Alright, I though long and hard about this and I am wanting my 351w to be carburated, and that's fine and all and I can get a hold of some different styles of carbs for my setup but I need to know what I need to source up to fire everything, you know dizzy coil ignition box I guess. What all is out there that's a good combo? Is there ready out of the box stuff? Or am I gonna have to do some wiring to get it all right? I've tried googling this stuff but haven't really gotten any answers that don't leave me asking more. Thanks in advance, a sorta confused Shadow.

 

What year is your truck and what trans does it have?

 

1990 ford f-150 with an M5OD trans. I know its a sin on this forum to convert from fuel injection to carb but between running some numbers and the fact that i don't wanna run myself clean in the hole for a proper MAF swap i felt it was the best direction for me.

 

Run the duraspark II system, thats my plan. If you can figure out what year truck had this ignition on a 302, (83ish, but im not sure) you can get all off the shelf parts. you will need it all. Coil, distributor, ignition box. You will have to wire it up yourself, unless you can find a harness through a company like painless wiring, but i doubt it.

 

Would an 84 F-250 duraspark system work? I know for sure they use the duraspark ignition system.

 

First question is how much of your time, attention, money, etc. you are going to put into tuning. If you are going to do more then buy some parts, slap them on, and hope/settle then I suggest you shop with that in mind.


For example the DSII is a great setup, cheap, stock, reliable etc. BUT it's a pain in the **** to tune. You're buying stuff anyway, so buy a setup that's a little better and much easier to tune. An aftermarket distributor is a great step here, many on the market(MSD for example) are a kind of hybrid, using GM timing controls which are much easier to tune but a Ford DSII style pickup.

 

How large of an aftermarket we talking here? I'm all for easier tuning as this truck is becoming more of a plaything for the weekends that looks good but hauls butt, I don't wanna destroy my wallet just trying to get it together enough to run but I also don't want to be doing endless project after project on the weekends just trying to get it to run, leave for work then come back not even sure where to start again after another week.

 

That's entirely up to you, there is a full spectrum. Bare minimum I'd suggest would be an aftermarket distributor and a good carb. Like so many things it's a cost benefit analysis and often you get what you pay for.


For example the PerTronix Flame Thrower plug-n-play Ignitor III might be a good one for you. Just two wires, no boxes DSII or otherwise, easy to tune, adaptive dwell, etc. $270 on summit, quite a bit more then a stock replacement DSII but a MUCH better distributor and no need to buy a DSII box.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pn...view/make/ford
'Plug n Play' Billet Distributors

Same kind of thing carb wise, you'll have to buy a carb. Which one depends on how much you think you'd work on tuning. Me I much prefer Holley based carbs but would never actually buy a carb from Holley. The price is high and quality has plummeted. But a Quick Fuel is a great bang for the buck carb. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/qf...-vsf/overview/


These two, plus a coil, wires, some lines, wire, fuel supply modifications and your good two go.


Coil wise, I'm a fan of these Flame-Thrower HC 60,000 Volt Canister Coils


Wires, I like these ThunderVolt 8.2mm UNIVERSAL/Race Wire Sets - Taylor Cable Products


IIRC your truck will have 3 pumps stock, I think all you'll need to do to go carbed is either remove/bypass the high pressure pump or add a fuel pressure regulator.

 

While that is a high price for a dizzy I have to say the idea of only having to screw around with two wires as to opose making a harness (something I have never done before and while could do I'd be going nuts by the end of it). I'll dig around some more tomorrow night if possible and start looking at some different items to make sure I'm getting the best deal.

 

Alright done my research and I plan to be going with a Pertronix dizzy and coil combo, wires will come after i get everything tuned up. Now my need big question is proper plumping with a regulator with the current fuel setup, My plan is to see what kind of pressure the low pressure pumps output and to bypass the high pressure pump on the frame. If its still on the high side I was gonna put a regulator in it to prevent it from flooding the truck out, but if it was around say 8 psi no higher would it be safe to just run a direct connection to the carb from the pressure rail? Or would it still be a god idea to have the regulator and return line in place as a safety measure? Love some feedback on this both for me and for the next guy that does this sort of swap instead of just diving in and hoping for the best like I always love to do .

 

You need to install a bypass regulator to the fuel return line regardless what pressure the in-tank pump generates, that is because there is no bypass valve built into the low pressure pump so it will fill your motor(never mind the carb) with gas unless there is a return path for all that extra fuel.

 

I am toying with the idea of going carb in the future, just curious in the long run is it less headaches?

 

Yeah I'm with Conanski here, I'm not going to say 100% that it can't be done without a regulator but it should be done with a regulator. Even if you only have 5PSI it's going to be unreliable. Using a bypass regulator is much more reliable and stable for the carb, MUCH better for the pump and all the plumbing is almost already there.


IIRC your truck will have the pressure operated tank selector valve. I'd remove it along with the high pressure pump. Replace that selector valve with the carbed/diesel version that switches electronically.

 

Alright so back again, I think I get the jest of what I need right now in terms of external stuff. Now I'm in need of a good cam option and a good roller rocker kit for a 351w. Been doing some digging around and haven't really gotten any good results. Though about an E303 but thats more of a small car cam than it is a truck cam. My other question is a good solid piston that will let me run pump gas, dad did up a set of gt40 heads for me (port polish and cleaning up some nasty casting marks on them) and while would not be against something that pushes me off of 87 octane fuel I don't wanna be running racing gas in her either just for her to run.

Just ya know send some ideas to a new guy who don't wanna screw himself over the first go around in an area where I ain't really got some folks to ask and it seems like i get crap links for good stuff these days that simple yet effective. Gotta get the block bored .030 over anywho so ya know if I can get away with some extra compression why not?

Give me a few thoughts to get them gears turning the right way in my head ya know and then we can get down to the good stuff of hearing another old truck run wild and free again in the hands of a young fellow. Oh for the record I'm sticking with Pertronics and their stuff for ignition, all the other stuff I found either cost the same or more or was just complete junk out of the box. As for carbs I think i know a guy who has a good one for what I want I just need to get out his way and talk to him and see what he is asking. Thanks once again from Shadow and I hope everyone here is having a good night.

 

I'm assuming your 351 is an older flat tappet motor?

If you were sticking with EFI I'd suggest the Crane 444232, with that cam and longtube headers on an otherwise stock 5.8EFI you'll have impressive gains over the 5.slow with no other changes under the hood.

If you go the expensive route and put a carb on the motor then use one of Comp cams XE grinds.