I bought myself a 77 f350 dually rear wheel drive 4 speed manual flat bed.
I wanted to see if you guys had some ideas to throw at me. im thinking dual straight pipe exaust. its got the 351 v8 not sure if its cleavland Windsor. its also been sitting for about ten years. Im new to carb motors, any need to knows would be appreciated too thanks.

 

If its been sitting for awhile, a full tune up is first on the list. I'd also reccommend rebuilding the carb and doing a visual inspection on all vacuum hoses. Check all your fluids and change them (oil, coolant, trans fluid for starters. I even usually do a power steering fluid flush too). Replace all the filters. Check tires for dry rot. Actually just replace the tires if you plan on using the truck a lot. (recently had 2 of my 25 year old tires explode on me out on the highway...not fun). Plenty of articles on how to retune the carb to optimal specs online so Id do that too. Also run some seafoam through the engine as well once the engine is running (just to clean out crap).

Dual exhaust is good in my opion but straight pipes will be pretty loud, even for me (I like loud trucks ) I recommend buying the cheap thrush glasspacks from napa. I have em on my truck and they sound pretty agressive and plenty deep and loud especially if you have a heavy foot.

I guess Id recommend making 2 lists. One list is for things that you NEED to do to make the truck run soundly. The other list is for things you'd like to do to the truck.

How many miles on this truck? Any pics?

 

Dave145 covered most of it. +1 one the seafoam. It is always best not to turn an engine over with 10 year old gas in it. I would also suggest pulling the tank and flushing it.

 

Make sure it will stop before it goes! Do a very detailed inspection of the brake system. I'd pull the wheels and check brake pads and shoes, flush and bleed the brake lines.

 

thanks for all the replies. hopefully you can help me a little more now that I'm in this project a bit deeper. W/ the truck came the full set of original shop manual books which I thought was really cool.

History of the vehicle-
it was used for a tool and die business the original owner had. when he stopped using the truck he parked it in his warehouse and that's where it sat for the last ten years. he ended up passing away. his brother-in-law and nephew inherited the truck and decided to get it running again and sell it. they cleaned out both gas tanks but only reinstalled the one in the cab. slapped on a carb, ignition coil, starter, and fuel pump from a junk yard truck. they put it up on CL, drove it around their property for a few months, then I came along.

When I got the truck it ran and drove but definitely needed more work. I put in new plugs/wires, cap/rotor, oil/filter, battery, and replaced the valve cover gaskets. but it still wasn't running right. it wouldn't stay idling, it would die out after a minute or so. I didn't know anything about carburetors at this point and figured the carb must be tuned wrong or something. so I started adjusting it not really knowing. in the end I just took the carb off, rebuilt it, tuned it to spec, and put it back on. now it just cranks and cranks but wont fire. I installed a manual choke, still nothing. I see and smell fuel. any ideas???

What's next after I get it running again-
-tires, the rears are tube tires. pretty good shape besides the drivers side going flat
-tail lights need to be fixed
-belts are dry rotted
-heater core is shot
-fluids like Dave145 and VocaTexas said coolant, trans, ps, dif, clutch, & brake
-radio doesn't work
-dual exhaust (I want to do dual straight to the back w/headers but we'll see)
-buff job, some spots touched up, and maybe re-cleared. surprisingly for a Michigan truck it doesn't have a spec of rust on it. my 92 f150 on the other hand...

When I drove it home the brakes felt good and stiff but it wont hurt to look them over when I take the wheels and tires off. As for sea foam, I'm going to but not right away. I want to run a cycle of just fresh oil and sea foam a few hundred miles before I change it.
*changing the oil made me laugh. the plug is right about the cross support so when you drain it, it pours all over the support.

 

im having trouble uploading pictures ill get a bunch up as soon as I can

 

I would not trust "their" fuel tank clean out job, dirty tank great way to trash a fresh rebuilt carb. Clog your lines and trash a new fuel pump, make sure you run one or two inline fuel filters before the pump and at least one after.

The seat tank is way easier to get to and at least insp the inside....all the above advice is spot on about the fluids ect....

Take a gallon antifreeze jug and cut it into a flat style low edged funnel for the cross member oil changes.

 

If it's the original engine, it should be a 351M not Cleveland or Windsor.

 

ya I learned it was the 351m when I took the valve covers off the change the gaskets. it had original paint w/ the sticker that had all the spec stuff. it was pretty deteriorated so I sanded it down and painted it black with high temp paint from A.Z. I think im going to redo it ford blue instead.

the guy really made it a point that he cleaned the tank thoroughly. and he had drove it around enough to burn through any old gas. good idea adding another fuel filter though. maybe ill put one after the pump. will adding another filter restrict fuel getting to the carb?

 

I say go whole hog, fab, adapt, and build a "Lil Pete"

 

An extra filter after the pump before the carb should not hurt a thing.

 

ill have to add it to the list. I just got a new ignition coil today, we'll if that's the problem.

is it on an old stake bed chassis? I wish I had the money, know-how, time, or tools to do something like that

 

Sounds like the carb rebuild made it non operational. Like many things, rebuilding carbs is easy if you know how and do it enough to stay in practice. I don't so I buy reman. I put an "Autoline" brand carb from AZ on my '78 and idle problems with the 35 YO original cleared up. Its not mandatory but I set idle screws with a vacuum gauge. Screw out to get max vacuum and screw back in a little (eg 1/2 turn) and good to go. Mine's a 400 which is a close cousin to the 351M. Also agree an extra fuel filter between pump and carb is a good idea. Also check/replace rubber fuel lines as time and alcohol can make them soft and leaky.

 

this was my first carb motor so I figured i'd just try to rebuild it. I don't want to spend 100's before I try a 20 dollar fix. ill let you know if the new coil does anything

 

im wondering what the thing on top is that goes to the positive termial