I've got a '64 F100 that I bought two weeks ago. It runs great in drive but when I put it in reverse it stalls. It's got a 302, C4 and a 9" with 3.08 or 3.27 gears. The 302 has an Edelbrock Performer carb and manifold, mild cam, HEI distributor, stock exhaust manifolds. The tranny doesn't seem to have a shift kit or a high stall converter. If I hold the gas down a little bit when I put it in reverse I can keep it running so I turned the idle speed up a bit and it still stalls, any higher and it's too high in drive. I'm lost, where do I go from here?

 

Welcome to FTE

First I would go over the basics.
Do you know what cam is in the motor, did you get a cam card?
What do the plugs look like and the brand / number?
When plugs are out do a compression test so you / we have a clue what shape the motor is in.
Cap / rotor wires look new or needing replacing?
How dose the carb look? Brand new or could use a rebuild?

If the above look good then get the motor up to temp check the timing with vacuum removed and plugged.
Was the vacuum ported or manifold?
I would start at 10* BTDC if it starts hot without kick back and dont get pining we are good so far. We will come back to timing.

Timing set lest see if the carb adjusting can help.
Vacuum gauge hooked to intake manifold vacuum and idle speed set close to what you think it should be, maybe 600 to 700 RPM?
Adjust the mixture for highest vacuum. You may need to adjust the idle speed.

Now see how it runs.
I cant think of anything else at this time
Dave ----

 

Your problem could be related to the tune of the engine since it has obliviously been modified and swapped in from some other vehicle. But if they used the original torque converter from a car with a 302 it is very likely going to be too tight for an engine that has been modified. Some of the converters for 302's and I6's are as low as 1200 rpm stall, couple that with the fact that a C4 has twice the control pressure in reverse than it does in drive. It is going to engage quicker and hold tighter in reverse.
You can find out the converter stall speed if you have a tachometer. Find a hill, stop at the bottom and put the trans in drive 2 accelerate up the hill the rpm will rise to the converter stall and stay there until the wheel speed equals that rpm. If that number turns out to be less than 1900-2000 rpm you may need a different converter.

 

Thanks for all of the advice Dave, looks like I've got my work cut out for me Saturday! I have no idea what cam is in it, I just know that it's got a nice lope to it but nothing serious. I am planning on pulling the motor and tranny this fall to put new gaskets in the motor and tranny pan plus paint the engine compartment over the winter. When I've got the timing chain off I'll probably put a new timing chain in it and I'll get the cam brand and part number to get the specs for it then. One other upgrade I'm planning on is ditching the carb for a bolt-on EFI system like the Holley Sniper. In the meantime I just want to get it reliably running so I can enjoy cruising it until cold weather sets in. All help is greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks for the input Crop Duster! My first thought was the converter too. The previous owner had no idea what any of the mods were to the truck and he wasn't a big gearhead either, all he did to it while he owned it was put gas in and drive it. It does seem like someone swapped out the whole drivetrain from a donor car including adding power front discs with a two pot master cylinder and power steering. It ran great with no major issues when I test drove it and I took it on three different hour or more cruises with no issues. I decided to drive it to a local car show last sunday and of course that's when the reverse stalling problem showed up and has continued since. As I mentioned to FuzzFace2 I'd like to enjoy the truck until winter then I'll tear into it. I'm retiring this fall and I bought this to keep me busy and flip but now that I've got it and like it I want to keep it. hTanks again for the help Crop Duster!

 

What I listed should not run any money money and may help till you find what the stall is of the converter.
Come winter when apart you may look at a higher stall converter.
Also note higher stall also adds more heat so you will need a good size trans cooler.
Dave ----

 

I spent a few hours saturday fixing that needed immediate attention and making a list of other items that will need tended to during the winter downtime. Sunday was tune up day as Fuzz Face suggested and I'm really happy with the results. First I did the compression check and here's the results; #1-190, 2-200, 3-180, 4-200, 5-195, 6-185, 7-190 and 8-195. I'm happy with these numbers since I know nothing of this motor. I've got the timing at 8 degrees BTDC, anything more and I get kickback. The carb is dialed in pretty good now, all of the plugs look the same and have the tan deposit to them. I also discovered that the manual choke cable to the dash wasn't connected and it is now, cold start up is great now. Once I had it running good I wanted to find out what the converter's stall speed is as Crop Duster suggested. All I've got for a tach is my tach and dwell meter. I tried connecting it, taping it to the cowl and shutting the hood but it wouldn't stay in place. I'm planning on adding a tach to the steering column so I'll check it then. All in all I'm really happy with it since it's running great with no stalling now. There's a couple of other issues I've run into and If I don't solve them I'll be back.
Thanks for the input it's greatly appreciated!

 

Good to hear the tuneup helped and the other good thing is you now know how good the motor is with the compression test.
Dave ----