The 223 in My 1959 F100 won't idle with the choke fully open, To keep it idling I have to keep the choke at least 1/2 closed. Has all new ignition components, except the coil.

After it is warmed up, it will crank,but not restart.Once it has cooled, it will fire right up. The vacuum advance is shot, that I know for sure. What should I be checking? Engine is in very good shape, runs strong.

 

engine is running too lean , most likely has a vacuum leak somewhere , 1/2 choking it is letting in less air to richen mixture .
grab carb and try to turn it back and forth wile watching carb base if you see things loose that shouldn't be you know where to start ,needs new gaskets.
if your bad vacuum advance is sucking air that's it too , plug vacuum hose engine at idle , if coke opens all the way and engine runs ok you need new vacuum advance
the hot no start thing is also a vacuum leak problem , lean mixture burns hot even though its not overheating radiator , called vapor lock after engine is shut off fuel boils over into intake floods engine and wont start until it cools off also caused by ignition too far advanced

 

Vacuum advance line is already plugged as diaphragm is completely shot. My truck is also manual choke. I can check the carb, and intake manifold bolts tomorrow

 

also ck idle mixture screw setting

 

and timing is ok, and advance weights in distributor under points are free to move not sticking don't have any broken springs

 

may turn out the engine needs the vacuum advance for correct timing because, at idle or wile cruising at a steady speed vacuum is highest and when engine gets under load or you open throttle wider vacuum drops and the vacuum advance changes timing /wile the power valve in the carb witch is also controlled by vacuum sprays in an extra shot of fuel to give engine more power
what im getting at is at idle the vacuum advance is controlling engine timing
had torinos yrs ago and parts stores sold the vacuum advance, problem was the screws always broke off ,made a real pain easer to get a new dist

 

may also have vacuum leaks inside carb, or something gummed up you cant even see

 

looked up part at rockauto.com they sell vacuum advance standard motor products
part no, vc12 $ 21.79
or whole dist for $50.00-80.00 some dollars
man I love that site still got parts for a lot of good old American built cars & trucks

 

Thing is, vacuum advance canister is normally connected to a source of ported or "spark" vacuum. There is no signal at idle.

 

Mine did this a few months back.

I had a bad float in the carb. I got a killer deal on a new carb so I just swapped it. Truck runs like new.

 

Hadn't thought of that, will find another float and see if it helps

Thanks for the info!