Hey guys, I’m pretty new to all of this and learning all of this with the help of your knowledge and the original 86 shop manual. I bought this 1986 F-150 2 years ago when I was 15 for only 2200 at only 33k miles! (It’s at about 115k these days)

I recently just now got the time and fun money to give it attention and work on it with the hopes of squeezing out more power out of it. Here’s what I have done so far:

-removed the whole AC system and put just a simple blower
-removed the egr (I believe that’s what it is)
-removed air pump
-replaced intake and exhaust manifold as the exhaust manifold CRACKED
-put on a new distributor
-small things like new spark plugs, rotors and calipers for the brakes.

I had the wonderful privilege of doing this in my fathers shop




Bent a copper fuel/brake line since I absolutely shredded the other one

Tightening after bending it “almost perfectly”

one problem I need ALOT of help on is excess and mystery wires in which I have have no clue where they go and what they go to.

I know for a fact I want to replace the manifolds and get the offenhauser manifold for a 4 barrel carb, but I don’t know how to “tune” such if I put a new carb and fuel pump in.

Any recommendations for getting a little more kick out of this already amazing engine?


thank you for reading and putting up with my lack of knowledge

 

Welcome to the forum.

Looks like you've got a pretty good kink in your new fuel line, at the bend to the right of the picture. That's going to restrict the fuel flow.

I'm no fan of copper lines, either. They are verboten on aircraft, as they are prone to cracking from vibration. Lots of guys will say they've had a copper line on their vehicle for years with no issues, but why risk it? You're going to need to replace that line, so I'd suggest going with steel instead. Spring for a proper tubing bender, too, to save yourself some aggravation.

Not sure why you removed the AC system. Even if it wasn't working, just leave it switched off and there will be zero performance loss. Hang onto the pieces, as you may meet some cute girl who will inspire you to do stupid things with your life, the way it should be. But alas, she'll wish your ride had AC, and then you'll be glad you can reinstall the pieces.

 

What type of distributor did you put on it? Your truck originally had computer control with a special distributor and carb. Since you want to undo all that, you need a older style distributor with the vacuum line going to it, and a older style carb.

Once you do that and get it running, you can look under the dash over the tranny hump, there should be a computer box there. Take it out, take the large wiring plug off, and carefully fish the large plug through the hole in the firewall. Then start unplugging and taking out anything connected to this large computer plug, you do not need it. That should eliminate a lot of wires and strange looking components under the hood.

 

I plan on replacing the copper lines, i also noticed that and noticed it was a problem. Steel Line sounds good but do you think a hose would do it any good?, as with the AC i honestly dont know why i removed it. maybe next summer i throw it back in as a did keep all the parts.

 

For the distributor i put on a replacement Cardone Industries 842680. i still need to figure out the vacuum line problem and i figured out the older style carb problem, i am going to check out the computer box over the tranny hump. would the computer be located anywhere else even if its a 4 speed manual? if no, what i can do from there thank you so much.

 

I take it the distributor was just like the one the truck came with and dose not have a vacuum hose going to it.
If you got the distributor with vacuum hose you coulduse it with the new intake manifold and carb.

As for hose for fuel line I like to keep it as short as I can.
I would remake that line with the copper / nickel steel as it is easier to bend than normal steel line and use a tubing bender so it will not kink like it did.
Dave ----

 

I checked your numbers, you did get the wrong distributor. The one you got was the original type that works with the computer system. And now that everything has been unplugged, it's not working correctly, no wonder you are down on power. You need a older type distributor. People have been buying and using these type with some success.

 

You'll be wanting to order/buy parts for an '83 model year... anything that has to do with ignition, fuel, or spark, since that's what you're changing. You'll also need a DuraSpark ll module to replace the EEC IV 'puter.

Everything I've read, including here of FTE, points to the later model factory (EFI) exhaust manifolds as the best option. OEM fit, no starter issues, as free flowing as OEM stuff gets... practically headers. You'll need a front and a rear manifold (read carefullywhen ordering), plus a Y-pipe to bring em together. I got mine from ebay and Summit, respectively. The Y-pipe carries a Walker part number and there are threads about it on FTE. I can't remember the #, but it's easy enough to find. The rest of the exhaust system is up to you, your imagination, and your exhaust-guy.
All of this stuff can come from a junkyard too, if you have one to go to. Mine closed a couple mos ago, before l was done picking.
Thanks go to @FuzzFace2 for nudging me in this direction.

I'm kicking around a 4 bbl intake and carburetor, but the price tag is hefty. The manifolds start at $500 and small 4 bbls cost as much (or more) than their bigger (650+ cfm) brothers. Tab on that project will easily eclipse $1G. I almost bought a running, driving truck for $1500 that had a Clifford intake and Holley 500 already installed just to swap induction parts and resell, but it got away. Too bad.

 

The truck must have had a dealer installed AC system, or maybe AC parts on the engine. Looking at the firewall, the cab doesn't look like it had factory AC. Some of those dealer AC systems are wonky and have a whole bunch of obscure and difficult to find parts. Many of them...once they broke, they stayed broken...lol.

 

thank you very much, i will check it out and order soon

 

I looked into those later model factory exhuast manifolds and they seem to fit my groove, luckily money isnt an issue for me (to an extent) just the lack of knowledge here, i already picked up my bench seat from a junkyard from a f150 similar to mine, thank you for your imput this really helps out alot.

 

Once you do that and get it running, you can look under the dash over the tranny hump, there should be a computer box there. Take it out, take the large wiring plug off, and carefully fish the large plug through the hole in the firewall. Then start unplugging and taking out anything connected to this large computer plug, you do not need it. That should eliminate a lot of wires and strange looking components under the hood.[/QUOTE]

Solved the Distributor Problem with help of a later comment, and i checked out where ya said and there it was Looking for time this week to get all excess wiring out, thank you very much with this info

 

So this is how I ran my fuel line, got a 6' stainless line from my local obsolete parts guy and moved it to make it not sit right on top of the valve cover which just annoyed me.

 

Factory had it across the cover with no issues.
being long like that it can pick up more heat and cause problems other wise not bad.
Dave ----

 

True, but having it across the cover annoyed me and that was how long the line came new. Rather than cut it and reflare the end I just made use of it. You have a point about heat pickup but I imagine the flow rate is sufficient to not be a serious concern.