I took my 69 out for its inaugural drive last night, it ran fine for about 15 minutes then died and wouldn't start. I thought I had run it out of gas, only had a couple gallons in it. Wife brought me 5 gallons of gas, still wouldn't start. I gave it a shot of starter fluid to give it a little jump start to get the gas pumping again, and it didn't even try to fire, so I had the go get the tow rope and we towed it home. We got the thing pulled into the garage and parked. I thought I would try starting it one more time and low and behold it started. It didn't just crank fire right off but once it did it ran good. I've replaced the coil, plugs, battery, points and condenser, and rebuilt the carb. Any thoughts on what could have been going on.

 

Did truck crank good once it stopped? Sounds like you have a dirty gas filter. Check the canister filter on the fuel pump for junk and the one up by the carb. It's possible you have junk inside the gas tank but I would check filters first. If you don't have a filter before the fuel pump I would get one. I went thur a few fuel pumps in a year and I think I figured out why. No filter before the fuel pump crap gets in pump and plugs up the check valves, pump quits working or low pressure. I recommend one from napa since they are built by wix and don't fall apart like other brands. It's easy to hook up just connect inline with the rubber tube under drivers seat. ( Under cab by frame) Good time to replace that and any other rubber hose in the system.

 

I replaced the filter and added an in-line when I first started working on the truck. I also took out the tank and gave it a cleaning. The in-line filter is see through and there is some crud in it, so I'll replace them both, but shouldn't it have at least fired once with the starter fluid.

 

Yea should have seen that, sorry. I would do some quick visual checks, battery terminals clean, all connections good. ( Starter and relay, alt. gnd from engine to chassis, wires tight on coil) Maybe look under dist. cap make sure ever thing is ok, gnd strap.

Do you know if you have the original ign switch? These have been known to cause problems like your describing.

 

I'm not sure if its the original switch, but up until I bought it, the truck sat for 10years. I do have to put the truck in neutral to get it to start, bad neutral safety switch I'm assuming. I will check all the connections tomorrow after work and see if that makes any difference. thanks

 

You can take the switch apart from under the dash. Can be a pita with these old trucks but if you do the old style it has round connectors. Look and see if the switch has been spliced in, if not it is most likely original.

If your truck will start in any gear the neutral safety switch is bad or needs adjustment. If truck only starts in neutral then it's working right.

 

I finally got a chance to do a quick inspection of my truck today. I found that the wire that goes from the coil to the distributer is almost broke in half. Can I just replace this wire and what is it called, I know its purpose just not what its referred to in the parts world.

 

Distributor primary wire. IF you have a 360/390 the Ford part number was C7VY12216A. Let us know if you can't find at a local parts store and IF you have a 360/360. If need be one of us will run the Ford number on the parts locator for you.

 

I found one on OReilly's website, it doesn't specifically say it fits my truck but it looks the same and is compatible with other 390's of the same year.

 

Yea had that happen to mine a while back. My wire was cracked and grounded on the engine sometimes. Napa carried them at the time but had to be shipped in so I just bought a new rebuilt dist. Glad you found the problem and a simple fix!

Here is one from napa

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...W40_0059360339

This wire fits a lot of ford engine's, I'am guessing the one your looking will work also. Click buyers guide to see if your truck is listed.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...5100&ppt=C0334

Oreilly's has a compatibility chart, click on it and see if your truck is listed.

 

Working at oreillys myself, their charts and compatability listings aren't hardly worth anything. I've found them to be totally wrong or completely off many a time searching for the older ford parts.

The problem only gets worse when you are looking for custom parts or have swapped parts on your truck.

 

Don't if that was the problem but I got a rear brake hose from them last week, wrong one. They have all made mad at one time or another, wrong part, warranty problems, etc.

 

I decided just to make my own, a foot of 16 gauge wire and couple wire connectors, she was as good as new. I was even able to reuse the rubber grommet on the distributor.

 

took the old girl out for a cruise yesterday, probably put about 20 miles on it, got home and parked in the garage. couple hours later I decided to pull it out and give the undercarriage a good power washing. Start it get just pulled out of the garage and it dies and wouldn't restart. So, I pop the hood, strong smell of gas must be flooded. Pulled the air cleaner and the choke plate is closed didn't have the choke on in the cab. Upon further investigation i realize the little plastic clip that holds the choke plate to the rod that comes through the top of the carb is broke and missing. i would guess that there was only one place it could have gone. I will be pulling the carb and maybe the intake, if that's the case i will probably not put factory carb and intake back on. I was thinking of going with a Edelbrock performer 2105 and a holley 4160 carb. Is this a good combo for a stock engine.

 

2105 is popular, not a carb guy but some on the board are. Jefffafa is good with holley's along with some other members. Do a search on google and start another thread if you don't get any feedback back. I do know most people recommend not going over a 650cfm carb, if I remember right a 4160 is a 650cfm carb.

Ok it's a 600 cfm, some reading.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-a-390-a.html