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Hey everyone-
Proud new owner of a 1966 Ford F100 with a 352. Live and work in Fort Collins Colorado and planning on spending the rest of this summer and fall under the hood of this awesome truck! I am fairly new to the f100 and am hoping I can get some veteran experience in my endeavors.
I just got it to the house this weekend, noticed immediately there were cooling problems:
1- Radiator had a leak
2- Valve cover seal leaking oil
3- Inlet Radiator hose is twice the diameter it should be as it enters the radiator.
4- Oil pan gasket has an obvious leak.
What I did so far was:
Remove and replaced radiator, installed new water pump gaskets tstat, pulled the valve covers to notice shards of plastic that I believe to be the stem seals, replaced and flushed all the hoses an cooling system.
I am thinking next step is to pull the heads and get all my seal changed out. Any help would be awesome!!!
Proud new owner of a 1966 Ford F100 with a 352. Live and work in Fort Collins Colorado and planning on spending the rest of this summer and fall under the hood of this awesome truck! I am fairly new to the f100 and am hoping I can get some veteran experience in my endeavors.
I just got it to the house this weekend, noticed immediately there were cooling problems:
1- Radiator had a leak
2- Valve cover seal leaking oil
3- Inlet Radiator hose is twice the diameter it should be as it enters the radiator.
4- Oil pan gasket has an obvious leak.
What I did so far was:
Remove and replaced radiator, installed new water pump gaskets tstat, pulled the valve covers to notice shards of plastic that I believe to be the stem seals, replaced and flushed all the hoses an cooling system.
I am thinking next step is to pull the heads and get all my seal changed out. Any help would be awesome!!!
Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 88,826
Likes: 783
From: Simi Valley, CA
FE engines are notorious for having oil seeping from the valve covers.
People tend to over tighten the valve cover bolts, this causes the area around the bolt holes to flare outwards.
Remove the cover, lay it on a flat surface. It'll will be resting on 5 little pedestals instead of laying flat.
Note: When you installed the new thermostat, did you notice its diameter?
The original is 2 1/2" diameter, most autoparts store parts clucks haven't a single clue. Sell the 1967 and later t/stat that is 2 1/4" diameter.
People tend to over tighten the valve cover bolts, this causes the area around the bolt holes to flare outwards.
Remove the cover, lay it on a flat surface. It'll will be resting on 5 little pedestals instead of laying flat.
Note: When you installed the new thermostat, did you notice its diameter?
The original is 2 1/2" diameter, most autoparts store parts clucks haven't a single clue. Sell the 1967 and later t/stat that is 2 1/4" diameter.
Lead Driver
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 6,305
Likes: 18
From: Boulder Creek, Ca
Welcome to FTE! 
Sounds like you are on the right track, seeing to it the truck is machanically sound, then cosmetics; meantime, while cruising about decide whether or not to consider upgrades? 
Again welcome, looking forward to your input and post pic's if and when you can.
Sounds like you are on the right track, seeing to it the truck is machanically sound, then cosmetics; meantime, while cruising about decide whether or not to consider upgrades? Again welcome, looking forward to your input and post pic's if and when you can.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 251
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welcome , Iam sure you will enjoy your f100. the forum is a good place to get all kinds of help. Before you pull the heads let your engine tell you a few more things. Does it smoke? when does it smoke? have you pulled the plugs to see how your engine is running? do a compression test. do you have a pressure gauge that tells you how much oil pressure it has. This is some things i would before pulling the heads. Good luck, Don
More Turbo
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 707
Likes: 2
From: Sauk City, WI
You dont need to pull the heads to change the valve stem seals. Pull the spark plug and use a leakdown tester to hold the valves up while removing the springs. Pull the stem seals, replace, put the head back together. No sense pulling the intake and dealing with that mess if you dont have to.
The FE engines are kind of a PITA to keep them from leaking, but like Bill said, alot of people over tighten stuff. Adding some valve cover hold downs helps eliminate that issue.
The FE engines are kind of a PITA to keep them from leaking, but like Bill said, alot of people over tighten stuff. Adding some valve cover hold downs helps eliminate that issue.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,014
Likes: 91
From: Concord, CA
If you get the valve cover flange nice and flat, then torque your covers no more than 5-7 ft/lb, as Ford says, then you may have no leaks. Mine used to leak but after changing out for another intake and taking care of the valve covers it doesn't leak any oil. Right now it is sitting up on a nice clean driveway and not a spec to be seen this last month. Actually hasn't leaked in a long time but the other driveway wasn't as clean naturally but there were small leaves from a tree that could fall into the cowl and down.
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