F100 4.9L I-6 lives!:

 

Congratulations!

 

Thanks. Now I just have to figure out the idling problem. It won't stay running unless I'm feathering the gas pedal.
I want to replace the spark plugs, as I'm sure that will help...but I'm not convinced that's the issue though. The cap and rotor look fairly new and in great shape.
It seems fuel related. I'm going to check on the choke today and see if I didn't put it together wrong when I rebuilt the carb.

 

Great work! And nice instincts on what to look into with the starter.

The idling problem I actually would think is the vacuum lines. If you have old rotted vacuum lines, it's going to have a terrible time. Just a fresh redo of all of them can make a world of difference.

 

Thanks. I'll chase those down as well. Many of them look like plastic lines and look to be in decent shape. I may just try and block them all off and see if that fixes it. If it does, then start reconnecting them one by one to trace down any leaks.

 

Don't let looks be deceiving. Those are 99% of the time the culprit of people's rough idle, running issues etc. They're just too old after this many years to still be good.
Heat fatigue, age, etc. fills them with hairline cracks that you really can't see (mine all "looked" good) and they add up to a massive amount of leaks. Rip them all out and replace every single one with fresh, new line and I can pretty much guarantee you'll notice a difference.

 

"...plastic lines and look to be in decent shape."

Those are usually the prime culprits. They get cracks in them and those cracks are hard to find. With the age of that vehicle you would do well to replace all the plastic vacuum lines with rubber/neoprene lines.

 

Thanks fellas. Oreilly's has vacuum lines for about $.49/ft. I'll probably just run up there and grab some. Anyone know, off the top of their heads, how much I'll need? I was thinking at least 10'...

 

What are some vacuum lines that can be eliminated all together? What about this big line that ends in a bolt? There's a small line that connects to a hard line along the passenger side frame rail. What's that go to? <br/>I guess I should just get a Chilton's and stop asking so many questions, lol.

 

That hose is the bowl vent and goes to the charcoal canister that's directly under your hand. It's quite beneficial in more ways than one. It keeps unspent fumes from venting to atmosphere by sending them back into the engine. This both reduces pollutants and gives you a slight bump in gas mileage.
If it isn't hooked up, I think it should be completely open, not plugged off. One way or another, the carb needs to vent.

It also looks like someone removed your AIR/SMOG pump and capped off the port for the one way valve (that pipe with the cap on it). The smog pump is beneficial too, in that it increases the efficiency of your catalytic converter. The pump itself maybe robs ... 1/2hp. Trivial.

Your EGR is still present and the vacuum line is still hooked up. Your carb is calibrated FOR the EGR. If you remove it, you'll be running lean. EGRs are beneficial in both reducing emissions and increasing gas mileage. They're not a bad thing.

But, if you want to just go with the basics, remove the EGR valve and block it off, remove all your vacuum lines, and simply have one going to the brake booster, your vacuum advance (from the timed port on the carb), and any other accessories you may have, like AC. Then, increase the carb's jet size by 1 or 2 to keep it from being too lean.

Personally, though, i'd just replace all the lines as-is. There's some beneficial things there, including cold weather driving components, etc.

 

I found a bigger vacuum tube at the rear of the carb that goes to the vacuum junction block on the firewall right behind the carb left off....plugged it back in, replaced the spark plugs, changed the oil...and it runs and idles!!!
Bad news..the rear main is puking....oh well, two steps forward, one step back I suppose.

 

300 I6:
Is this knocking noise normal?

 

Nice work on getting it running and idling. That's half the battle right there!

As for the knocking sound, no, that's not normal. Whether or not it's something to be concerned about is yet to be determined.

My '84 has had the same knock in it for the last 25,000 miles. Has never gotten louder, or worse. I take it up 4500 RPMs consistently, drive it at 75 on the interstate, and have taken it on some grueling excursions up in the mountains. I have no idea what it is, but at this point, I'm no longer concerned about it.

That doesn't mean all knocks are harmless though.

Can you tell where the sound is coming from? Upper end, lower end?

 

Uhhhhhh . . . did I miss something here? You took off the belt and the squeaking stopped. Now I'm not too bright, but I'd guess that means the problem is in something that's belt-driven. The idler/tensioner pulley? The water pump? Alternator? Power steering pump? Smog air-pump? On an '89 van I bought some months ago that test-drove fine but then commenced to shriek horribly on the drive home, it was the idler. I could feel a slop/wear in the bearing, bought a new assembly, fixed the noise.

 

My old 300had a knock similar to that...

Mechanic listened to it and said it was a rod bearing :P Mind you I had it on it's side and water and snow got inside of the cylinders and done some damage, and also forgot to install the oil pump drive shaft in the distributor. It ran for ten minutes before locking up I was sitting there looking at the engine trying to figure out why the valve train was so noisy.

And after installing the shaft, it started up! couldn't believe it! The reason I was fiddling with the distributor was I was swapping over from an epoxied carb to vems efi. Welp, doing tunes and making runs up to 5k rpm to get a good fuel table finished it off the rest of the way to the point of making a noise like this.

And den I kept driving it for another year beating the **** outta it.

The engine would have been okay I think if it wasn't for me trying to kill it :P the 300 is one tough hunk of iron!