No, bought it today on my way into work (doing 2nd shift this week). Back on 1st shift tomorrow, so it may have to wait until the weekend. It's killing me! I really want to put some miles on this thing after a month of down time.

 

Well, I read through this thread and your build thread and I hope I can offer something useful.

Sounds like you bought the truck with the 460 already swapped over from an EFI 351W. Unfortunately, 87 is the year when you could have had several different types of fuel systems and I would hazard a guess that you do not know for sure what is in your tank. An original 460 equipped truck would have low pressure electric pumps in the tank. An EFI equipped truck would have had low pressure pumps in the tank along with a frame rail mounted high pressure pump. Later EFI trucks would have had high pressure pumps mounted in the tank. I think the 5.8 HO was carbureted in 87 and would have had no tank pumps, but a mechanical pump on the engine.

It sounds like you may have electric pumps in the tank and my first question would be is the high pressure pump removed? It should be.

Now, if you are running the low pressure pumps in the tank, I think they operate at something like 8 PSI. With a regulator running 5 or 6 PSI to the carb, I think they may do the job, but it worries me to hear you are running no return line. These pumps were designed to have fuel flowing and a restriction type regulator will not allow the fuel to circulate, possibly contributing to overheating and a pump failure. The factory setup on EFI used a bypass type regulator in the return line to keep fuel rail pressure somewhere around 30 PSI.

It does seem that you are looking for an electrical solution to your problem. I don't think this is the case. I have a similar problem with the Edelbrock 1406 on my 83 F150 with a 351W. My truck of course was originally carburated and it has a mechanical pump on the engine and no pumps in the tanks. It runs reasonably well, (not as well as EFI, nor do I expect it to). It always starts and the electric choke is set up properly, but when cold it seems to have some sort of fuel drain back that makes for some extended cranking and pumping of the throttle. When hot, it seems to heat soak, or vapour lock much like yours does, I have to hold the throttle down wide open to start if it is warm and has sat for a few minutes, just like a flooded engine. If I shut down hot and immediately restart, it starts just fine. I'm thinking fuel percolation and I will add a heat shield like you did.

Good luck fixing your issue.

 

Great info! I can tell you with 100% certainty that the fuel pump is electric. I cannot say whether it's high or low pressure though. The condition of the tank and straps leads me to believe nothing has been removed or replaced, so I'm guessing whatever was stock in the 87 351W is what I have. I am definitely going to run a return line as a few here have suggested in addition to removing the factory filter (I have one in the engine bay) and replacing all hosing. Once I get my starter swapped out, I think I am at a good starting point (it starts when I want it to) but I'm excited to really get it dialed in now.

 

Well, I'm back to square one. I did get the starter replaced - the drive gear was broken in half (pictures to follow soon). But now my heat soak issue is back. This is more an update than a plea for advice since a lot of good recommendations have been given that I am planning on doing this weekend. To reiterate, I'm going to run fresh lines from the tank to the carb with a new filter and pressure regulator.


One question though - what do I need to run a return line? I just looked at the regulator I bought, it's a 3-port but it's non-return. Is it a matter of getting a different regulator? Any part recommendations?


Aside from that, I'm going to double check that I have spark at the ignition and the plugs. If I come up empty handed after all that, I'll regroup, go on a bender, and come up with a new plan.

 

Its a lot harder not being able to actually be their and see what's happening I think we could help you better if we could be their but oww well keep us updated and soon you will have one hot rodin 460 ford pickup.

 

Hey, if you drive down to KY, I'll provide the beer. I found a pressure regulator with a return and think I figured out how to plumb it. I'm not crazy about the current regulator being on the firewall....I know the factory return was along the frame rail, so I may put the new regulator with return down there out of the way. Might clean up the engine bay. I really really want to get this thing tuned up and burning rubber! My explorer should not have more pep than a 7.5L V8 beast!


On a side note, I think my carb is a bit small....might have to upgrade to a holley 750 once the higher priority items get done.

 

And this is why progress on the fuel system was delayed. Hard to start with a drive gear like that!

 

Ok, problem solved for real this time! I did a spark test and traced the problem back to the PIP sensor in the distributor. I wish I had done the test sooner, but I had my mind set on a fuel issue. The truck fires up on the first crank, hot or cold. So excited! I'm going to take it out and enjoy it for a week or two before I tackle the next project. Check out the old distributor - the spliced wires were duct taped together when I bought it.

 

Now go test it out and see if its got posi traction. Well all it took was a lot of patience and a few beers. nice job go enjoy a cold one and think of how much you got done

 

It's amazing what blindly throwing thousands of dollars in parts at an engine can do! But honestly, it does feel great to have this problem solved. I have a huge list of things I want to do on my build thread, but now there's nothing I really HAVE to do. The rest of this project is just for fun.