Not much progress to report other than I have replaced the door locks. The passenger lock rod is missing it's clip so the lock on that side isn't functional, but it has new lock cylinders and the cab is now lockable.

If the weather holds tomorrow I'm going to get some more work done, but for now that's all that has went on lately.

 

Got the door strikers adjusted, and installed new new rubber sleeves on the strikers themselves. The doors now shut solid with one finger push, and do not rattle when you drive the truck.

I also pulled out the drop in bed liner that the PO installed, it looks like it rusted out the front part of the bed as it did not fit perfectly and keep water from getting in behind it. Good thing that the parts I need to fix it are easy to get.

This coming Friday i'm going to pick up my body work supplies and get started removing all the surface rust, and priming it so that it can't come back.

Any suggestions guys one what particular brand of materials I should go for? Thanks for reading!

 

I know I keep coming back to this, but it seems that it is the one problem I can't solve. I keep having issues with the ignition timing, where if it is set to start easily it runs like crap and spits and sputters if you give it any fuel at all hardly.

If I advance the timing, it runs great, but becomes hard to start and will diesel when shut down. I've attempted to correct this by adjusting the distributor in small increments to find that "sweet spot" but can't seem to find it. I've also pulled the distributor cap off and rotated the engine back and forth to see if I had any slack in the timing chain. As far as I can tell there is no slack in the chain as the rotor starts moving when I turn the engine.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to pull #1 plug out and put it to TDC to see where I am. I believe that this may hold the key as to why I can't get it to run properly. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know as I will gladly welcome them.

 

I think I temporarily solved my issue by rotating the spark plug wires on the cap. I also had to reposition the distributor some to get it to fire up. While this isn't a true solution to the problem, it will do until I can get enough free time to roll the engine to TDC on #1 and re-stab the distributor.

I will post a video on my next day off of progress made thus far. It isn't much, but I want to keep this updated as much as possible.

 

Not too much done to the truck as of late. Been taking care of small things, but nothing exactly earth shattering. I started my latest mini-project yesterday by cleaning, painting, and de-rusting my air cleaner. I used my old faithful Dewalt drill and a wire wheel to remove all the rust, then I cleaned the air cleaner with soap and water, and allowed it to dry. Following that up I shot it with two coats of primer sealer and set it aside to dry for the night.

Today I finished the project up by laying down a coat of flat black high-temp paint on the cleaner. I think it came out pretty good, but I'd like to get opinions on it beyond my own.

I also made my own attempt at highlighting the Summit logo on the cleaner, but I'm not sure if I'll end up sanding it off or just simply redoing it when I have more time to get it perfect.


Anyhow, pics!

Before:


After:

 

Looking good! Glad to hear you're making progress.

 

Back again with a new question. I've recently pulled my fuel tank out to clean it. While I had it apart I realized that both the sediment "sock" and the float are MIA from the sender. I ordered new ones, but still have a question.

My fuel gauge is responding really slow to the movement of the lever on the sending unit. It will go to all positions when moved accordingly, but it is delayed by a bit, maybe a few seconds from reacting.

I've also noticed that my temperature gauge does the same thing, takes it forever to show that my engine is up to operating temp.

Is there any means of calibrating the gauges so that they respond accordingly and don't take forever to react? I know there is an adjustment on the back of the ICVR but I'm not sure if I should fool with this on the off chance I'll make it worse.

FMC400, any of you electrically knowledgeable fellas...please let me know.

 

It seems like it is two steps forward and a step or two back with this truck. I've since solved my instrument problems by acquiring another instrument cluster from maverick600. Turns out the ICVR was bad on my other cluster, so swapping that out got my instruments back working.

However, I still have no instrument lights. This is puzzling as I have no blown fuses and no blown bulbs in either of the clusters I've tried. I'll come back to this issue later on.

I also replaced both of my front park/turn lamps with new ones w/ clear lenses. I like this look much better than the 76-77 orange ones.

Finally I swapped out my original door switches and dome light, for the door switches and dome light that I got from maverick600. Instant success as I now have lights in the cab and don't have to worry about keeping a flashlight on me if I'm out adventuring at night.

My only real *trouble* right now is it seems like I've got a dragging brake or two on the rear end of the truck. I'm going to try and bleed the brakes again soon and see what happens. Any other suggestions guys? Maybe there is something I'm not thinking of.

 

Discovered my issue wasn't the brakes dragging, it was however an improperly adjusted modulator valve on the transmission. It wasn't downshifting properly from drive back to 1st, and as such it shuddered and didn't want to pull off from a stop like the brakes were dragging. A few minutes with a screw driver took care of this and now it's acting like it should.

Also finally fixed my timing issue with the truck. Set it to #1 TDC and pulled the distributor out and rotated it to it's correct position. This required my undoing my band-aid fix but I'm happier with it being correct than just something I fudged to make work.

Tomorrow, weather permitting I'm going to try and get more work done to the truck. Need to get my gauge pod hooked up, also might pull out my tail lights and clean them to coat them with VHT Nightshade. Might also do the front marker lenses as well just to give it a complete look.

Not sure what else I might do tomorrow with it, but those are my plans for the moment.

 

Today started out alright, removed the smog pump and deleted what's left of the emissions stuff from the truck. The pump is still good, and I have the filter/hose assembly as well that is in decent shape. No point in keeping it on the truck when everything else is already gone.

Also managed to repair my right front marker light. Unbeknownst to me the bulb socket on that side is a two piece design, and when I went to install it I must've separated the two portions. A few minutes of looking at it and then going to dig in my parts bin turned up a replacement which works perfectly.

I intended to keep working on the truck the rest of the day, but as summertime in the South goes I got rained out of that. I'll keep pluggin' away at it. Hope some of you are enjoying the build even if nothing much is going on at the moment.

 

Just quietly following along. I need to tinker with my truck tomorrow, even if it is just to go out and look it over.

 

Just reading up on some issues with my 74 F100 and found your thread via search function. Hate it that you have so many little issues, but it makes me happy to know I'm not the only one with little gremlins.

Didn't get a chance to watch the vids as I'm currently at work today, but I will check them out when I get back home. Keep up the good work, and as always keep truckin'

 

I've fixed a few more things lately on the truck. Along with having an improperly adjusted modulator on the trans, the brakes were indeed dragging. I had to adjust the brake booster pushrod to get it where it needs to be. Rolls as it should now, it took much trial and error to get it here though!

I've also been fighting more carb gremlins. Namely it acts as if it is flooding, or boiling the fuel out of the carb upon shutdown. This evening I pulled the carb off the intake to see what exactly is causing the problem, as I thought it might be a badly adjusted float or a blown power valve.

Checked my float setting and it is where factory specs at 3/16ths an inch. Checked the power valve and it isn't blown so those are ruled out. I did notice that when I pulled the carb off, the gasket between the intake and EGR is the wrong gasket.

I think due to this, the EGR plate has been getting hot and causing fuel to boil in the carb and making it hard to restart. I will know tomorrow once I reassemble everything and get it setup. Will have pics tomorrow to show progress!

 

You still working on this old girl?

 

Actually, yeah I'm still working on the old girl. I just haven't updated the thread in a while.

Just today I finally swapped out the carb for one I picked at a boneyard and rebuilt. Truck seems to run a whole lot better now, will start without holding the pedal to the floor after it is hot.

I've also installed a new 180F thermostat, and replaced the heater core. Now the ol' girl actually gets warm in the cab.

Also replaced the final turn signal socket yesterday too. I've gotten so many of these things that were crap right out of the package that I've just started hording the good looking ones at the junkyard.

Now all my lights work, save for the side markers, which will be fixed shortly. I'm slowly getting her there.


Now as far as remaining fixes:

Need to replace the windshield, I've got a leak around the passenger upper corner.

Need to fix the drip rail over the drivers door, I'm getting a leak through there.

Need to fix a body seam at the rear of the cab, where it has rusted and seperated. It isn't in bad shape, just needs to be welded and fixed.

Need to work out why my dash lights suddenly stopped working. I think it is the rheostat on the headlight switch. Will have to break out my meter and check circuits and fuses to determine if i'm right.

Need to install the manual choke for my carb.

Also need to determine why it hesitates when shifting into drive while cold. It's not a terrible problem, but I'd like to know why this is happening.

Soon as I can get a good camera operator, I'll get pics of my work. Right now it's just me wrenching with no help, so no way to get pics as I go along.


Thanks for keeping an interested in my thread, I'll definitely be posting more now that she's my DD and I have to fix the little problems to keep her going.