Last week was my spring break, so among drinking beer and building corn hole boars, I thought it would be a good idea to finally dive into my project. Some of you may remember my first post a while back introducing myself, my truck, and my char-grilled engine bay from a small fire, but here are some pics for a reminder.

Yesterday, I drained the coolant, removed spark plug wires, distributor cap/rotor, removed the carburetor along with whatever was left of the vacuum lines and fittings and also got my intake off. After inspecting my distributor, I found that it was a little too well done for my taste, so I removed that as well and I am currently looking for a replacement. Any recommendations?? Ford has their Motorcraft replacement listed for almost 500 dollars, so that's a definite no. My local parts store has them listed anywhere from 80 to 300 and Jegs has some MSD options that look good as well. So any incite on these would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I can see where the previous owner plugged most of the vacuum lines up in order to get ride of all that EGR stuff, but since the fire I want to make sure that everything is still plugged up properly. For example towards the rear of the intake manifold there is a hole that can be seen from the picture that isn't plugged at all, does this need to be plugged? Also, at the rear of the intake there is a pipe coming out with 4 prongs that attached to various hoses. I'm assuming this is EGR related as well since my non-EGR Edelbrock Performer Intake that I'm replacing it with doesn't have a hole for this pipe. What should I do with the hoses that were attached there, plug them as well?? I'm sure I'll think of many more questions as I go, but that's all for now. Thanks for all the advice and help in advance guys.

 

Oh yea and my girlfriend for some reason has named the truck "Lola", hence the name in the title.

 

Welcome back. Sounds like quite a project.

I wouldn't go for a $500 dizzy on one of these trucks. I got mine from O'Reillys for about $50. It is a rebuilt unit, but it works fine for what I needed at the time. I wouldn't go with anything exotic as IMHO you won't see any benefit.

As for the vacuum, I can't tell you for sure what went on the vacuum tree at the back, but what usually goes there is the little HVAC line that runs over by the passenger's fender, the line from the tranny if you have an auto, the medium-sized cruise control line if you have that, and the big power brake booster line. I'm confident the E'brock manifold will provide a place to screw the tree into.

But, if the fire didn't damage the vacuum routing label on the radiator support you can figure out from that where everything goes. Look in the stickies for a list of the vacuum nomenclature.

 

All kinds of optoins for your distributor. What is telling you that you need to replace the one you have? If the shaft spins freely and don't have any slop in it then it's probably ok to use. You can always replace the internals. Is the gear in good shape.

I can tell by looking at your intake that this is 460? Judging from the horizontal thermostat housing and the rest of the configuration. And it's a late 80's from the square bore design compared to some in the 70's that had a funky spreadbore...not a QJet spreadbore either.

I can't see the hole in the back of the manifold you speak of that is not plugged. I do see the 3 in the front of the manifold. In these, 2 of them should be in the coolant passage, one for your temp sensor and the other for a temperature switch that ports vacuum to various components when the engine is either cold or hot. There should also be one in the top of your thermostat housing which I see is removed. That does the same thing but is now looking at temperature of the coolant on the radiator side of the thermostat. The other hole in the front of the manifold is a vacuum sourse...that should have one or 2 hoses going to those temperature switches we just discussed. These port vacuum to distributor and ERG system normally at different engine temperatures.
The tree on the back of the manifold is a vacuum sourse for many different things. Power brakes, vacuum modulator if an automatic, HVAC controls, etc...
What you need to do is get a hold of the proper vacuum / emissions diagram for this truck/year/engine/transmission combination. It is normally on the upper radiator support...if your's is still present. Just looking at it and us trying to guess where they all go will lead to a lot of headaches for you in the long run.

 

I agree with Gary on the aftermarket manifold. I put a Wieand on my 460 and it had every hole the stock manifold had...except EGR provisions.

Also a heads up on your intake. That short nipple that comes off the front of the manifold (water pump bypass) is typically not installed on the aftermarket manifolds. They may provide it but it needs to be installed. It is a press in fit and a PITA if you don't have a press. I tapped mine and put in a threaded nipple

 

A stock Duraspark II distributor will do fine, and you can run a different module if you want.

 

Oh, I've had fuel puddling on top of the intake.
It really doesn't look too bad.

What everyone else says...
You will need the vacuum tree in the rear for the brake booster, HVAC controls + transmission and cruise control. (if you have them)

 

What do you need for it? I have a bunch of stuff off my 86 F350 460 that am not using, including a perfectly good DuraSpark distributor, I'm also not that far from you. I have the vacuum harness from it, but sold the thermal vacuum valves and thermostat housing. Let me know what you need. I even have the AC hoses, but the compressor is in PA now.

 

I do have the stock accelorator cable and bracket that came of mine as well...if you need it. I have the original carb that I rebuilt before changing manifold and carb....if you need that too. Not too sure of it's performance as I never ran it after rebuilding. I also have those vacuum temperature switches and a few other things that are still in the old manifold laying in the garage

 

I have those too, Since mine is EFI none of that fit. I even have the EGR spacer, valve covers, air pumps and pretty much anything else for the carbureted engine.

 

Thanks for all the responses......

82f100460 - Yes it is a 460, an 86', so your observations are correct sir. The unplugged hole I spoke of isn't actually attached to the manifold, but located behind it. In my second pic you can see it towards the rear of the engine to the left, it looks like a big nipple. As for the three in the front of the manifold, those are all accounted for, and yes the Edelbrock kit provided a water pump bypass that needs a press to be installed, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go your route and just tap the hole. However, the rear tree that I spoke of with the 4 hose attachments didn't seem to be accounted for in my Edelbrock 2166 kit. I'm going to take a real close look on Monday and let you guys know what I find, but from what I remember, it isn't there. From my notes that I took for the hoses attached to this tree I can tell you one circled back around to the pass. side valve cover, one went back to the dash, one to the brake master cylinder, and one went to somewhere around the washer fluid area, which would account for everything you guys said as far as the vacuum sources go. So, I'll look again with my kit on Mon., as I'm sure Edelbrock wouldn't have left these things out.

Lebaron - I am very interested in both your distributor and the A/C hose the goes from the Radiator to the A/C compressor. I went to my local Pick & Pull last week for an A/C hose and the two I got didn't fit, so if it fits I will be very interested. Message me with your contact information and I'd be willing to drive over a bridge or through a tunnel to take a look at what you have.

 

That would be the A.I.R. check valve that screws into the crossover pipe connecting to the back of each head. If I recall, the port is there on the 2166, it's just been moved from the #7 runner to the #4 cylinder runner. (the same as the front port is moved from the #5 to the #1 cylinder)

 

Somebody rep him! I've gotta spread the love. Anyway, good job Jim. I hadn't tumbled to the checkvalve idea..

 

The only problem you get with the vacuum ports on cyl runners is pulsating vacuum. On a manual transmission, it isn't a real problem, on an automatic it can cause shifting problems. If you are taking all the rest of the emission stuff off, you will need to cap the fittings where the air pump lines went. I still have one of the two air regulator valves, the other one went with the thermal vacuum valves.

 

Bill,
Do they make a carb spacer with a port that would allow plenum vacuum, instead of runner vacuum, to control the modulator?
This should be much steadier.

I know the PCV should go to the carb base so that oil vapor doesn't concentrate in one cylinder.