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

 

Shouldn't need 2 fuel pumps for that truck. The manual pump on the engine should pull fuel just fine. Sounds like your tank is full of crap and is plugging up the system. I'd disconnect the line going to the manual pump on the engine and try the electric pump 1st to see if you have any fuel flow. If the the tank has a sock filter on the pickup, it could be plugged up too. Did you change the fuel filter? fuel, air, and fire make it run, if you have air and fire, only one thing left to check.

 

When we fitted the new carburettor I fitted an inline fuel filter...would I still need to check for crap coming from the tank into the line or would this collect anything being pumped from the tank?

 

The horizontal fuel pump mounting points to 351w. Are your valve covers trapazoid shaped and held by 6 bolts? ( /==\ is what the valve covers look like)

 

My first thought is that the mechanical pump failed and someone has just thrown an electric pump on it instead of fixing it correctly.


That is a nice looking truck you have there. Sure looks like a '60 to me though, and not a '59!


Post up some pics of your engine and folks will be able to give you more info.

 

Hard to really tell what engine from the limited areas shown on your pictures. My guess is a 351W. But what puzzles me is that if it is a 79 engine it should already have had the DuraSpark II electronic ignition. This is true for both 351W and 351M. Someone must have put on the old points style distributor at some time. If you want electronic ignition, the OEM setup on these engines is pretty good and very reliable. If you can find a distributor, coil, control box, and wiring from a similar engine at a junkyard that is a good start. If you want stronger spark, the DuraSpark II works well with the MSD 6A.
On the fuel system, look at the filter you installed, if it is clean you have no debris issues. You do not need both fuel pumps, I myself would stay with the mechanical pump, but whichever one you like, keep it and remove the other. If you stay with the electric, make sure it has a safety switch in the power circuit so it does not keep running when the engine stalls or otherwise stops running with the key on.

 

I've posted some more pictures on Flickr under F100 Fuel and ignition. I'm pretty sure it's a 351W but still not sure which distributor is has fitted

F100 fuel and ignition - a set on Flickr

 

It looks like you have a 351 Windsor, the distributor looks like a factory style points distributor.

Have A Great Day ----- Hotwrench

 

I've found this distributor...not a great quality photograph, but does this look the one?
distributor | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Yes that is a 351W Windsor engine. The mechanical pump on the motor should be good by itself. Maybe there was a problem with the pump, or the eccentric on the end of the cam which drives that pump.

 

Dizzy cap with male ends introduced in all FoMoCo vehicles in 1977. Besides the cap, there is a plastic adapter below that has the clips that retain the cap to the dizzy.

Whether this is a 351W dizzy or not...I cannot say. No Ford ever came with a red dizzy cap.

 

This distributor question is still playing on my mind.

I've been thinking I should upgrade to a newer distributor, even an HEI as shown in my flickr post.

Alternatively should I upgrade to a later Dizzy with the Pertronix electronic ignition installed
How about just sticking with teh existing points system, after all it worked really well until I started to get the fuel starvation problem.

These expensive HEI set ups seem more designed for performance than for my sedate type of driving here in the UK

I'm only driving around 2000 miles per year

 

i have the hei in my truck and its much better

 

Nothing really wrong with points-type ignition, in my opinion. As long as you (or someone) knows how to set & adjust the points and timing, and keep the rest of the ignition system in good shape. And if you only drive 2000 miles a year, gosh I would think you could go at least 2 ~ 3 years easily, and maybe even more, between ignition tune-ups.

You wouldn't need a later distributor for a Pertronix unit. The Pertronix is just a simple swap-out for your existing points, condenser, and rotor. You still keep the same rotor cap. Super simple to do, it can take as little as a few minutes to do the swap. And the only giveaway that you've done something different, is that TWO wires that run to the coil, instead of just one!
Note: Also make sure your coil has the recommended resistance for the particular Pertronix unit - if not, or you can't verify, then you may wish to get a coil that does have the correct resistance.

For what it's worth, several months ago I swapped out my points and condensor for a Pertronix ignition,along with a coil. And although my truck was running pretty darned good before, I still noticed an improvement with the Pertronix - it starts faster, idles smoother, and purrs down the road like nobody's business.

 

I have a '79 351 W in my '58 and I am using a Proform HEI one wire distributor. It is set up just like a GM distributor with the coil on top of the Distributor cap. It works great plus it's simple to install and relatively cheap. AND you can get it with a blue cap so it looks more Fordish.