Hey everyone,
I'm from Fai and recently purchased a 1976 F150 with a 360 engine and stock everything. I'm in the process of cleaning and redoing everything. I was wondering if anyone has experience with these old trucks in cold weather? Any tips or recomendations? Parts that are better in the cold, etc. Does anyone have experience getting these trucks to IM in Alaska? I've never owned a truck older than a '94 so I'm a little new to this whole thing.
Thanks much in advance

 

make sure the air cleaner is hooked up right and the trap door is functional and use a 10w30 oil like rotella t or delo.

 

get a coolant system heater, i recommend the type thats in the heater line, and circulates the antifreeze so the whole engine is the same temp and always warm and ready.....if you leave the defroster open when you shut the truck off, the heat will rise up and keep the window defrosted.....other than that, make sure you choke works correctly and the choke stove as well like he said........ also make sure all the door and window seals are in good shape, otherwise you will have a nice draft down your neck....if those are good and there arent any extra holes in the firewall you will find out how good the heaters work in these trucks, mine will cook you right out of the cab!!

 

dools,
Keep an extra starter or starter drive in your tool box as cold weather drag is hard on the drive. Put a 500W block heater in Bothsides of the block. Get one of those magnet heaters and stick it to the bottom of the oil pan under the oil pickup in the wintertime. Make sure the battery cables are big and in good shape, same goes for the engine grounds. Like gashog said above, make sure the warm air tube from the exaust manifold to the air cleaner housing is in good shape and working. If not you'll ice up the carb. When you get a carb kit, get 2 they're cheap and you will change alot of power valves. Make sure the auto choke is in super good shape. Change your oil alot it will accumulate gasoline over time with short trips.

If by chance you flood it out between -30F and -60F, after you clear the engine you can get enough compression to start it by squirting a little 10W oil in all the cylinders. ( raw gas washes all the oil away & you wont have any compression)


All else fails tie a snow shovel to the top of the cab and drive south until somebody asks you what that thing on the cab is, then stay there.. LOL

Ken

 

For severe weather use you might want to use a manual choke for more control. Using a carter carb without the power valve will avoid the common problems with the power valve on Holley and Motorcraft carbs. Ask around in the carb forum for a source. If you want a 4V carb you can use an Edelbrock. Like Ford390 says use a fully functional OEM style air cleaner setup with heated air intake system. You may need a spacer ring to make a stock airbox fit on an Edelbrock.

 

If you've never owned anything older than a '94 then you should learn how the choke works.

1. Automatic/electric choke assemblies have to be "set" before attempting to start the engine. You do this by pressing the gas pedal to the floor 1 time. That releases the linkages and allows the choke spring to snap the choke closed. You can see this by taking the lid off the air cleaner on a cold engine (first thing in the morning is good). The choke plate will be open. Move the throttle linkage by hand and the choke plate will snap shut.

2. You might be able to improve starting ability by pressing the pedal to the floor 1 or 2 more times after setting the choke (for a maximum of 3 presses). This will activate the accelerator pump and pump gas into the manifold to 'prime' it with fuel. You will have to experiment with your truck and see what it likes best. If you pump too much you can flood the engine.

3. If you flood the engine, you can clear the flood by pressing the gas pedal to the floor and holding it there. This will open the choke plate slightly and allow more air into the manifold. Crank the engine. It will suck the fuel through the engine and once clear of the flood, it will probably start. You can see this operation at the same time as the experiment in #1. BTW the holding the gas pedal on the floor trick works on fuel injected engines too. They are programmed to reduce the fuel injected at startup if the throttle is wide open.

 

Try to keep your gas tank nearly full at all times. This will prevent moisture from getting in, which causes fuel lines to freeze up. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a bottle of Heet to your gas every time you fuel up.

 

1) Make sure you install a battery with at least 1000 CCA.

2) Block heater or in-line circulating heater for the cooling system.

3) In extreme cold make sure you also have installed an Crankcase oil heater

4) Make sure you do a fall tune-up.

5) Make sure the choke is working properly.

6) Make sure you have a GREAT set of booster cables (not cheapo ones)

7) Make sure you have an AAA membership.

8) Make sure you have extreme weather change of clothing behind the seat

9) Make sure get a winter front cover with snap opened air ports for the grill.

10) Make sure you realize after doing all these things to get it ready for winter, conditions can be so extreme that if it doesn't start up after being plugged in an heated that it probably will never start.

10a) Make sure you purchase the best gasoline in the neighbourhood.
It should have winter additives.

 

Use a good synthetic gear lube in the diffs and transfer case and if equiped the manual tranny, it cuts down rolling resistance in cold weather. If it doesn't have one find a high output heater (all ac equiped trucks have a big heater core) it requires chaning the whole heater box as the HO heater core will not fit in a standard heater box. Pull the door panels and put 3/8 capet pad behind them then reapply. Get floor mats that will hold the water from the snow melting off your boots and dump them every time you get out of the truck, helps keep the capet or jute back under the floor mat from staying wet and rusting the floor out. Learn the starting drill every truck is different find one that works and stick to it. Block heater, lower hose heater, "tank heater" what ever you choose use it. I've had a 360 since 1977 in one truck or another they have all been reliable cold weather runners and great heaters