Looks like this is gonna be my build thread. Ultra low buck compared to Hio's LoBuck build hahaha. (Awesome truck btw Hio). Either way, I adjusted all my drums. Yesterday the front, tonight the rears. Cleaned n scuffed the shoes, and scuffed the drums. (Plenty of meat on shoes, just glazed, and our lathe is broke at work, I'll turn them another day). However, now I have superb brakes (for being not power assisted) but I still don't have much of a parking brake. It slows it down a little so I know the cable is attached to something lol, but still it won't hold the truck on my driveway in neutral...any thoughts?

 

Oh yeah, here's my chevy donation...new hood/cowl seal. It attaches to the hood, but i think itll work just fine. Presidential solution. hahaha

 

Don't know what kind of shop you work at..

With brakes adjusted up on all 4 corners and E-brake not holding then adjust the cable for the e-brake center of underside of vehicle.

Orich

 

Had 2 cars my brothers and my Dads would run terrible in rain if they would start at all. Both turned out to be coil wires where bad.

 

That's what I thought Orich, but I'm working on it at my house, so I didn't crawl under it since I don't have jack stands. I'm doing one wheel at a time since I don't have jack stands yet, and I'm Def not getting under it till I can put it on the lift.
And I got some new wires and cut them to fit right and got them installed last night. So we'll see what happens now that I got spark plug wires and the seal next time it rains.

 

It rained. Truck eased to the side of road. Ugh. Popped hood, cap, plug wires, and driver side firewall area/electrical wires dry. Seal worked great. New wires and cap are dry. However, the starter solenoid, battery, and (I think) voltage reg beside battery are wet. Anybody else think that could be my issue? Don't know how to keep them dry, but a wet regulator can't be good...

 

A change to a Ford 3G alternator would do away with the external voltage regulator and its associated wiring and, give you a much better alternator to boot.

 

Ultra, when you say much better alternator what exactly do you mean? This one has been doing fine for 40 some odd years hahaha. I don't plan on any accessories like lights or radios and the like... I'd like to keep it as close to stock as possible if that matters. I'm not swapping a v8, no disc brake swaps, no ac installs, etc. I like the completeness of this truck. So other than getting rid of volt reg what's the benefits of alternator? Sell it to me Ultra...hahaha

 

Maybe it's not water directly, how about the extra humidity? I'm thinking maybe a wiring connector or connection. What kind of ignition you got? Examples: If points maybe the dizzy primary wire bad. If EEC 1 or 2 maybe the ignition module or it's wiring connections. HEI, maybe it's module or wiring connections. When it stalls do you have fuel, spark, and power from a good ignition switch?

 

....must be a lot of sideways rain in your area....

I didn't have 'drowning' issues with my truck but, I did have an old, stock alternator on the 240 in my '69 F100 that had degraded over time and it kept letting my battery run down --2 batteries in 4 years drained to the point they wouldn't take a charge --dead cells.

I couldn't see spending the money on replacing it with the same low amperage rating equivalent alternator, when I could get a 3G that would put out more amperage at idle (75 amps) than my stock alternator could put out at full capacity --about 60 amps.

You don't have to have a lot of electrical circuits to reap the benefits from a 3G. On the other side of that, if, later on you decide to add more electrical components, you would already have an alternator that can easily handle the added amperage load of the system.

Getting rid of electrical components that are shutting your truck down everytime they get wet would be a very good reason to get away from what you currently have.

There is a 95 amp (4-hole) version of the 3G and 130 amp (2-hole) version. The number of holes in the case to look for are in between the 3 pairs of ribs that radiate out, every 120,° from the center. If there are (4) holes in between each pair of ribs, it's a 95 amp alternator. If there are (2) holes between the ribs, it's a 130 amp alternator.

1994 Mustang (2-hole) 3G 130 amp alternator on the 240 in my '69 F100.

 

I have stock ignition. Everything on the truck is bone stock, and 99% of it is literally the stuff it had on it off the assembly line. Factory wires, factory radiator, factory alternator, even the factory water pump. None of these have been replaced. I don't have very deep pockets so I'm replacing things as they go bad. I've done cap, rotor button, wires, plugs, oil change, rebuilt transmission, and adjusted brakes with a fluid flush. It gets 16 to 17 mpg avg so I don't think the carb needs any attention yet. I do need a radiator, it leaks pretty good, about 1/2 gallon a day. Just don't have the 179 to swing right now. I'll look into the alternator swap, but like I said, I'd like to keep it factory. In 1971 I'm sure driving in the rain wasn't an issue, or ford wouldn't have sold many vehicles hahaha. But when it stalls, I haven't gotten out and checked anything except to see what's wet and what's not. The truck doesn't cut off, it will sit and idle alllll day. But won't hardly move at all under load. But as soon as the rain or puddles stop, it's off and running again.

 

And being in upstate sc the humidity is horrible, but never have issue with heat/humidity. Only with huge puddles or torrential downpours. Sideways rain, upside down rain, big fat rain, (said in my Forrest gump voice)

 

Ok amigo, I've had my old truck for 45 years now, and for about 17 years of its life, it lived and worked in Eureka, Northern Cal... where it rains up to 60 in a year, so my truck ran in the rain, from Oct. to July... I had a similar problem for awhile, and an old parts guy suggested a new coil. Moisture, and not much of it, would just let it run, but not give enough to the spark to the plugs, to make it run. To check, I pulled the coil wire, and the distributor cap, then checked for a nice blue spark, when I opened the points. A weak yellow spark, was what I had before I spent the $$ on a new coil. Give it a try, and see if you have a cheap fix... good luck amigo

Baja.

 

Baja you are the man. I drove it again last night to pick my daughter up from band practice. Hit some huge water running across the back roads I was on and boom did it again...idle fine but wouldn't move under load. Jumped out checked spark off coil and hardly anything when she rev'd motor. Nice and blue when she let it idle. I'll be getting a coil pack. Thanks for all the help fellas, this big yeller turd is gonna keep on truckin afterall.

 

Way happy to have been of help amigo. All the guys on this forum, gladly help when they can. I just got lucky with a guess from the past. As my old Dad used to say "Even a blind hog finds a truffle once in awhile". Keep the old rig running amigo, and it will let you know when it needs a new part or two.

Best to you amigo

Baja