Hello all. So this truck is not in great condition for starters. I plan on using it as a work truck and fixing it up over time. It is a 78 f100 classic with the 300. I started by replacing a blown head gasket, found a couple bent pushrods and very worn rocker arm. I replaced them all and carried on. When doing the head gasket I just involved the intake/exhaust from the head and pushed off to the side. Due to poor planning I ended up trying to clean the gasket off the intake manifold after the head was back on. Did not have enough room so I decided to pull the 3 bolts and just take the intake mani all the way off. The bottom of the manifold had very bad pitting and basically just fell off. I have another intake manifold ordered. Since I keep running into stuff and don't want to have to dig back into it anytime soon is there anything anyone would recommend me replacing while I have everything apart? Or anything common that I should check? Also this engine has 480k miles on it and ran well before the head gasket. I am only a couple hundred deep on repairs and don't want to dump money into a well aged engine just get it running good until I am in a place where I can really do this thing right. Mayne in a couple years. Thanks!

 

 

480,000 miles on it, Time for a rebuild, you will fix all the issues you are having, tighten everything up and the rest will slowly begin to fall apart.

 

If the cylinder bores looked good and it has good compression, run it. With the miles on it, if it hasn't been rebuilt a some point, the bearings might be pretty beat, or they could be fine, without pulling main/ rod caps there's no way to know. Bent push rods could be a sign the motor had been worked hard and over revved. Have you looked at local classifieds, they made these motors into the 90s? Might be able to find a lower mileage motor for a couple hundred bucks.