Here she is, my ‘84 F150 4x4, Jessica. She’s running a 351W w/ Edelbrock 4bbl, C6 auto trans, NP208 transfer case and 9” rear with 3.5 gears. Some of this info you folks have already helped me learn. My plan is to build her out to an offroad machine, but first I need to address some basic stuff. So this thread will document that process.

After a little shake down the past two weekends, I wrote myself out a punch list of stuff I wanted to do.

First up was dealing with the throttle cable/pedal setup. The pedal had almost no throw, so I replaced the cable today. The first thing I noticed was how much longer the plastic piece that holds the spring is on the new one:

The blue one on the right is the one the truck came with. Once in, the new cable was still about an inch too long to fully pull the pedal off the floor. So I did the old zip tie trick. I could put a cable crimp on the cable to do the same thing, but is there really no way to adjust the cable length? I looked and could not determine any adjustment. Figured the zip ties are easy to undo if there is a proper adjustment procedure.


While we’re in this area, I want to talk about the passing kickdown. Mine is not connected. Looking through some older posts on here it looks like I’m missing a linkage. In my research I’ve come up with conflicting info. Some folks say you don’t need the kickdown, others say you’ll burn up the tranny without it. I live in the mountains, so my thought is it would be better to have than not. Curious on other’s opinions on this.


Next to address is the power steering leak that I believed to be coming from the filler neck. Last week I taped some paper towels around the neck, here’s a before and after pic. I only drove maybe 35mi between the time the two pics were taken:



So yeah, suspicion confirmed. I also cleaned up the spilled fuild around that area when I did the towel wrap, and no new spilled fluid was observed today. The filler cap does have an o-ring on it, but it seems too small to me. My suspicion is this isn’t the correct cap for this pump. I’ll see if I can find a replacement locally to determine if it’s the wrong cap or just the wrong o-ring on the right cap.

Also, cruise control delete happened. It wasn’t hooked up anyway.



Which brings me to, what is this control module for? The lines to it are cut, but it’s still wired in. If it isn’t functioning I want it out. From the engine bay sticker this truck started out as a catalyst model. Currently the exhaust is straight piped from the headers, so I know some stuff has been changed. There’s a spare pulley on the alternator that doesn’t have a belt to anything. My assumption is this would have gone to the smog pump? Anyway, that’s all a rambling way to say I wonder if this module has anything to do with emissions and now serves no purpose?


Next, rear fuel tank doesn’t work…wonder why?



This to me is more funny than troublesome, as I plan on doing something different with the fuel tank setup, just not sure what yet. In the meantime I’ll just run off the front tank. So, how should I close off this open hose? I don’t want this to become the cause of a problem by just leaving it open like it is. Also, are there markings or stampings on the tanks I can look for to determine what size tanks I have? I was told the gas gauge is right “more or less” so I’m not too keen on running it much past a 1/4 tank before refueling, so I haven’t been able to get a gauge on how much it actually takes to fill the tank.

So that’s what I got done today, still more on the punch list to go, I’ll update as I get more done.

 

Which wires are cut?

Under that metal bracket, you appear to have the stock DuraSpark ignition module. Do you still have the stock distributor? Or has it been swapped for something else? If stock, you will definitely need that module for the ignition system to work.

No idea about those other two components on top of the bracket. The bracket looks factory, so I’m assuming (Danger! Danger!) those additional components are, too.

 

Edelbrock makes a kit to add to your carb to accommodate the Ford kickdown. You can run without it, as long as the spring pushes up on the arm sitting there and it stays in the "home" position, the transmission will work normally. I did have one that got pushed back and was in "kickdown mode" all the time and it did make the transmission shift funny.

On a smaller engine like a 300 or 302, the kickdown is nice to have to get some extra power out of the engine. With a 351w or larger engine is more of a option, but this is my own opinion. I had a 302 with a 4bbl on it, and when I hooked the kickdown up, when I floored it to pass, the transmission would drop to 2nd gear, and the engine would rev up and open the 4bbl up nicely.

 

Do you have a shortbed truck or a longbed (8ft) bed? If you have a shortbed, the front tank will be 16 gallons, the rear tank will be 19 gallons. If you have a longbed both tanks front and rear will be 19 gallons. When you are empty, expect to get about 16 gallons in a 19 gallon tank at the fueling station.

 

I wanna date with Jessica. That is a good lookin truck.

 

DaveF is right on the tank sizes for the different bed sizes.

A little hint on the gauge reading right for empty.
What I did as both of my thanks were empty and new senders installed I checked where the gauge reads with nothing in them and noted where the needle was. It was just below the empty line.

I then put 5 gallons in each tank and did the same check on each tank with the 5 gallons. It was right on the empty line.
This way I know when the needle is on the empty line I still got 5 gallons left in the tanks.

With the tanks full I did not worry where the needle sat with either tank. In my case it is above the full line.

Being I have a short bed truck I use my front tank first.
1 keeping the rear tank full longer I think gives a better ride and the weight is behind the rear axle.
The other is mine defaults to the rear tank with no power to the valve.
I was running the front tank and after using it 2 days I did not see the level drop on the gauge like it should have?
I then switched to the rear tank that should have been full and it was just above the half mark
If I was using the rear tank first and got down to the empty line with 5 gallons left and switched to the front tank the gauge would go to full and I would have run out of gas in short order and been stuck on the side of the road.

This happened because the tank switch valve wire shorted on the frame when I ran electric trailer brake wire and blew the fuse.
Remember no power to the valve defaults to the rear tank on my truck so to run on the front tank the valve needs power.
Dave ----

 

Hoses are cut on both sides, see:



Thanks @Franklin2 and @FuzzFace2 for the info on the tanks. Jess is a shortbed, so I’ll go with 16gal tank.

 

What is the 8th digit in your VIN number? That will identify the original engine that came in this truck. It may have been different than what you have now, which would explain some of the stuff around the engine compartment.

 

Looks like I'm going to need a new 16 gallon tank and sending unit, too. If you don't mind, let me know which supplier you decide to use. Thanks.

 

H. But that doesn’t really make sense according to the charts on Gary’s VIN decoding page. By those charts that code (H) was only used in 1980? Jess was built in Dec. ‘83 according to her doorplate.

ETA: I’m a dummy. I wasn’t reading the charts right. H makes sense. The engine bay vacuum chart sticker is for a 351w. So I think the truck was EFI from the factory?

 

A 12 / 83 truck is a 84 model year truck because anything after Sept. is the next year.

My 11 / 80 is a 81 model year.
Dave ----

 

Exactly. I just wasn’t reading the charts right.

 

H means it was a 351w HO 4bbl engine. If it was Code G it would have been a 351w with a 2bbl, and those did have computer control on some.

 

Ok cool, so the spare Holley carb I got with it may have been the factory carb. I’ve been digging into all the info on Gary’s page this afternoon, it’s been neat learning the build history of this truck.

 

If the Holley has ports all over it for lots of hose connections, it probably is the original carb. They were a 4180C.