Disconnect the wire that goes to the fuel sending unit at the tank. Ground that wire to the frame, making sure the frame is clean. Turn the ignition to the "run" position and watch the fuel gauge. If the gauge swings all the way to full, either the sending unit itself is bad or it has a bad ground. If the gauge stays on empty then either the gauge is bad or there is a wiring problem.
To pop the plug off for the test you can get up in there with your head and see the plug. While looking at it, VERY CAREFULLY use a screwdriver to pry it off. AND I MEAN VERY CAREFULLY. It is only pushed on like a 1/8". This is only if you can not get it with your hands.
Once you have done the test (above) and decide it’s the sending unit. And you have cleaned the ground and that did not work. Then disconnect the ground again and fuel line and read on.
If you can't get either one disconnected, no worries you will have a little more room once the tank is dropped down a little. But make sure you have some wire slack in the plug connector.
Run the tank dry or almost or siphon it empty, I would not do it with ½ a tank if you just have to, use a big floor jack and a piece of 2x2 plywood. It’s not that heavy, unless you have it full or 1/2 full of gas.
Loosen the filler and vent hose clamps at the tank end and maybe you can pop the lines off? But most of the time you have to just loosen the clamps and wait till the tank is about out.
With the jack in place, just loosen the hdwr (2 bolts) on the front straps, and remove tank straps aft hdwr all together, then swing the straps out of your way.
Slide the tank to the dvrs side about 1/2" and then pull out or let the passenger side drop out of the frame. Then disconnect the elec connector and eng feed fuel line if you could not get to them earlier.
Then slide it as far as you can to the right and pop off the filler/vent lines. Sometime you need to carefully put a flat tip screwdriver in between the rubber hose and the tank to break it loose. The filler neck and vent lines get stuck to the metal pretty good sometimes.
Once out there is a lock that comes off with a screwdriver or punch, look for a small tab that has been bent over to lock it. Un bend it, tap off the lock ring, remove the sending unit.
Insp the underside of the tank where the straps rest, lots of dirt and moisture build up there, and that causes the corners to rust out. You can also come reinstall time replace the anti-chaff material. Old 2" ratchet strap work great, glued to the support straps.
Insp the inside of the tank, might be a great time to replace it all together? Before you reinstall anything connect the electric connection and ground to the sending unit. Wire it up under the truck so it is not hanging by the connection. And with the key in the 1st (on position) you should be able to move the float arm and see a difference in your gauge?? It is always easier to do this with a helper.....
Also before install, paint the complete tank with some good paint. Even spray on bed liner or undercoating??

 

Get deep into the 73-79 site and there is a ton of information in just the 2nd and 3rd "Read First" threads.

This thread use to be out in the main forums, now it seems to be back shelved?

Holler is you need something.

Welcome to FTE.

 

This thread is very useful! I dont know if it was posted before but the steering column out of an 80-85 truck fits the 73-79 cabs.

 

This doesnt have anything to do with my post. But don't knownhowbtobstart new thread. I need help with my truck and posting pictures on here to figure out what a part is

 

When changing a manual brake truck to a power booster the front brake line will have to be adapted. And also the brake pedals are different. I had a hard time finding an adapter for the new master cylinder. It came with one for back brakes but not the front

 

The Ford FE engine family consists of the following engines:

• 332
• 352
• 360
• 390
• 406
• 410 (Mercury)
• 427
• 428

...and were installed in cars and light-duty (LD) trucks.
The FT engine family consists of the following engines:

• 330MD (Medium Duty) - FE block with FT heads; pretty uncommon
• 330HD (Heavy Duty)
• 332
• 359
• 361
• 389
• 391 engines

...and were installed in 1964-1978 Louisville medium-duty (MD) trucks 2-ton and larger (F500-up). You could get a 391 in an F350 through fleet sales, though they're pretty rare. The FT's were an option in F350's and there was a heavy duty engine option on F250/F350 that Ford called a 361/391 but in reality it was an FE with FT heads.


FT engines have a single front mount that attaches to the steel timing cover.



The 330FT was standard in some 500 and 600 series trucks, and the 361FT was optional. F700-750-800 series are generally 391's (and are usually called a 391HD), though the 361FT was standard in some larger series trucks (700 and 800 maybe), and the 391 was optional. A 389 is pretty much the same thing under a 2V carburettor.
Most 330's, 361's and 389's came with a 2V Holley, and the 391HD came with a 4V Holley, all governor carburettors. They have a tall tach-drive governor distributor and the truck-only steel front timing cover and dual thermostat housing.


A 330 has a bore of 3.875" and a 3.50" stroke. A 361 has a 4.05" bore and a 3.50" stroke and the 391 has a 4.05" bore and 3.79" stroke.


359FT and 389FT were special fleet engines. U-haul was pushing to reduce costs, so Ford defined a low-cost formula for creating FT engines in special fleet applications sometime around 1973. The result was an engine with a cast iron crankshaft instead of the FT steel crank, and a governor installed (on all?) which reduced the redline about 500RPM below the governed 361FT and 391FT engines to prevent any opportunity for warranty issues resulting from the less robust crankshaft. The lower RPMs resulted in less horsepower output and longer life. U-haul bought them in quantity, and the rest is history.


FT/FE Parts Interchangeability


FT full-sump oil pan and special pickup, which works great on 2WD F100-350 or lifted 4x4s.


About the only things that are directly interchangeable are the connecting rods, lifters, rocker arm assemblies, pushrods, valve covers and oil pan. The steel timing chain cover and water pumps are different and won't interchange.


The rods, though they may have the truck number forged into it, are the same as 390/410/428 car rods, and are thus very desirable for econo-performance builds. 4-ring pistons use short connecting rods, 3-ring engines use long rods (later engines).
361s got the same block as the 391. The 391 prizes are the block, crank, and rods. The 361 only offers a block.


Block


The FT blocks are heavy-duty units and are virtually identical to the FE except that the distributor pilot hole is larger to allow for the 5/16" hex oil pump driveshaft. This means you'd have to install a bronze bushing in order to use a standard distributor with the 1/4" oil pump drive shaft, but there are bushings readily available (from Ford or the aftermarket).


You might also need to install a plug where the air compressor (for the air brakes) drains into the block. (The drain is low on the right side near the center of the block skirt.)

There is a very good chance the 361/391 FT block has the heavy cylinders which allow eventual boring to 428 numbers (including 428 +.060 overbores. The 330FT engine generally bores out to make a great 390 block, but it cannot be heavily overbored like most of the 361 and 391 blocks.


Block markings


Ribs on the block only means it was cast after 1971, nothing more. The "C" or "CX", etc, on the back of the block is also period-specific, as is the "428" marking on the floor of the FT in the water jacket. Same with 427 text markings or cross-bolt nubs.
The term "105" replaced the former term "352" as the standard FE casting mark in about 1973. The "105" simply means it was cast at MCC (Ford's Michigan Casting Center). This does NOT indicate it has heavy cylinder walls, but it probably does have reinforced main bulkheads, since by 1973, most all FEs would only see pickup truck duty, and none would see the easier duty of cars.


Cylinder Heads


The FT heads have the exhaust crossover setup completely different from FE units. (If you take the exhaust manifold off there will be 5 holes instead of 4.) The FT heads have 10 exhaust manifold bolts per head, whereas a car or light-duty truck engine has 8 exhaust manifold bolts per head. These heads are small-valve low-compression units that are unique to the FT series.


Intake/Exhaust Manifolds


The FT intake manifold will fit an FE, but you'd have to plug the FE cylinder head's exhaust crossover passages because they don't come close to lining up. It's debatable on whether it's worth the effort.



That exhaust crossover on the FT heads doesn't go into a port. Deleting it would be fairly easy and that will allow any FE intake to be used. It feeds straight through the head from extra holes in the center of the exhaust manifold, so if you have headers that passage is open and you only need to plug it at the intake manifold face to keep oil from leaking out or dirty air getting into the crankcase.


The distributor mounting hole in the intake manifold is the same size and location as an FE unit.


The exhaust manifolds are a ram's-horn design that will physically bolt up to an FE, but they contain an exhaust crossover port which would have to be welded shut to use on an FE engine. However, you might run into a side clearance problem when trying to use these on a smaller vehicle, since they angle out quite a bit.


Crankshaft


FT's have a forged steel crank with a 1-3/4" crank snout, while passenger car and light-duty truck FE's have a 1-3/8" snout, and therefore used a different balancer and pulley setup. (The dampers of the 361/391 will be counterweighted.) On a 391 crankshaft the first two counterweights (closest to the snout) will be in line with each other; if they are offset from each other about an inch, it's a 330HD-361. The 330MD wont have the large crank snout, and it wont be steel; 330HD and 361 engines will, and have a full-circle rear flange with no indexing notches or half-moon cutouts.


If trying to identify a crankshaft that's already removed, set it on it's rear flange and look down at the #1& #2 journals. If it looks like 'Mickey Mouse ears' or a hat it's a 361. If the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th journal is rounded or smooth, it's a 391.


The 391 crank is actually .002" longer in stroke than the 390/406/427 crank. The 390/406/427 is a 3.784" stroke +/- .004" tolerance. The 391 is 3.786" stroke +/- .004" tolerance. When rounded, the the 390/406/427 is sometimes shown to be 3.78" stroke and the 391 is sometimes shown to be 3.79". It's best, however, to carry strokes to three decimal places.



To use the FT crankshaft in an FE block, the FT crankshaft's snout will need to be turned down to fit the standard FE timing cover that that you will need to use for your application. In addition, the crankshaft snout will need to be shortened, as some (or all) were longer to accommodate industrial accessory drives like air compressors for air brakes. After the end of the crankshaft is cut, you'll need to re-drill the balancer bolt hole and cut a new key-way.


The rear of the FT crank is also different...the pilot hole is larger, as is the area to support the flywheel. Both require custom machining to be happy with passenger car applications. The flywheel centering flange is too tall and will need to be shortened. If you are going to use an automatic you need to have a reducing ring machined so the converter will fit in the end of the crank.


Be sure and have the assembly balanced as it may take heavy metal to come in.


While the 361-391 truck motors are externally-balanced like 410s & 428s, you can't use 428 flexplate on a 391 truck without re-balancing the whole engine. These have more counterweighting, as there were 4-ring pistons in many FT's, and they weigh more. Also, the placement of the counterweights is different for every stroke crank. You could make it work, but custom balancing is still required.

 

ba-da-BUMP!
Bringing a needed bump to this thread.

 

Man you guys make me miss my '79. Shoulda kept it.


One more tip... the semi truck lighting companies like Peterson and TruckLite are selling DOT approved high quality LED lights in the rectangular sealed beam form factor. These lamps are amazing, and fit right into a 1979 for a period correct look without all that Rigid looking copy catting current fad. You can stealth in some amazing, DOT approved, high quality trucker grade headlights that are LED, right into the 79 lamp buckets.

 

I am restoring a '73 F250. While working on the instrument lights i noticed how dim they were as compared to newer vehicles.

I used some of the low voltage LED light bulbs that I purchased for my front yard landscape and they fit and worked great! much brighter instruments gauges at night now.

i replace the 194 bulb with Brightech B009DRF3VW bulbs - a T10 low voltage light bulb that runs at 0.5 watts

 

Very nice! Before and after pics?

 

oh boy...this is the first time i have ever posted anything anywhere in my life...i think it might be easier to rebuild a wire harness than post.

still fixing up the dash so no after pics yet...i will try to figure out how to upload pictures...stay tuned

 

Welcome to FTE, just so you know you posted in the "73-79 Tips and Tricks" thread. Its all good though, you are new and we all have done it.

Wait till you reply to a 2006 thread, talk about waking up a zombie thread. lol Try making a new thread of you own to get help on working on your dash.

Top of the forum list click "New Thread".

Also make sure you join your state chapter.

North California chapter link. N. California Chapter - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

South Caliifornia chapter link. S. California Chapter - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

In an emergency, you gotta do what you gotta do. However, if there's no axe murderer coming at you, there's another method. When you have a filter plugged with junk, poking a hole lets the junk flow into the carburetor and that can be a real pain to fix.
If you can back flush the filter with fuel, you will usually kick most of the junk out of the filter. Once you can blow through it, reconnect it and it should get you to the parts store without killing your carburetor.

 

Eleven year old post, thanks a lot from a newbie 1974 Highboy (460)owner!!
Many good tips!
From Wash. State.

 

Nailsale:
looking at the normal 194 bulb and the size of the led bulb from Brightech they just seem big , is there plenty of room to get past the circuit sheet on the back of the instrument pod and into the compartment.