Hello to all who are reading!

History of the truck: This has been in my family since new in 84. My grandpa was the original owner who since is no longer around. He custom ordered it from ford as a Supercab with a long bed. His idea was to have a camper on the back big enough for the entire family but also have the truck with enough seating space for the same reason. after that the all toured the country.

All of my uncles learned to drive in this truck, I have memories standing in the back of the bed while my grandpa drove around in our "yard" though all the bumps to go get the mail down at the end of our property. My grandpa was a huge inspiration in life and its an honor to have his truck. However I am the third owner. One of my uncles had this truck before me and though he had the best interest in mind for the truck, I feel it was poorly done. Now that I am the new owner I get to make the decisions on the truck and bring it back to where it once was only better. I wasn't going to post this page because I figured it was going to be a slow project over time. however I'm noticing theres a lot of strange way things are done and I'm not sure if it where my uncles doing or fords.

Truck specs: 1985 Ford F350 Super cab Long bed. Single wheel rear. 351W. 85K original miles






About me: I'm 23 once was running my own mechanics company, since then have sold off the business and now returning home to do a career change. Currently I'm working at a performance parts store as store manager while I figure out what I want to do in life. In the mean time however I have a pretty substancial discount on any part I could need, a low overhead expense and most all the tools required to do it. However I'm coming from a heavy VW background. Aircooled, Watercooled, and VW performance. so my knowledge and experience run pretty short when working on this thing.

So far here are the things I'm aware of with the truck that are broken:

Broken manifold, accelerator pump non functional with poor tune to compensate, Interior sun damage, AM radio is semi functional, door seals, water leak under dash on passenger side (water not heater core), Headliner sagging, poor brake performance, poor paint job, missing badges. more to come the closer I look.

Heres what I've bought so far for the truck:
(except the alternator, distributor and end links)

 

WELCOME TO FTE !
You found the right forum ! Although, I can't get behind that aftermarket air cleaner for choke reasons....it looks pretty but won't serve well in cooler temps. Looks like parts supply is at hand.

 

Here's my Type 1

 

Welcome to FTE! I'm glad you are restoring/upgrading your grandfather's truck. But, I agree w/Don on the air cleaner - see my web site about that here: Air Cleaners - ???Gary's Garagemahal

 

Welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks here, plus me.

For the water leak under the dash, read this for a likely cause and one way to repair it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...cab-issue.html

+1 on the previous comments about the air cleaner, too. Losing the heated snorkel can lead to carb icing.

 

Welcome to the forum.
It is nice to return grandpa's truck back to what you remembered it being, a great truck.


I will not say any thing about the air filter.....you been beat up enough.
Again welcome to the forum.
Dave ----

 

Welcome!

That's a really nice looking truck. Congratulations!

​​​​​​​I'm going to make the suggestion that you get the factory service and parts manuals, plus the Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual specific to your year
(either print or the CD's available from hipo parts)

Haynes and Chilton are good for wiping spilled lube off the garage floor.

 

This is a Crew Cab, a Super Cab is an extended Regular Cab, but it only has two doors.

Getting in/out of the back seat of a Super Cab can be a pain, as the front seat backs have to be folded forward.

I'm surprised that "the regulars" that have read thru this thread didn't notice this discrepancy.

 

Needs fake eyelashes like this one:

 

I'm kinda surprised, too; they jump all over *me* when *I* make a mistake.... maybe they're figuring he's been jumped on enough about the air cleaner....

 

I'm usually never a fan of aftermarket air cleaners. So many "performance" hondas out there take their factory air filter and put a "cold air intake" on it which ends up putting a 4" cone filter resting on the "crinkle zone" in the case of this it was a losing battle for me. the factory snorkel has the ram air effect for the intake, but I was told by everyone at the shop that I need the Mr gasket air cleaner because I was sucking in much more air than factory. Being that this is the first time I ever touched a down draft carb I figured Id listen to the advice given to me. that being said, I did already seek advice on the subject and I'm sure we all know of the people that ask for advice on a subject and ask a billion questions about it and you show them at every turn why its a better idea and yet they still turn around and do their own thing. Ill leave the stock intake attached the the radiator support soon as I have issues I will know where to look. but in the mean time I could take the time to paint the factory intake while I have the chrome cleaner on. because this thing is all original I will be keeping every part I decide to take off.

I got around to taking the exhaust manifolds off. the drivers side came off in two pieces! not really surprising to me because I saw how large the crack was. but whats more amazing to me is I could never hear any exhaust leak coming from the manifold. Maybe because the crack was so large that the usual sound became much more different and the belt driven fan was noisy enough to mask it?? who knows

Hack saw was to cut the bracket holding the oil dipstick tube. the nut was sized to the exhaust stud easiest fastest way to get it apart. might go with an aftermarket dipstick tube with a thicker wall instead of trying to re attach the tube back to the headers.


Removing the air pump. Oh dear, seemed like such a simple harmless thing to do. Why the hell do they have a coolant temp sensor with two vacuum ports on it!!! why is everything except the brake booster that requires vacuum hooked up to the air pump? 3rdly why is there a vacuum port on the back of the intake looks like 1/2 NPT thread with like 6 or so vacuum ports on it all capped off except the one on the end which goes to a vacuum hose which then goes to a vacuum block with more nipped ends on it that then goes to various other vacuum controlled items?? I don't understand the benefit of running vacuum from the pump! when the engine runs it generates power to move the crank shaft which then turns all your accessory belt items.. AC ALT AIR PUMP. Great. but doesn't the engine create its own vacuum in the first place? Wouldn't adding an air pump add more drag on the engine?? why not just run everything off the manifold instead of having another system that can potentially go wrong? Obviously the realized this when the hook the brake booster up to the manifold assuming it was encase you threw a belt off the air pump and suddenly went without power brakes. my only explanation for this is that it has something to do with emissions. But looking around at all the vacuum lines I can't tell you at what point does the air pump give any extra benefit than running the vacuum system off the manifold.

Second item. the guys at flow tech.. I HATE YOU.






Long tube figured it would clear the transmission cross member then id run 2.5 pipe straight back off the collector pipe to mufflers then tail pipe. (emissions not being a factory for my area) but guess what. Driver side, Plenty of clearance. Remarkable job though I wondered why they didn't have it go between the frame rail and the cross member, though considering the fuel line and brake lights are right there I understand why not. but on the passenger side. the collector pipe ends just a few inches short of the cross member..

As little clearance I have an exhaust shop wouldn't be able to have enough room to route the pipe over the cross member without restricting flow from the exhaust.

So what are my options? bend the existing cross member? bend the headers? Flex pipe? (still wouldn't fit and would rub against the cross member) Universal transdapt cross member? (havn't found cross members specific to this problem) anyone else encounter this problem? I can't be the only one..

 

Bite your tongue Oh half breasted, D-cupped one ! It may have a crystal bud vase but.... eyelashes are simply out of the question ! And btw....thats not a Type 1....Wisenheimer !

 

Yes, I know, but it was the best picture I came across with the fake eyelashes and so I used it.

I've commented on your fuzzy dice before... whazzup with dem dar rear wheel skirt things? It's kind alike installing luxury (or low-rider) accoutrements on a... on a... common-folk vehicle.

Hobo - the air pump has nothing to do with any vacuum-operated devices, its only purpose is to supply additional air to the catalytic converter to help it do its job.

 

I diidnt mention it because he is new and i dont want to be 'that guy'

1) Its NOT a vacuum pump.
It(they) are Air Injection Reaction pumps (aka smog pumps)
2) Everything was done with vacuum and analog circuits *because that was what the industry had at that time*
3) ( L&L)

 

I might have to take previous advice then and get myself a manual to the truck. I also have all data but I haven't checked into it on what it says. from looking at it though it does plug into most of the truck. I have no idea if its factory some ones idea. my uncle has a habit of finding the cheapest labor to do a job and hiring them. I will have to compare the manual to the vehicle. how it is currently routed (going off memory here) it goes to a coolant switch mounted just before the thermostat housing on the intake, vacuum advance on the distributor, disappears into the firewall assuming its the control for the vent on the HVAC system. and I believe it also goes directly into carburetor but I don't recall exactly where it is plugged into. assuming you are right (I have zero reason to doubt you) this produces air pressure instead of vacuum. this would mean that the "vacuum" advance on the distributor works in opposite direction. and every system that is currently hooked up to the smog pump could not run of the intake manifold negative pressure. because every system that currently uses the smog pump works on positive pressure. Also there is not cat on this truck. you're gonna just have to trust me on this one. factory exhaust goes from manifolds to Y pipe back to about the start of the bed where it has a single muffler then goes up and over the rear axle and out the side of the truck. Also no EGR tube on either manifold, no O2 sensors, All factory exhaust.
Please help me understand.

Also L&L? I'm not familiar with this phrase.