So I bought a 69 f100 from a close family friend that's been sitting for 15 years. The old man told me that the truck started smoking some so he parked it, and just never got around to doing a ring job.

I don't plan on restoring this truck. Just a fun weekend cruiser. So, I'm wondering if I should plan on doing a full rebuild. Or, just freshen up the motor.

Any advice or tips is appreciated. Thanks, Jeremy

 

If it's been sitting for 15 years (or maybe longer than that) it needs a lot more work than many might think. The Ford Shop Manual will be your friend here.

Determine how much you want to spend, and make a budget. An engine compression check is the first thing to do for the motor, if rings are junk then it needs a full rebuild. But before working on the engine the entire brake system and steering components need to be gone through (inspected) first, new tires, etc. Truck has to steer and stop reliably before anything else or the test drives will go badly.

 

I'll definitely go through everything. I wasn't planning on even trying to start the motor. I'm gonna pick it up on my trailer within the next month or so. The truck will probably sit in my shop for the next year or two.

 

So I'm sure I'll be rebuilding the motor. But, what about the manual 3 speed tranny? Can they sit for a while and be OK after a fluid change?

 

That may be actually one of the trouble free sections, install fresh GL-4 90 wt or whatever the book calls for, should be good to go.

 

Just towed my 65 with the 390 home after it sat in a field for the past 8 years. Suggest prepare the engine for starting, possibly provide info as to the condition of the engine?

Remove the plugs and liberally shot penetrating oil in each cylinder then install the old plugs and let it set; meantime, drain the fuel tank, I would not risk the possibility of running contaminated fuel thru the carb., then replace the filter inside the fuel pump, and any other filter in the delivery system. Suggest inspect the condition of the fuel lines from tank to the carb. and replace if necessary, the total amount of rubber hose is less than 3'. Change the oil and filter. Remove all of the old plugs and prior to starting the engine, if you have a compression tester, this would be an ideal opportunity to check the compression; primarily by the time you test all the cylinders the engine has been lubricating the cylinder walls while not under a load, it will also indicate whether there's an issue with any of the cylinders. I came across a cylinder that is not within the % difference from the high to low, it was just on the margin so intend checking again once the truck has been driven awhile. Replaced with new plug, in my case, 4 legged critters had eaten away at the wires so they were replaced. Finally, have a helper stand, the engine started up and ran fine for a few minutes until my helper let me know there was a problem. By the time I shut the engine down the intake manifold was flooded with fuel, fortunately I had replaced the plug wires otherwise the combined arching and fuel could have made it interesting. Found a carb seal had deteriorated and the source of the leak, replaced the seals and the engine runs fine. If intend storing for couple years it should be good to go, suggest remove components and store in dry location. Anyhow, food for thought?

 

Thanks for the advice so far. I may try to start the motor once I get it home just to see if it will.

I found a company on Craigslist in North Georgia that will deliver a long block 302 for around $1500. I may go that route once I get the truck road ready. Thanks for any input.

 

Speaking from experience, $1500 is probably better than what it would cost to have the existing engine rebuilt. However, suggest check what other customer's have to say about the shop, how long has the company been in business, and the warranty and any disclaimers.

Happened upon an engine rebuilder out of the state of Washington on ebay, created 68 302, long block, $1500, delivered, included a 7 year warranty. I needed an engine replacement immediately and regret I did not have the time to research other options; preferred year 302, or 351W, perhaps with a roller cam, and or EFI. Having said that, installed this created engine 8 years ago, it is still going strong, never been in a shop because it is about as basic as it get.

 

What about pulling an efi motor out of an f150 or explorer? Is it as easy as swapping intakes and adding a carb?

If so, what are good years to look for?

And, will it still bolt right up to my mounts and tranny?

 

This is likely your best bet. Look at the 5.0's or better yet a 5.8 out of a 95-97 pickup or van. Or a 96-2001 Explorer/Mountaineer. These have the best roller camshafts and heads. Only thing that'll complicate things is there's a threaded bolt hole on the bottom-rear drivers side of your old block that's missing on the newer engines. This is for the clutch Z bar pivot, you can buy a bracket that fixes this from the Classic Mustang vendors. You will also need a steel geared distributor to use with the roller cam. Carb and intake swaps are not a problem, matter of fact, the roller cam works great with a carb, better than the so called "carb" cams. As for the 69 motor, I would not do anything with it until it's been fired up and run. At a minimum, it'll need new umbrella seals on the valvestems inside the springs after this length of time. That may have been the source of the smoke to begin with. I've fired up motors that sat that long after removing the spark plugs and pouring a full quart of transmission fluid into the cylinders (1 qt for all 8 cylinders) then changing the points and condenser. After the ATF has had a few hours of time in the cylinders, the crank was turned by hand 2 full revolutions to insure nothing was stuck. Then the starter was engaged for a minute or two without the spark plugs to clear the cylinders. Once all that was done, the plugs were put back in, then the carb primed by pouring a small amount of fuel into the throats and then the engine fired off. Both times, the engine fired right up. Smoked like a bitch until the ATF burned off, then they ran fine afterwards.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll be on the look out for a used motor once I get the truck home. Thanks

 

It's kind of satisfying to fire up engines that have sat for years. I did this with a 1969 351W I had stored for years. It was partly seized when I started, but with a bit of spray lube in each cylinder and barring it over back and forth I eventually scraped the rust of the cylinder walls (presumably).
Then I started it up, and ran it for years in a car. Yes it did burn oil, mostly on startup and rarely a surprise belch of white/blue smoke for a couple seconds. I could never figure out why or how it did the latter.
Probably if I had taken the heads off before starting it, it would have seemed that I needed to rebuild or overhaul it.

 

Yep that was a few spots where the rings rusted to the walls, once they busted free, you had more'n a few rust pits that collected oil as the engine ran. The umbrella seals were likely in chunks in the oil pan I've torn a few down that upon inspection as they came apart, were truly wonders to figure how the hell they kept running.

 

My first small block was in a free car in which the engine seized up. It turns out that one of those chunks of umbrella seals got into the oil pump, jamming it.
You're definately right about the pieces of valve stem seal in the oil pan, all the 1960s engines I took apart had them, V8s or sixes.

I like to think of the rusty areas on the cylinder walls as "High tech oxide polymer oil retaining coating".



Man I've got to figure out how to manage these Emoticons...