" and lead me to believe it's a 351W. A 351W will also have a longitudinal cast rib between the block and to the left (driver's side) of the distributor hole - 289/302s do not have the rib.

2x with Mike... Ditch the points and install a Pertronix ignition module. You have your choice of Pertronix I, II, or III starting around $90. Easy install - less than 30 minutes if yer organized.

In terms of the fuel system, it has a mechanical pump and an electric pump? That's really odd. I'd temporarily bypass the electric pump to determine if it can run only on the mechanical pump and then switch it around to see if it can operate only on the electric pump. It would also help to get the PN off the electric pump and look up the application and specs.

With any new-to-you vehicle and one that has been modified such as your 59, you really need to do some investigative work to understand what the hell previous owners have done or did not do to your rig. As you can see, all sorts of funky stuff can pop up.

 

Thanks fellas...will any of those Pertronix kits work? The distributor appears to be for an older engine as it has a vacuum connection which is connected...which is a little confusing as if it's alater 79 engine surely that would have had an electronic iignition, therefore a different distributor

Fuel could be contaminated, tank full of crap as although we installed an inline filter when we fitted the new carburettor, we never drained and cleaned the fuel lines, and the truck had not been used for a while

 

You may have allready plugged the new filter up if it had been sitting a long time. I had the same problem once on an old 56 ford,plugged the new filter right away. I ended up draining the fuel out of the tank and blowing air back though the fuel line with it disconnected from the tank. Then i put a filter before the fuel pump and another one after the fuel pump. I ran about two tanks of fuel though it then replaced the inline filter between the fuel pump and fuel tank. The other inline filter i did away with. I like to filter the fuel before it goes in to the fuel pump ,less chance of it getting the fuel pump messed up. As far as the electric fuel pump somebody may have put one on there thats rated for a fuel injected engine or a performance racing engine that has a way to much pressure for a stock engine. You don't need both unless you have the electric one on it's own switch and use it as a back up one in case the mechanical one quits out in the middle of no where.

 

On the ignition side of things.....just get new points and condensor and set the gap properly then checking timing on engine. I still run points in my 73 F100 without no problems at all....I think your money can probably be better spent in some other areas of the truck right now. Change to electronic down the road when your budget is better.

 

I think we're all agreed this is a 351W bt we are still trying to agree on the distributor and the best way forward

Oh and anyone have the firing order when I do get to reset things?

F100 fuel and ignition - a set on Flickr

 

351W introduced in 1969 Passenger Cars, thru 1973 would have a points dizzy.

Passenger Cars after 1979: 351W only available in 1980/81 LTD/Mercury Grand Marquis/Lincoln Town Car / 1982/89 Crown Vic/Mercury Grand Marquis.

DuraSpark introduced in 1974, but not all vehicles had it until 1976 / There will be a stamped ID number on the base of the dizzy similar to this: D1AF-12127-HA

351W introduced in 1975 Econolines, in F150/350's and Bronco's in 1981, used thru 1996. No F100 ever came w/a 351W.

 

The first few letters of the number on the crank case behind the starter motor are D9AE- which leads me to believe it's a 1979 Auto Engine...which distributor would be correct for this engine?

Thanks

 

Well just to update everyone....the truck is now running a peach, but the cause of the drama has not been tied down

I fitted a Mallory electronic ignition conversion into the top of the original distributor, fitted new champion plugs and sorted out the firing order as it's a 351W engine with a 302 cam needing the 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 firing order.

Also some fool had transposed 3 plug leads to the incorrect positions whilst rying to be helpful and it was missing on three cylinders!!

I'm not sure about the fuel problem...the two pumps are not causing a problem, they are working efficiently kicking out 6.00 psi of pressure and the filter is clean. I was wondering if I never gave the Holley 600cfm sufficent time to warm and idle....or maybe it was the sticky dizzy points after all

I have a suspicion the ignition swith and the small glass fused fuse box under the key is a little corroded, so I will be tackling that just to make sure I have no intermittent feed to the ignition circuit

While on here, I need a new water temperature sender for the block....any ideas who sells these?

 

Available from Ford and autoparts stores, Ford used the same one from 1970 into the 1990's for myraid applications/engines.

F1SZ-10884-A (replaced DOWY-10884-A & DOZZ-10884-A) .. Temperature Sending Unit (Motorcraft SW-2328).

To simplify matters, ask for a temp sender for a 1970/73 Mustang/Cougar 302/351C/351W or a 1970/79 F100/350 240/300 I-6, 302/351M/360/390/400/460 or a 1970/79 Bronco 302/351M/400.