I find the best way to remove the last plug is by removing the passenger tire and reaching up from the bottom. I can't say for sure on the 360 but it worked for me on my brother's '78 with a 400 in it. Didn't need a flex joint either.

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to see if trying the tire idea will work. I was using my plug socket and ratchet, plus extensions, but couldn't get any room to get a grip. That's a tight space to work! It sure doesn't help that these plugs are almost rusted in. I've had to use a breaker bar to get them out. And, that's after soaking in Wd-40 and PB Blaster for several days.

 

50/50 acetone and atf.... apply daily for a week, rock socket forward and backward......worked great 4 me...... patience beats a busted plug Take ur time ......

 

Update... Fiddled with the last spark plug last night for a little over an hour!! I FINALLY got it to come out!!! Woo Hoo!! That thing was in there good. Part of my issue, after taking a break and looking at that dang plug for several minutes, was there was a bunch of baked on junk around the plug. My plug socket wasn't getting a good grip, therefore, always coming off whenever I would try and turn it.

So, added a little Mystery Oil down the plug hole (had already oiled the other 7) to lube things up. Looked into turning the motor by hand with a wrench... well, I don't have one big enough to fit the nut. SON-OF-A-B! So, just for *****s & giggles, I grabbed the fan and tried to turn it by hand. Low and behold!! All of the belts turned, all of the pulleys turned, and all of the parts turned!!! YAY! The motor is not seized up like I was afraid of since this thing has been sitting for years.

So, now I move on to the carb. Going to look into getting a new/replacement carb, new plugs, drain the fluids and put fresh stuff in, and see if I can get this thing running.

 

Congrats on the progress! YAY!

David

 

Can't do that with a fan clutch! Glad you got that last plug out - congratulations!

 

Any recommendations for a replacement carb on a budget?

 

If you have a performance shop in town, or even just a decent old-school mechanic, they probably have a few of these old 2 barrel MotorCraft carbs laying around.

Or try a professional carb rebuilder. Maybe on ebay.

 

Looking at my carb options... for you experts, is this the correct Holley carb that I would need. I'm trying to figure out if I should go with a Motocraft 2100, keep it stock, or go with an upgraded aftermarket version. To be honest, I'm not sure if I have a manual or electric choke. I'm guessing manual. I'm not sure when electric chokes became the norm.

Manual Choke - https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/0-4412S
Electric Choke - https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/0-80500

 

It's electric, you can see it in this picture.

 

So, it looks like the Holley 500 CFM 2 barrel Street Avenger carb is the way to go?
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/0-80500

Any other advice on a replacement carb? I don't think I want to get into the costs of going to a 4 barrel and switching all of the other components to make it work.

 

UPDATE: Was able to pull the carburetor last night. It was easier than I expected it to be. The thing sure didn't look good. I got a couple of pictures of the intake. Now I need to decide on what to do with it. I obviously have to pull it to either (1) clean it up and reuse it to save $$, or (2) look at replacing it with another stock replacement, or (3) go aftermarket and convert it over to a 4 barrel intake and upgrade the carb to a 4 barrel. Here are a few pictures of the stock carb after removal, and a couple pics looking down inside the intake.

Any thoughts? Like I said, I'm learning as I go with this truck. So, I'm open to all suggestions. My initial thoughts are to bite the bullet and replace the intake with an aftermarket 4 barrel. But, if I can fix what I have, then I'll stick with the 2 barrel set up and just replace the carb.

 

Yep, that's a carburetor and intake manifold. And yes, they do look like crap.

A four barrel intake and carburetor is gonna set you back $500. Maybe not the best investment at this time.

If the intake and carb are any indication, I'd guess the rest of the engine is pretty rough. Maybe better to rebuild the carb or replace the carb with a rebuilt of similar type.

 

Keep up the good work, and the pictures.
But myself, with the way that the carb and intake manifold look, I'd pull the valve covers off and start getting an idea of what the engine is like inside. I'd be surprised of the oil wasn't sludge or worse.
I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news, but it may save the expense of a new carb, and intake manifold.

Unk Bob

 

No bad news there. I'm afraid of what the engine looks like on the inside, also. I do want to pull the valve covers off and take a look. I know this isn't a true indication, but pulling the oil dipstick, the oil is full and just looks black. Now, since this truck has sat for so long, I have no idea what lies inside. I'm starting to wonder if I should just pull the motor and do a complete tear down.

I'm trying to do this one step at a time, so I can judge where I'm at and get a check list of what it's going to take to get this thing running again. Being a family heirloom, I've been told it's not going anywhere and it will eventually be working again. The only problem, which really isn't a problem, I'm the only one willing and wanting to work on it... to basically have a project to do. My wife's family has no desire to do any work to it, but they want to drive it when it's up and running again (of course). Don't get me wrong, I am glad I have the truck in the first place, and a project to work on. I've been wanting one for a while now. It's just that I don't know enough about doing this kind of stuff to be able to make the call on what to do, and they are relying on me to make that call. That's why I'm here... to get the advice of all of you that do know what to do.