So I finally got my truck squared away with the DMV and back on the road.
This is an extremely long post I'm going to try and add as much detail as possible.
Because of an issue with my other vehicle I needed to put her in use right away. She had not been used for about 8 months except just starting her to make sure battery level was good or if i needed no one to talk to me for a few mimutes.
Critisizm on myself first is I didn't go through the fuel system or add anything to the tank before driving her, yes there was a little fuel in the tank for those months.
I put 91 octane in the first day I drove her. To work and back about 20 miles each way on the highway at about 60-65 mph, she actually held those speeds pretty good. 2 days to work and back with no problems.
3rd day getting on the highway I got a cough back through the carb, didn't think much about it she was running fine. She started having hesitation at acceleration, then going up a slight grade it became more of a power loss issue. I got off the highway and into a parking lot. After visual check of the engine I didn't see anything out of place so restarted her. At this point she wouldn't idle and giving her half throttle the rpms didn't come up, it was more of a coughing and spitting with an occasional carb backfire. Eventually called auto club to get her towed home.
My thought was I screwd up not going through the fuel system. I replaced the fuel pump, all fuel filters (in the pump canister and the inline I have before the carb), rebuilt the carb, blew out the line from the pump to the tank and all new plugs. I worked process of elimination on these not all at the same time. Pump, filters and plugs then with no success carb. Plugs were in very black. After seeing them i was surprised it was even running. Prior to the carb rebuild she would idle very low and rough while spitting and coughing. Rebuilt the carb with no improvement. At this point it seemed fuel starved. When idling the sound from the carb was a louder than normal sucking sound you get with the air cleaner off. To me it was not getting enough fuel but if the engine was cutting out fuel would spit back through the carb. If I start her at half throttle result is the same as idle, coughing with spitting and not smooth.
With the card spitting I thought possibly timing got off somehow. At idle I moved distributor a little as a test but with no improvement.
Also during one of the idle spitting sessions I took off the fuel cap, put my hand over the filler and could actually feel air being forced out of the tank. May not be relevant but throwing it in there as info.
At this point I'm at a loss for what to try or move on to next. I feel like it's something obvious but I'm just not connecting with what it is.
I'll take any insight or suggestion or help anyone can offer up. Any help is appreciated. And if you made it through this long read thank you for sticking with it.

 

You may be having an electrical ignition problem. You may have some of that over seas ignition parts which can cause headaches. Also try jumping from the +battery to the + side of the coil, you may have a resistance wire that is causing this. As said many times on this site, the wiring on these trucks is really starting to show their age.

 

New points, condenser, cap, rotor, coil and plug wires and she's back to purring. Well...as close to a purr as she gets. I didn't want to make any more trips to the parts store so not sure what the culprit was.

 

What is the timing currently set at?

 

LOSE the points-condenser system, Go to electronic ign. Put a module in and call it good. That will cut out the possibilty of cheap/defective parts.

 

Ten bucks says it was a bad (from guess where) condenser?

Points and condenser work absolutely fine, but they have to be the good stuff, like old school Autolite or Motorcraft. Distributor cannot be worn out either. Many people prefer points and condenser believe it or not.

Tough to beat a mechanic's vacuum gauge for simplicity, cost, and ease of use for engine diagnostics, tuning, and carburetor adjustment. Like a poor man's Sun machine, or steampunk scanner, they can detect poor compression, late timing, valve problems, exhaust restrictions etc. There's often a lot of performance and economy left on the table, carburetor tuning too. Plugs will tell the tale, MPG, eyes watering from the exhaust etc.

 

I didn't get to checking the timing after I nugged the distributor around during the triage session. Just got back from running it around a little and she seems to be running okay. I'll hit the timing tomorrow afternoon.
Points were pretty burnt. I don't mind points but I'm stuck using AZ when I need something quick.

 

B8Q12171A...(DP12)...Ford (Motorcraft)...Ford V8 points for single point Dizzys...still available.
C9AZ12300A..(DC13A)...Ford ( Motorcraft)...same application...also available.

 

I'm also putting my money on a bad condenser. I've had 2 fail on me now and cause all kinds of problems.