Okay--
Here is the low down:
Just bought an awesome 1976 F-100 Super cab--I love it, but it has a long way to go. I've put $200 in it just to get it drivable. I know most of you guys have put tons of $ into your Fords, but I'm on a low budget--I'm a teacher: ) I want this truck to be 100% mechanically sound (this includes no leaks), I'll worry about looks later.

I had to pull of the alternator today because it was shot, and I think it was partially because it was coated in gummed up oil--I could hardly spin the pulley after I removed it.

Now, I'm not sure where the main leak is, but I bought new gaskets for the oil pan and the valve covers. I'm taking the truck to my mechanic Monday, and he'll tell me everything I need to do with the truck (I'm going to do it all myself). So after all of this rambling, is it best to take my engine apart to replace all the gaskets and stop up all leaks?--any thoughts on "stop leak" products? Sorry for the rambling before getting to the point.

 

I sincerely hope those in the "know" will post suggestions. I'm interesting in following the rebuild. Take photos.

 

A smart man and an old ford never repair oil leaks
These truck will leak here and there and unless its really messing up the drive way, best bet is to leave it. You can go through and replace the gaskets on the engine, but oil pan and valve covers are the easiest. If you want to do all the gaskets, then your getting into front crank seal, rear main seal, timing cover, etc.Keep looking and you might find potential leaks at tranny, rear end, power steering. One thing to keep in mind, if your engine is worn, crank case pressures increase which can cause a new seal to seep. Unless your doing a full on rebuild, fix the leaks, live with the seeps and save your cash for other tid bits on the truck

 

Do not use "stop leak", you will regret it later. The valve cover gaskets are about the only easy gaskets to replace without alot of dismanteling.

When you change them ck the face or flate edge of the valve cover with a straight edge (carpenter level).

People tend to over torque them and that bends the valve cover and the same goes for the oil pan.

The oil pan gasket it is a PITA to do with the eng installed.

 

On my (360) i ended up getting new valve covers for x-mas one year and i turned around and bought the moroso stock-replacement oil pan for it for the reason said before, somebody over-tightened the bolts and it doesnt matter how many gaskets you throw at it, just never stops.

Valve covers are easy, distributor gasket easy although youll have to retime it, intake gaskets arnt too awful bad if you have a cherry picker to lift the thing off or an extra person. oil pan was hell. had to lift the motor up as far as possible (used a tractor, lol) and barely got the moroso pan snapped passed the oil pump pickup tube/screen(has a longer baffle in the pan), almost had to unbolt the pickup tube just to get it there then would have had a heck of a time re-bolting it with the pan there... that main crossmember leaves absolutely no room(2wd)!

In other words a lot of separate weekend projects and heavy lifting to do but you can get it to where it wont bleed on the driveway.

The only alternative i would recommend just to get by temporarily is lucas oil stablizer and using rotellaT 15w40 oil(which is a great choice of oil because of the extra zinc additives, we get shafted with newer oils as they do not provide the correct additives any longer.

 

Thanks everyone. I think I'll do the two jobs from my original post and see how that helps. A friend of mine has a cherry picker for the oil pan job.

A friend of mine told me once: "If it doesn't leak oil or burn it, it's not a Ford.

 

That friend must be a jealous chebby owner, cause they can't leak it or burn it, if it wont even start. Like a chebby is usually is doing, lol.

 

Do I really have to pull/lift the engine just to change the oil pan gasket?

 

you may get away with loosing the motor mounts and jacking it up using the trans as a jack point. i have done this. granted its tricky and a tad unsafe.

 

normally easier just to pull the whole motor and get to all of them and replace freeze plugs and front/rear main seals while you are at it

 

2wd or 4wd? On my 4wd I did not have to lift the engine any

 

Rarely does the engine need to come all the way out to change the pan (or gasket), but in many instances the engine has to come up some for the pan to clear the crossmember. A cherry picker is the best (and safest) way to lift the engine; you can then put small blocks of 2x4 in the mounts and set the engine back down to give you room to work. Be aware that it's a very dirty and annoying job; having done this once before I would consider pulling the engine the next time I need to do this (as a matter of convenience and not necessity).

 

I will certainly agree with this. Removing the gasket remnants from the block is a pain the butt, then there's something about all the oil dripping on your face that gets rather annoying. You might as well slap a new oil pump and timing set into it while it's all apart.

 

Okay, so I removed, cleaned and painted the valve covers, and I plan on reinstalling them today. I don't have a torque wrench to tell me when I get to 10. Any tips? I don't want ANY leaks.

I was just going to "go with it" and try not to over-tighten.

 

A buddy of mine said to put the silicone sealer on the lip of the cover, put the gasket on top of that, add more sealant, then press the valve cover in place on the manifold. He said I should let it sit for 30-60 mins before tightening it down.