Hey guys,
I've been poking around for a while but just got around to making an account. I have a 2WD 1982 F350 single cab with a 351 Windsor and automatic 3 speed transmission. It is a one owner vehicle that I purchased from the government about a year ago with roughly 92,000 miles on her. She hasn't given me much trouble and I've been slowly trying to clean her up. About a month ago I was cruising at 70 down the highway on flat road when all of a sudden I developed a severe misfire and lost almost all power. I managed to limp to work and died in the parking lot. After work the truck started but was still running horribly with almost no power. I got about halfway home and overheated and had to be towed. I am completely at a loss as to what the issue could be. I adjusted the timing which seemed to help a small bit. I put new plugs and wires on the truck not long ago, however I discovered that 3 of the new plugs had melted so I switched back to the old ones. The truck idles almost perfectly now but as soon as you put it in forward or reverse it starts running horribly again. It appears to be running rich rather than lean however I am not positive. I don't have a lot of experience with carbeurated engines or engines of this size. Any ideas would be much appreciated, or if you could point me to the right forum for my issue.