Hey guys been lurking for a while. Thought I'd sign up and ask a few questions.

I inherited an 84 econoline 350 with the 460. I've had it for a few years but has been sitting up. Last year I thought I'd put some effort into getting it road ready. I had taken a few trips in in but they were less than desirable. I'd be driving it and it would randomly die and act like it was out of gas. It'd eventually start back and I could be on my way. This was the case on the few trips I took in it. I assumed there was a carb problem and had the carb rebuilt. (Stock). Well in the course of putting the carb back on, I cross threaded the fuel inlet line. I said oh well and bought a new edlebrock carb. The limited research I did indicated it would bolt right up. Not so much. I tried to find many adapters to make it work but was unsuccessful. It was strange to me because the van would idle and rev fine but when put under a load it would die out. Usually around 20mph. I'm assuming a major vacuum leak at the intake. Anyway here we are and I'm wanting to get this van running badly. I'm considering buying the edlebrock intake that is designed for the carb I bought.

Anyone have any insight or like to point me in the right direction to get my van up and going?


Here she is.

 

You need to buy a Holley ...Holley's are the best carbs for Ford....Trade the carb for a Performer 460 Intake and get a square bore Holley with Manual Choke and Vacuum secondaries..Thats what I have on my 460 dump truck and it works perfect...You don't need one as big as mine however...a 650 or 750 should be OK

 

That's a matter of opinion. Some would say different. I'm not much interested in getting in a debate over which brand is better. I'm interested in solving the problem with the carb I currently have. Thanks for your reply.

 

Well that's fine ...put whatever you want on it........but I would still get the Intake if I were you .....That Van looks to be in excellent shape....why not make it run as good as it looks ?

 

Yeah I found a good deal on an open box 460 performer on Amazon. With my prime shipping it was 165$. The van is in excellent shape and was kept in a shed the majority of its life. My grandpa was the original owner. It's got custom leather seats throughout and many more neat things. Well as need as it could have been in the 80s. Mechanically she was running fine before being left at the hunting camp. She sat there for about 2 years and hasn't been the same since.

I plan to go ahead and replace both fuel pumps in the process. I know for a fact one is bad because I dropped the tank and it was in bad shape. My uncle suggest putting a mechanical pump in to replace the 2 electrical ones. Not sure if I'd do that or not.

 

First, That is one clean looking 30 year old van

Another thing that was know for the '80's era vans, was the coil was mounted just above the intake manifold, next to the carb, and after prolong driving, the coil would become 'heat-soaked" and would cut out, causing the engine to shut down, and after 15-30 minutes (sitting at the side of the road) you could start the engine back up, like nothing was ever wrong.

Solution: was to remount the coil on the bulk head, off and away from the engine, solving this problem.

(I did my share of road sitting on long trips until found this out)

Also, that era had the body/engine wire harness in 4(or5?) plug in connectors just under the bulk head (center of the engine) and on an '89 I had, just shut down anytime/anywhere, the connectors would become corroded and lose power, solution was to cut off the connectors, and butt splice each of the 35+ odd wires to each other, solving that problem.

I know this in not what you posted about the carb/intake problem, but you also wrote- " it would randomly die and act like it was out of gas. It'd eventually start back and I could be on my way."

 

Thanks.

That's just the kind of information I was looking for. I don't know why I didn't think about the coil. My Ramcharger did the same thing when the coil started going bad. I'm gonna upload some pics and you can tell me if the wire harness you're talking about is the one in the pics.

 

This is near the steering column.





Expanded view.<br/><br/>These wires are in bad shape. The insulation is all but gone near the connectors on these harnesses. Does anyone know where to get these harnesses or a part number? I can't imagine having to rewire these end to end.

 

I'm thinking I should go ahead and replace the coil while I'm at it. Any suggestions on an upgrade or a more precise location to mount it.

 

I have an Acell Super Coil on my Truck ....I think I jave a couple of Harnesses like that as well...PM me your email and I can send you some pics....

 

Sent. Thanks.

 

Can you confirm which part number intake I need. I have the 1406 electric choke carb. Is it the 2104?

 

Edelbrock has the Carter blueprints, they make a version of it, Fords love Carter, Holly is junk, unless you like constantly having to adjust them, I've had many, always buy a vehicle with one, and it runs wonderfully once I swap it out. Ford factory intakes are square bore, that carb is a square bore, I don't understand the issue with mounting it, only GM and Mopar have different mounting arrangements, they are often a spread bore. Test the coil first.

 

Thanks for the info. That's the exact info I read before I bought the edelbrock. Set it and forget it. I'm 36 years old and don't know a lot about carbs so I had to ask questions and do research.

As for it fitting. The van is 30 miles away parked and I'll need to look to be sure but if I recall the intake has vacuum ports machined into it and they don't line up with the bottom of the carb. I've tried it with the erg and without. Should I leave the erg on the intake? Like I said I'm not experienced with carb situations but I felt that it was having vacuum problems. All the info I read before buying said it would be a direct bolt on. Trust me, I'd rather not spend the money on an intake if I don't have to but I need to get this van running this month. I want to take it on a camping trip in October. I'll test the coil and see what happens.

 

The EGR requires a couple of things on later model vehicles for removal, so I can't tell you anything about getting rid of it on your van, because there are probably other items related to it that will require removal. Vacuum leaks cause all kinds of issues, a major factor is getting the vacuum advance on you distributor hooked to the right port, one that's dead at idle, only pulling vacuum when the RPM increases.