Yeah that choke cable still bugs be though. I never did find my old one and the choke bezel. So I gave up and went ahead and put it on. The clamp on the carb didn't want to hold the cable still, but I finally go it.

Today, I headed to O'Reilly's and got a freeze plug and drain valve. The one I had was clogged. I made a bit of a mess getting the block drained, but not too bad. Looking at the fluid in the block it was awfully brown. I was afraid it might be oil but it didn't seem to be. Besides, there was no indication of radiator fluid when I changed the oil yesterday. After I pulled the bad freeze plug, I noticed the inside of the block was about the same color as the fluid I drained. My fluid was probably a 75/25 mix instead of 50/50. It's now even more water, but I will drain and refill the coolant a couple of times to flush it out before I go to 50/50. Since I'm not driving it much and keeping it indoors, I should be good for a while.

It seems to be running a bit better now. I'm running about 850-900 rpm at idle. I took a video, but I can't seem to get it uploaded to Youtube for some reason.

Overall a pretty good weekend.

Oh, I called on my bench seat. The guy has all the springs repaired, and the main cloth is on it's way in. He is having a bit of trouble finding the reddish color for the sides. The ones he finds are either too orange or too red. I asked him about foam thickness since we hadn't talked about that. He is going to tie all the springs together with burlap, then use one inch foam and cotton on that. This is what was originally done, so this guy does know his stuff. I can't wait to get that piece done.

Now I need a free weekend to take it out and cruise. When I get the seat in, I might have to just take a day off if my weekends are too full.

 

Well done, Joe! Good move on the seat, using burlap and one inch foam. I wish I knew that the seat frames of the Standard Cabs and Deluxe or Custom Cabs were different. My seat is too high.

About the red vinyl. I got mine at Mid Fifty. Here is a pic of it.

 

That seat is looking nice! I'm surprised that the frames are different. Very interesting.
I hadn't heard from the guy so I decided to call. I was a bit worried since we never discussed foam. Then when he explained what he was going to do, I realized that this guy knows his stuff. I sure want the seat done and back. But, I'm not going to rush him.

My seat won't look 100% stock, but very few will ever know the difference.

 

Well sitting here at McDonald's getting a drink and cooling off. I took the truck out to get gas( my fuel gauge is off ) and as I pulled into the dollar general parting lot it died. I now can't get it started.
Seems to be getting fuel fine and cranking. It should be getting spark since it was running fine before it died. I hope it's just flooded. Insurance offers towing.

About 10 older guys are sitting here talking about the football game tonight. Might have to ask if any are mechanics.

 

Not good Hope it cools off and you can get it started. How far did you drive it? The nice thing about our old trucks is you can check for fuel and spark pretty easy. No computers

 

Well, I'm back home.
I walked back to the truck after a nice conversation with the guys. (One guy as an 86 Ford that he is rebuilding the engine and going to run propane.)
The truck started up just fine. I put back the oil bath filter and drove on home no problem. So, I'm guessing I flooded it.

I got a total of about 4-5 miles in.

On the way home it seemed to idle a bit high. Also at 45 mph, it seemed to be doing all it wanted to do. But with 4.88 gears, I guess that's all I can expect.

I probably need to find a guy that is an expert with carbs and tune it up.

I do love that I can trouble shoot the issues easy. If it didn't start up, I was going to pull a plug and verify spark. With points and me driving it very little, you never know.

 

While I'm thinking about it.
I think I mentioned in another thread about changing out my freeze plug.
When I drained the block, the water was very brown. It wasn't oil and it was the color of the inside of the block that I could see with the freeze plug out.

So, is there a good way to clean out the block with the engine in place?
I have mostly water in there now and I figured I would run a bit, drain and refill a couple of times, but it would be nice to be able to use something that will help clean it out.....if that is safe to do.

 

Great news that you're back running. Shouldn't be too hard to find someone (or yourself) to rebuild your Carb.

Your brown colored water & block issues are caused by you only putting mainly water in your cooling system. Plain water and steel/iron don't play well together.
Go to any auto parts place and buy some Preston Cooling System Flush. Follow the instructions. My personal preference is to follow the flush with a sealer lubricant and 50/50 antifreeze mix. I buy concentrate antifreeze and dilute it myself with distilled water from Target, Walmart, or the Grocery store. FYI I don't recall what your radiator is like, but if it's old this process might cause it to spring a leak. If you've had it checked already your probably good to go.

 

Well Duh!!!
I had radiator fluid in it but it was defiantly less than 50/50.
Boy, I just checked on Prestone Radiator flush and cleaner. It's half the price at Walmart than O'Reilly.
I use the full strength antifreeze as well, the diluted stuff is about the same price per gallon, so it's actually twice as expensive. I need to go into town tomorrow anyway. I will get it flushed out this weekend. It looks like 22 quarts (5.5 gallon) capacity.

My radiator had a leak and I took it to a radiator shop and they fixed it all up. So it should be good to go.

It's nice being able to get the truck out. I sure wish I didn't have to let air out of the tires to get it out of the garage. I would probably cruise more if I didn't.

 

That must be a pain, Joe. You need to make your garage door higher or build an addition to your house!

 

Here are a couple of pictures on my drive today. This was not long before the truck died and I had to wait for it to cool down for a while.

 

Nice pics Joe, sorry about your truck dying.

Is your windshield in? If so it is very clean.

 

Yeah, it's in. It's much nicer driving with the windshield. The truck doesn't get out much, so there's not too many opportunities for it to get dirty. Besides, my windshield wipers aren't up and running yet, so I have to avoid any rain.

 

I had started another thread on why my truck was dying. At this point it looks to have been an issue with the Carburetor. Here is the thread on that if you are interested and haven't seen it.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ock-dying.html

I got to go on a cruise testing my changes out today and had the truck out running for almost an hour. I got it up to 60 mph a couple of times. That is about the top speed. It was a fun ride.
Before I went back home, I know of a 64 F100 about 1/4 mile from my house. So I stopped for a photo op with the two together.


A good day so far. I expect I will take her out again today and plenty tomorrow.

 

Nice photo opp Joe! It's so cool that you are getting it out on the road. Makes it all worth while. Wish I could help you more with your Carb issues but I am a rookie at those like I am a lot of things. I'm sure you'll get it figured out. I cheated with mine and just had a local shop rebuild mine. It was only a little around $100 so well worth the money spent. I know that day will come though when I will have to tweak it to get the best performance. Anyway, enjoy your Sunday drive and keep those fingers crossed!