Good day all, long time reader, first time poster.

A little about myself, I've been a Ford fan as long as I can remember. It's all that anyone in the family ever drove or owned. My first Ford was a '72 F100 with a 360/C6. Drove it for several years, then traded up to a '91 Ranger 2.3/5-speed. I drove that til someone in a little Mitsubishi decided I wasn't going fast enough on the interstate and drove up under the back of the truck, needless to say that totaled out the truck.

I'm a single father with 2 teenage boys who are deeply involved with Boy Scouts, both are working on their Eagle Projects, so we spend a lot of time outdoors, and playing video games when it's too hot or nasty to be outside.

My current project is an '85 F-250 with a 460/4-speed. Picked it up from an old farmer who parked it in his barn in '93, actual mileage on the truck at time of purchase 4,804 miles.

He bought it to pull his horse trailer, times got rough, so he never installed the 5th wheel in the bed, and never even pulled a trailer with it. When I went to look at it and opened the cab for the first time I couldn't believe it still smelled like a new vehicle. Offered him $500 on the spot, he thought he was ripping me off, the junkyard offered $375 for scrap steel.

Got it hauled home, pulled the bed for easier access to the fuel tanks, both were full. Drained the tanks, replaced the sending units, they were rusted up beyond repair. Pulled the tanks, cleaned, dried, the used Red-Kote on both to seal up anything left over I might have missed. Cleaned out the fuel lines, pulled the carb, rebuilt it. Put in a new battery, and started right up. Washed and buffed out the paint, looks as good as the day it rolled off the assembly line.

Now, comes the problem I seem to be having. The truck will sit and idle all day long, however when I try to take it out and drive it bucks and lurches like its running out of fuel at highway speed. I can get up to 55 mph and then it starts losing power, I push in the clutch and the engine will even out, I try to give it any more gas it will start up again. I can maintain speed at around 35 mph. I talked to the guy I bought it from and he asked if I had it running and said yes, but was having this issue, and he goes "yep, that's why I quit driving it".

As far as diagnosing the issue, I rechecked the float levels on the carb, checked to make sure the vacuum advance is working, the secondaries seem to be opening, used an infrared thermometer to check to see if any blockage might be in the exhaust system, (it was stored in the barn where all the cats lived, so no mouse issues at all, but just in case). It's all original, no mods have been done to the engine.

I added heat wrap to the fuel lines in the engine compartment to help insulate them from some of the heat, external temp on the engine around the fuel lines is running at 185 degrees, the fuel lines themselves are at 140 degrees. The truck does have the hot-fuel option, I've got a new diverter valve (the .040 orifice) ordered from my local ford dealer, hopefully get it put on early next week.

Elemak

 

Wow, 4,800 miles, how cool!

Your running problem sounds to me like a fuel delivery problem, and I'd test the fuel pressure & output flow rate at the carb.

 

Welcome Elemak,
As ctubutis said, it sounds like a fuel delivery problem. Check out your fuel filters. I don't know that much about the 460's, but had a similar problem after replacing the sending unit in my 300-I6 a few years back. Turned out to be a clogged fuel filter. It would allow enough fuel to pass through for idling, but when the demand increased, it couldn't provide enough fuel to keep it running. Replaced the filter and that fixed the problem. It might not be the problem in your case, but something to simple to overlook.

Good luck to you.

 

Wow, 4800 miles? If you don't mind, could you take pictures of the truck and post them here?

Also, for people that might be interested, could you post some photos of under the hood so we could see what it looked like from the factory?

I'll also agree on that it sounds like a fuel starvation issue. You said you rebuilt the carb and cleaned out the tanks and new sending units, so about the only thing I could guess would be to check the fuel filter and your float levels. I'd check timing too if you want, though I doubt it'd be off.

Welcome to FTE!

 

Welcome, Elemak!

When you replaced the sending units, did you take a good look at the "socks" on the end of the pick-up tubes?

Have you checked the rubber sections of the fuel lines for cracking or looseness?

 

UPDATE: Got the new diverter valve from Ford this morning, had to take a couple hours off work to run home and put it on and go for a test drive. I was able to maintain 60 mph for about 10 miles, went home and parked it again. The only fuel filter on it other than the socks in the tanks is the old stone one they put in the carb, I replaced it when I rebuilt the carb. Now the drivers window won't roll up, its electric. It's always something on an old truck.

I posted some pics in my photo album. The truck came from northern Illinois, he ordered it special from the factory, XLT Lariat trim, but no A/C. The color is dark teal metallic, but it looks awful green.

Thanks for the welcomes, I get this one done it'll be time to pull my '74 F-150 out of the weeds and start on it. My oldest turns 16 in 3 weeks, then I have 18 months before the youngest will be ready.

 

Geez man... clean it off and put a fresh coat of wax on it and you'd almost have a show-ready truck! Wow that truck is nice! I'm jealous.

How does the suspension and underside of the truck look? Sitting for a while tends to do things to the brake system too, so don't forget to check your pads/shoes and all that mess.

T-19 transmission?

Did the diverter valve fix it? I hope you can get your fuel issue sorted out soon. If the 460's had mechanical pumps on the block too, I wonder if the diaphragm in the pump has gone bad?

 

Either-Or

Mechanical, like mine... or Hot Fuel Handling like his.
Yes, I'd believe the screen inside the vapor separator was all clogged up.

Looks FANTASTIC!

 

PICS PICS PICS!!!!!!

Holy V8 BATMAN!!

 

Um, he said they're in his album...

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Elemak's Album: New, old F-250


It's just insane to see an interior that clean in a farm truck!

 

welcome to the posting part of the forums lol. thats a great find, and i thought i was lucky getting mine for $500. but damn, 4800 miles. thats a hell of a steal. id agree maybe check the fuel pump. if the sending units, filter, and carb was all cleaned, thatd be the place to look. the diaphram could be clogged or most likely with fords sitting for so long, it could be dryed out but still pumping some gas. good luck to you and hell of a nice ride.

 

When I pulled the bed, I hit everything with a wire brush and just rattle canned everything black, just to clean up the underside and hope to reduce any additional rust.

I pulled the rear drums and it all looked new still, replaced the shocks and sway bar bushings and links. You would think sitting that long all the rubber would be dry rotted, but it all looks new. The tires even still have the little knobby things from the manufacturing process.

Not sure on the tranny, haven't looked that close yet, 4-speed with granny low. the rear plate on it has started to seep a bit, but not enough yet to make a puddle, yet.

Looks like the diverter valve fixed it, maybe. I have to go out of thown this weekend, so won't get a chance to really road test it until next week. In '85 the 460 was carburated with electric pumps and sending units in the tank (if equipped with the hot fuel option). Took me a bit to locate the correct ones with pumps installed already, there was no way to clean up the old ones.

I took a ton of photos in and around as I was tearing things down, never know when you'll forget exactly how it all goes back together. I'll create a couple a albums and break down the areas of the truck. I'll snap some more pics in the engine compartment and cab and post those as well. It's hard to find original photos at times, so any help I can be to someone else trying to restore one I'll do what I can.

When the old guy bought the truck he purchased a set of DeeZee running boards and never installed them, he threw those in, it had a tool box in the bed and left it as well, but I need a hard tonneau cover, picked up a used one and sprayed it to match the color. He also bought a riser kit for the rear bench seat, never installed it either, so I took care of that.

Elemak

 

Thanks, I didn't see that.

 

Man, why do all the good deals always pass me up? I almost had a 85' F150 for $800 that was prestine with 87,000 miles. A/C still blew cold and everything. It was in a scrape yard and a worker there grabbed it up before I could get to it.

 

If the gearbox only has a PTO plate on the passenger side it's a T-18 without synchronized 1st gear.
If it has PTO covers on both the drivers side and passenger side it's a T-19 with synchronized first.