So, I always had the intention of replacing the tail lights because they were worn and faded. The other week I decided to order some off line. I didn't think I was ever going to find a set in good enough condition out of a parts truck. Here they are! I would've taken a shot of them on the truck, but it's very cold and starting to rain today. Good weather to drink some hot chocolate, not fiddle around outside.



Speaking of the rear of the truck, I discovered an 86-ish F150 sitting at my school's shop parking lot. The truck hasn't moved in a year and has a rear step bumper that is unpainted. I doubt its in perfect condition, but I feel its better than the painted one already on the truck. Hopefully I'll be able to ****** that up.

I also managed to find a Mustang EGR that I was told could be modified to work with the Offenhauser Intake. The guy was really close to Pittsburgh and had been trying to sell it for quite some time. I guess it just takes the right-minded buyer. He said the gasket on it is still good, but if I intend to use it, I'll probably clean it up some.



I also think I have chosen my cam shaft: an Isky 256 . It seems to be the perfect choice. Not to mention, it's been done before and proven to work just fine.

All that is left is the carb. Should I buy new, or perhaps try to find one off of Craigslist and rebuild it? A 390 cfm would work, but people I've talked to on here suggested a 500. The 500s seem much more common. Would 600 be too much? Folks have said Holley's are hard to tune, which could be a good or bad thing.

 

the 390 is matched perfectly for the dual plane intake you got, its smaller ports match up to the runners and keep velocity high - which is what you want in a wet intake with some VERY long runners.

It will flow the numbers you require (there are circle racings classes where 351-406 inch engines run a single 390 yet make 700+hp) and give you good mileage.

dont guess on the jetting - talk to the guys at ford6

 

Just wanted to give everybody an update on how the truck's been lately.

1) - The clutch pedal started to act funny. At first, I thought the entire assembly was on it's way out the door. After talking to some others from the forum, we determined it was just out of adjustment. Now it's adjusted and works great -- no longer does it stick about a quarter from full return.

2) - I got the truck aligned and it was about as close to factory specifications as an older truck like this can be. Before I could get my key, the fellow at the desk had a lengthy conversation with me about how he couldn't find reverse.

3) - I finally got a used engine to began the overhaul. It's a '76 out of an F100 Custom. I don't know how many miles were on it, but the seller claimed it turned over when parked. The downside: it had been sitting for six months in the mud. I bought it for not even a half tank of gas and away I went.



It's just about down to the bare block as I type this. The crank turned about a quarter turn then froze up. After we removed the head, we discovered why. There was a lot of gunk around the top of the number three cylinder. We honed it out and managed to spin it rather freely.

I think I might be better off using the head that's on the engine in the truck. The one on the used engine was very stiff; with several valves completely frozen. From our deductions, someone blew the head gasket on it.



As my instructor put it, the engine was "well-loved". Most of the connecting rod bearings were copper in color along the bottom. Likewise, one of the main bearings also had some copper distortion to it. The crank has a little bit of surface rust, but shouldn't be too much of a problem.



Soon, we'll clean all the grease, mud, dirt, oil, and other debris off the block and check for any issues with the block. If it's all good to go, we'll talk about sending it off to a machine shop.

I've chosen a camshaft for the rebuild (Isky Type 256), and will be using both the Offenhauser DP Intake and the EFI dual exhaust manifolds. I'm still up in the air about a carburetor, though. I'm beginning to rethink the Holley 390 due to AbandonedBronco's poor review of it, and he is running a very similar set up to what I will be. He claims a 600 works much better.

Overall, this engine was well worth the price I paid for it. Even if it proves to be a dud. These I6's are such a mechanically simple engine. In fact, it took much longer to unload and put on a engine stand than it did to tear apart.

I'm thankful for your work on the rear suspension, Quaddriver. I remember you said it had a sagging problem prior to your ownership. It actually sat level with the engine over the rear axle. I'd hate to have saw how what it would've looked like if it already sat level.

 

My instructor thought it was very unusual that there was a thrust bearing on the #5 main bearing slot. He said they are usually on the very end of the block on both sides. What would it mean if one is off-center like this?



Here is a series of numbers I found on the block after cleaning the grease off. It appears to read "D5TE - 6015 - AA". Could anybody decode that for me, or lead me to a source that will aid me in decoding it?

 

A two-part update that is unrelated to the engine rebuild! Yesterday, I was driving down a stretch of semi-residential road and noticed that the truck kept missing and wanting to die if I let off the gas. I pulled into the nearest gas station and turned her off. In retrospect, I probably could've made it home. However, I panicked when the oil pressure gauge kept dropping. Later on, I realized this was because the truck was close to stalling and power was temporary cut off in spurts.

Anyway, I pulled into a gas station to check the oil and the thing wouldn't start up. After a few failed attempts, I realized it wasn't getting fuel. I waited a while and tried again; nothing. Eventually, I had to bust out my AAA card and get a tow. The tow truck drivers (yes, two came) had nothing but compliments about the truck; and the usual jabs 'it's only a Ford'.

Needless to say, my truck was in it's natural habitat: the arms of a tow truck. I assumed either the fuel pump was going bad, or somehow water had gotten into my lines. Since the fuel pump looked pretty old (original, perhaps, Quad?) I replaced it first. Truck starts up and runs fine now; no missing at all.

The second part of my update is tragic. As I was pulling into the garage, the front tire hit the lift arm and the rear end slid on the snow and into the brick of the building. I was cutting it close to begin with and, in reality, should've backed up and straightened my angle out. However, I didn't, and now I have a nasty reminder above the passenger rear wheel. I feel bad because it's the first damage I've done to the truck since I bought it in July. Luckily, it was to my own vehicle and not a customer car.

 

D5TE-6015-AA

D-1970's
5-5th year of the decade (1975)
T-Truck
E-Engine

6015 - Engine Base Assembly

AA - Engineering Version

 

I haven't posted here in a while, and a lot has been done. Long story short, my Internet went down and I am just too lazy to trouble shoot it back up; so I've been utilizing the local library for the past month.

In regards to the truck, it's sitting up on four jack stands without a transmission or an engine. In mid-March I brought it into my votech's shop and we began to prepare the engine to be taken out. It was a whole scene to just get it situated out of the way in the shop, which involved removing all four tires and pushing it under a lift on floor jacks. Eventually, we got it tucked away in a neat little corner.

The biggest thing that happened between my last post and now is the call I received from my machinist: the engine block I purchased in January was cracked. We suspected as much, and for thirty dollars, it wasn't a loss. I'm just glad we caught it before it exploded on us. So, I've resorted to engine option number two: the one that's been powering the truck for the past 30 years.

The engine came out like the Titanic went down. It was an interesting sight. It's now at the machine shop and I'm awaiting his call. If it's anything like the last one, it'll have to be overbored at least .010 over; if it comes to that, I'll just bore it .030 over for the same price. I have the carburetor (an Edelbrock 500, for simplicity and ease), the intake, the exhaust manifolds are ready to be bolted up, and the camshaft is on its way. I'll probably end up going through the machinist for a lot of the miscellaneous parts at this point since school is winding down.

Come June, the truck is leaving that votech shop one way or another.

I do have pictures to post, but since the I'm using a foreign computer I won't be able to post them for a while.

As for the exhaust that was on the truck when I bought it, it has a little heart warming tale. We had a customer at work with a similar era Ford and he desperately needed a cat-back exhaust by the following day. The closest one was in Minnesota. Since the one that came off the truck was in such good condition, I offered it up and we sent him away happily.

 

You put a scratch on it! There are ford-truck website punishments for that....

Don Pardo, tell him what he has won..............

 

Well, she is all finished.

As school was wrapping up, my truck was the last 'project' in the shop. We ran it right down to the wire this year. On the very last day of school we pulled her out and I got to drive her home.

The rebuild consisted of an Offenhauser DP intake, Edelbrock 500, EFI split manifolds, a mild camshaft, the engine was bored .030 over, and some head work in preparation for the new camshaft. Overall, it took about two and a half months to complete from start to finish, working maybe an hour every day. The majority of the time had the block at the machine shop, too.

We ran into problems along the way but nothing major. The best was not informing the class of my front wheel spacers and having them spend a morning trying to figure out why my front brakes were locked up.

Yes, a lot of hands were on this project. Mostly the removal, installation, and tuning of the motor. I only let myself and a few trusted friends work on the internals of the engine. We had another kid put an engine in his Monte Carlo this year, and it lost all power on his drive home. Something about the intake from a 305 being different than that of a 350 caused some problems.

Luckily, mine did not lose power on the way home. I was able to get it to my house in once piece. That said, the damage had already been done. In the morning class, it was ran and tuned for about two hours. By the time I got to school, I noticed there was almost no oil pressure at idle. The teacher did complain, "it makes a lot of valve train noise".

Although both my machinist and teachers did disagree with what the cause was, I went ahead and changed the oil pump and the filter. The pick up tube was absolutely clean. The gear on the end of the distributor was in good shape and seated properly. We removed the pump and tore it apart. It appeared to be prematurely worn. Upon removing the filter, we discovered there was virtually no oil in it. From my understanding, it goes pump -> filter -> sending unit (oh, I have an after market gauge).

After replacing the pump that I had just bought new with the one was Quad driver put in the engine not too long ago, we fired it up with 10-30 and after about ten seconds the gauge jumped back to life. Cold, I now have about 11-15 oil pressure at idle and 37-40 around 2200 RPM. This is exactly where I remember it being before the rebuild. Hot, it has a little bit less all the way around (closer to ten, closer to thirty-five).

I had a chat with my machinist about this. I said the only difference between the pump we put in and the old one (that I know of) was that the new one was a 'high volume' oil pump. We concluded that the high volume oil pump could have positioned the pick up tube too close to the oil pan and caused a suction issue. Either that, or these engines just don't like high volume oil pumps (I mean, they are low revving).

What did I learn?
1. Everything will cost more than anticipated.
2. Don't let other people touch your projects, you lose things (radiator drain plug...)
3. Don't begin a project with two months of school left. You'll rush and rushing makes you slow.
4. Try to find somebody who knows a little about what you're working on. My teachers are Chevy guys, the machinist is a Chevy guy... the only person who knew about these engines was my boss, who owned a fleet of ten or so back in the 80s -- all with inline sixes.

I can't blame anybody else for any damage that's occurred. It ticks a lot now and I know for a fact that about half the rocker arms are loose now. My machinist said to drive it for a few weeks and bring it down to access the damage.

 

Ah the wheel spacers.....I put Ford Van wheels on that cuz they looked cool and got the spacers from carlisle.

sidebar: the chevy 305 and 350 take exactly the same intake, the intake has no idea what the bore is. all I can think is they cut the heads and did not cut the intake the same amount / sqrt(2)

as for the oil pressure the HV pump has a longer body and this would move the pickup a bit, but dry and zero? was the engine primed before start?

and before you beleive the gauge as gospel, change the fitting at the t at the sender - If I cranked it down too much it will affect the reading.

with restored bearing clearances you should be at factory - cam bearings as well right?

double check with another gauge.

you coming to carlisle this year? I can get you a pass - I have 4 I paid for

 

If you want to do it right - get a dually axle.

OR get dished rims -


But wheel spacers are a very bad idea


(I'll have to ask you to trust me on that)

* I nearly ROLLED an F250 that had wheel spacers before I found out about them
(used truck I had just bought)


-When they work loose, you can't see it until you FEEL it happenning...

The whole back end begins to whop up and down in a crazy way

 

I don't think it was the gauge acting up. I removed to the valve cover to confirm that it was not getting any oil to the top and, sure enough, at idle there was nothing. Once I found out it couldn't have ran more than five more minutes. The morning class had ran it for about two hours to check for leaks and get it tuned. The main problem was we were rushing and had limited people working on the project. No one bothered to check the oil pressure gauge let alone confirm it worked properly. You would think when they saw the factory oil pressure gauge pegged far away from L, it would send up some red flags (we never hooked up the factory gauge after the rebuild anyway).

I don't understand about the wheel spacers...? Mine are on the front and prevent the caliper bolt from running a groove into the van wheels.

Besides the low oil pressure that plagued the truck early on, it's been running pretty okay since. The only complaint I have is with starting it. Sometimes it fires right up, other times it takes a couple cranks. I don't know if I'm just not conditioned to driving a car with a 4bbl or what. The choke isn't wired up yet. It's just zip-tied opened for now. Apparently the Ford choke was 7 volts and the Edelbrock required 12 volts? That's what I heard anyway.

Speaking of the carb... my throttle cable runs to the front of the carb. Is that correct, or should it be rotated somehow? I've seen pictures of other people's inline sixes, and their carb is always oriented differently from mine. I've seen it rotated 180 degrees and 90 degrees. I ask, because I have some bogging if I put my foot down. I don't know a lot about carburetors, considering they left production before I was even born. I've heard something about changing the jet size...? But I don't know what that means exactly.

 

Dunno about the ford choke being 7 volts - unless there was a resistor of sorts in there...

but no choke = rough starting on all but warm days.

If this is a squarebore carb and manifold you can rotate it but make sure one primary barrel and one secondary barrel feeds each plane of the 2P intake.

Otherwise you end up feeding 3 cylinders always and the other 3 only when romped on it.

because opening up all 4 barrels quickly drops plenum vacuum quickly and horribly, a lot of people run a vacuum pull-off, does not allow the secondaries to go full open until you have some rpm up, also you need to make sure the vacuum advance is ported with a delay such that you dont lose all spark advance at once.

now you see why the 390 cfm carb is preferred over the 500.

 

the spacers are required to run van wheels on the 2wd pickup - front only. Its only 1/4inch or less

 

whats the latest on this truck? ever get it sorted out?