Hey yall im new to the site and was hoping you could help me with a few problems im having with my 85 f150, I bought the truck to haul fire wood with and play around on the farm in. I only payed 350 bucks for it so ith aint much, its got a 351w an np435 and a 9 in rearend I figured its a good starting point to build into a mud truck any help/ advice is appreciated.

1st. and foremost I was wondering which intake I would need to put a quadra jet on my stock 351w it has a factory auto lite but its a piece of junk, wont idle right and leaks fuel

2nd. All that emission junk in my engine bay I cant stand that junk all those wires and hose going every were. I want to clean up my engine bay and do away with all the emission garbage we aint got emission checks here in ky so I should be good

3rd. I changed plugs wires rotor button and distributor cap last night and now it wont fire I know I wired it up right unless the intake manifolds wrong... I just don't know it may be the coil this trucks been given me all sorts of electrical problems..

4th. Any suggestions on gearing Im running a set of 32x8.50x15 buckshots there almost new and have never seen blacktop

 

"hauling wood" and "mud truck" don't belong in the same county.
You're either building for torque and civility or building a ***** to the wall, tire spinning screamer.

1) I don't know of a spread bore intake for Windsors.
You can get an adaptor, I suppose.
Me, I hate saturated, sunken Q-jet floats.

2) So, rip it all off and throw it away!
Better yet, give it to someone on this forum who needs to undo their P.O.'s hackery in order to get their truck registered or inspected.

3) You do know that Fords number their cylinders front to back passenger side first, correct?

(rear of engine)
4-8
3-7
2-6
1-5
(front of engine)

Does it even make a pop?
Does it spit or backfire?
Use a spark tester or timing light on the coil->distributor wire to see if you have any spark.

4) It all depends on your use.
4.10's are good if you are just going to play on the farm and are not concerned about mileage.
If you go to bigger tires you might want even more.
I don't know where the carrier breaks are in a 9"
Probably 4.56...
Get a true locker if it is going to be just for off road.

 

Thank you for your info, as far the firing order goes yes I know it fires counter clock wise im new not incompetent, and no it doesn't pop or backfire I bought a new coil today so im gonna check it out.

im goin with the quadra jet because they do better on steep hills

and finally why cant I cut wood with a mud truck, dad cuts wood in his (Forgive him hes a chevy man) nothing like a built 402 draggin a 18 ft trailer out of a muddy holler crankin 6 grand and all 4 super swampers eating up the hillside once again hes a chevy man forgive him of his backward ways

 

I never called you ignorant.

You said you're new to the site and new to this Ford truck.
You said you replaced the cap, rotor and wires and now it won't run.
Based on the information you supplied where do you think I should start?
You still don't say anything about having spark, or not.

Edelbrock makes a Q-jet adapter (2692) for single plane manifolds.
I don't know anyone making one for a dual plane.

Your hills down there in Kentucky must be far different from the woods here in the Northeast.
The LAST thing I would want to do is be bombing around in the lumber wagon.
We have lots of exposed ledge and tight trails.
Perilous drop offs and -yes- a few swamps.

So, maybe the terrain is different.
I don't mind a few scrapes, but my objective is to get home, truck unbroken with a full load of wood.
If I drop a 24-30" maple round in the middle of the trail I'll have to get out and move it the next time I try and get by.

No Bowtie hatred here.

 

You say it wouldn't idle right with the Motorcraft carb? (and now it won't run at all)
Is this a two barrel, or a 4 barrel (HO)?

That would tell us which ignition system is on it.
If it's TFI have you tested for PIP signal?

Without some basic information how can you expect someone to diagnose your problem over the internet?

 

Its a 2 barrel its getting gas and air but no spark. the carb spitters and sputters and leaks gas around the bowl and the electric choke broke so I choke it by hand so that's why im wanting a new car, and I want a 4 barrel. I bought a new coil so im gonna try it in the morning. Ive had several electrical problems out of it done rewired all the lights put a new altenator and voltage regulator on it just last week, and yeah are hills are different I reckon there aint no cliffs or swamps just real slick out were all the snows melting off plus cattle ruin a field when its wet out, I guess I use cutting wood as an excuse to go play in my truck so that's why I said wood truck sorry for snapping at ya there ive had a long day between messin with that truck and fixing fence its been a pia.

 

If you have a 2 barrel carb the first thing to check when you have an ignition problem is the gray TFT module on the side of the distributor.

These things overheat and die quite often.
Ford replaced millions of them due to safety recalls.

 

Thanks man ill check it

 

I don't know what you're going to do about your Quadrajet.

It would be a lot easier to find a used squarebore manifold and carburetor like a Holley Truck Avenger or Edelbrock AVS off-road, than try and make the Q fit and run.

At least you don't have to deal with a kickdown linkage.

 

I laughed way too hard at that. Thanks for the laugh! I needed it lol.

 

Matthew,
The last thing you want around here is to be a mile out in the woods with a ton or more of wood in the back, stuck on a piece of granite ledge.
Slashed tire and bent rim, or an oil pan that has been ripped open like a tin can.

This is a big country with all kinds of terrain.
Bayou, to desert. Plains to rocky mountains.
Sometimes I should do more listening and ask more questions.

 

There were some hints in the previous posts that you might have a TFI system on your truck. If you do, and want to get rid of all the wires, you are going to have to get rid of the TFI system. Do you have a vacuum line port and or a vacuum line going to your distributor?

To run the quadrajet, get a stock or aftermarket 4bbl manifold and then just buy one of those adapters they have hanging on the wall at the parts stores. It's the same adapter that you use to put a Holley on a chevy quadrajet manifold. It's made so you can just flip it over and use it in reverse. The quadrajet is a good carb if you epoxy the main jet well plugs shut. They all leak fuel and make it run rich.

 

Nah the distributer just has a plug in on the front, I was wondering about that ive been doin a lot of reading on removing the egr and smog stuff and they was sayin in order to bypass the computer I needed an HEI distributer and a box or a duraspark conversion I would love some info on the best way to do this,

 

There's hundreds of threads about swapping over to DuraSparkII ignition.
To get rid of the feedback carb and computer wiring it's going to have to be done.

Some diagnosis is in order.
If the computer ground is good and the capacitors are not leaking, replacing the module should at least get him spark and have the truck running.

... for now.
Until Bulldog can gather up all the DS parts or HEI needed to ditch his 'emissions stuff'.

If he swaps to a 4V intake he will also have to remember that the firing order doesn't change unless he also changes to a HO cam.

 

You said you know a little bit about engines. If you took your dist apart you will find a sensor and a round pickup wheel with teeth on it. That's it. No centrifugal weights or vacuum advance can to adjust the timing according to engine rpm and load. So if you do not get another type of distributor, your timing will be locked at one setting. The computer system controlled the timing on your truck.

It's your choice which setup you want to use, that has the mechanical stuff inside the dist that will control the timing.