Hi all, It's been a 7 months since I got my 1962 F100, and it's been kind of a back burner project up until recently. I have been working like a madman trying to get it to run, and thought I had it, but still...not!

The truck sat in a field for 12 years. it has a 292 with an iron Ford 4 bbl intake, Carter AFB carb, stock point distributor, headers. the battery is 9 years old, but still cranks the engine. Initially, and over the last few months, I changed out engine oil and filter, the fuel, gas cap, fuel pump. had a carb re builder go through the carb. replaced the plugs, cap, rotor, wires, points and condenser. got it running-sort of. it ran on only 6-7 cylinders. got busy with the holidays and work and other priorities and let it sit. got back on it last week. found cylinders 3 and 8 had 0 compression, all others had around 120 psi. squirted oil in those cyls. and retested-no change. found tight valves on those two cylinders. adjusted all the valves and lo and behold-compression came back!

Well, after that I put everything back together and tried to start her up, and it did run...long enough to set the timing and idle. then it started to run bad again. I thought it was out of fuel, so I put some in. barely running. rechecked points. rechecked valve adjustment. pulled the plugs. wet and sooty from cranking and farting around with choke. and oil i put in from compression test. replaced the plugs. running like it's got no gas. looked down carb, no gas squirting in when opening throttle plate. took off fuel pump can and checked filter. clean with a little sediment at bottom. put back on and tried to start again. nothing, dry bowls on carb. pulled fuel pump and took to NAPA and exchanged it under warranty. Finally, and i don't know why, it started...hit on all cylinders, racing idle, popping out exhaust. tried to turn idle down, couldn't slow it down much. Just grasping for something to try, i grabbed the vacuum hose from the carb to the vacuum advance and pulled it off. The idle settled down, I mean like night and day, and the engine was running very nicely!!! I grabbed the timing light, adjusted it to about 12 degrees BTDC. set the idle speed to about 600 rpm ( i don't have a tach) revved it up several times. had a pretty steady vacuum reading of 18-19 inches. Wow! high fives and fist bumps.

Well, I called my insurance company and told them to put the truck on my policy, went down to the DMV and got the registration and title in order. took about two hours. come home, put stickers on truck, go to start it and initially it starts, but sounds a little funny. I figure I'll drive it and it'll clear out. just got worse and worse. Was only able to make it about half a block before it crapped out and would only run with the choke and on about 5 cylinders. put more gas in tank no change. Son walked home and got a rope and we towed it home. pulled plugs...some, on dead cylinders were wet (oil? fuel?) others sooty, black. cranked engine and checked compression with index finger. all had enough pressure to forcefully blow finger off spark plug hole. gave up, exhausted from an all day long thrash. had a beer, ate dinner and passed out.

how is it possible that it could purr like a kitten then two hours later barely run? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Bad condenser, the new ones sold today at the drugstore are all junk. Try that first, an old school original from your junkbox will probably work fine.

 

One likely cause is trash in the fuel tank from sitting so long. It could be migrating to the new pump and clogging the filter.

Fill up a 2 to 5 gallon gas can and run a short line from the fuel pump to the gas can. Block off the fuel line from the tank. Start it up and give it the gas.

If you find more trash in the filter bowl, plan on replacing the tank.

 

Last time I looked, yesterday, it was pretty much clean, just a tiny bit at the bottom of the bowl. I also have a glass inline filter between the pump and the carb. it's clean. But, i wondered about the pickup sock. Is that fixed in the tank? my fuel line goes into the tank next to the level sender flange. it appears to be part of the tank that's not removable. maybe the sock is plugged, or theres a rust hole in the tube inside the tank ???

 

I'll try that, thanks

 

The in-cab fuel tank sending unit does not have a pickup tube, so there's no way to install the sock.

The pickup tube is a separate part, flip the seat forward, you can see it on the top of the tank.

 

so the tube is just plain on the end in the tank? no sock?

 

The sock slips over the end of the fuel tank senders pickup tube, but the in-cab tank sending unit does not have a pickup tube, as it's a separate part.

It fits into the tank, comes out at the top, then routes to the left lower side of the tank where a rubber hose connects it to the fuel line that routes along the outer left frame rail to the fuel pump.

The CB Museum is located in Port Hueneme, but you probably know that.

 

Yes, I do...Been lucky enough to have visited once. Also had the good fortune to see the Seabee Memorial in DC.

Ok, so i get what you're saying on the in cab pick up tube. so it's end is just 3/8 steel tube. no strainer or screen?

 

Remove the sender from the tank and all you'll see is the float attached to its crooked arm. There is no pickup tube, as it's a separate part.

 

On my '64 the pickup tube does not have a sock or screen on the end of it. it's just a tube that goes to the bottom of the tank.
Bill is right, the sender is separate.
I have had similar issues with fuel pickup, and I've traced the problem to the flakes of rusty stuff in the tank. I'd bet that you're having the same issue. pull the pickup tube out of the tank, put a clean rag over the end that goes in the tank, and blow air through it. When I did that it covered the rag with black gunk which came from the corrosion inside the tank.
My solution for my truck is to install a '65-'68 Mustang tank behind the rear axle. I bought a complete tank kit from CJ pony parts for 119.00. Comes with a sender and everything. This way I get to use the storage inside the cab, behind the seat for tools and stuff, and it'll never smell like gas inside the cab again when I fill up (Unless I really screw up!)

 

Normally there's no fumes or fuel odors in the cab, that means bad fill hose. Basically any rubber parts on these old trucks need replaced.

 

I recall reading where someones pick up tube had developed leaks up the tube so the truck ran with a full tank but not once it started going down.

 

Well, another day, another disappointment. Put the plugs back in, early this morning. went (in another vehicle) and got 3 more gallons of fuel. cranked it up and it started right away. plenty of clean fuel in the glass filter I added between the pump and the carb. hitting on all cyls. decided to try and drive it to gas station. made it there, but it started running worse in the short drive to the pump. put in about 8 more gallons, drove off, got about 1/2 mile before it lost power and had to stop. cranks, starts on about 5 cylinders, sputters, stalls. not enough power to move truck. ended up just having it towed home. now it just cranks and won't start at all. still a full filter full of clean fuel. just because I hadn't changed it yet, I put a new coil on. the old coil had the condensor hooked to IGN, and the wire from the ignition switch hooked to the GRD post. I didn't think that was right, so I switched them on the new coil. Has spark, still no start. threw in the towel for now.

 

Did you try a known good ignition condenser? Seems like hardly a week goes by here without bad imported condenser, yours would be #47,449