I just bought a running f-250 super custom 360 for $250. thought it was a pretty good deal, but it needs a little work. though i am not a mechanic, i am mechanically inclined and i think i can fix it myself...any help is greatly appreciated.

first, getting on the gas off the line stalls it, i have to VERY lightly feather the throttle to get going, then i can as much as floor it and no probs.carb prob maybe?

second, lots of lifter tick, are these easily adjustable, or do i need a tech to do this for me?

third, exhaust leak...are the kits from jcwhitney reliable, since they are dramatically cheaper than a muffler shop in town for parts alone, i don't know if i can trust em.

thanx for all help or ideas/opinions. this will make an excellent tow rig if i can get this stuff fixed

 

Welcome to FTE!!

I'll try to give you some ideas to run with. If you do some "searching" on this site you will find that alot of these typical problems have been discussed heavily in the past and alot of ideas have been talked about.


As for carb stumble. Sounds like accelerator pump. Remove air cleaner, with engine OFF try pumping throttle a couple times. See if there is gas squirting down carb. If NOT, then accel pump is not working. The linkage on these carbs are know for this screwing up. Try some WD40 on the linkage area and make sure the arms all move freely. Since you are not too familiar with these trucks, it's kinda hard to explain the workings of the linkage. It's just screwy, that's all. With it sprayed with WD and worked a bit manually it should start to work better.

As for lifters, they are NOT adjustable. Well, most anyway. If it's the original motor, it was more likely NOT. Only older HP motors were adjustable(mostly in CARS).

Exhaust leak?? It depends on where it's leaking. IF it is leaking between manifolds and heads....that's a real job to fix. Most likely the manifolds will need machined flat again(usually warped and not flat) and new gaskets installed. Most of the bolts will break as you try to get manifolds off(very typical). If it's just he pipes and donut gasket at manifold, then pretty much any kit will quiet it down.

My '67 had terrible manifolds on it, so I bought a set of $100 headers and $100 dual exhaust kit and now it's nice and quiet(well sorta). It doesn't leak anymore anyway!!

Good Luck

 

thanx for the help!! I guess i'd be better off getting new lifters and having em pro installed. ill try that with the wd-40 on all links, i messed with it yesterday, and it backfired through the carb....dunno if i should fix all this, or just replace the engine entirley...i can get my hands on a 390 for a couple hundred or so. will the 390's in the LTD's bolt right up? that one is available for nuthin...thanx lots

 

All 390's will bolt up. The only problem is if it is a really early model, the motor mounts will not fit. The early blocks only had two holes and will not fit your mounts. Your truck uses the later FOUR hole pattern.

As for backfiring, that is common if you open the throttle blades and NO fuel enters the motor. It is called a "lean condition" and causes it to cough up thru the carb. Not a serious problem, you just need to get the accelerator pump to shoot a shot of gas on cue. Once this is resolved, it will work great.

As for new lifters. Not sure this is a good thing on a "old" cam. Depending on the mileage, it may tear up a new set of lifters quicker than the original set. Once there is a wear pattern, it is not a good thing to change.

One question: How's the oil in the motor?? Good, recently changed? It may be just really poor oil that is causing the ticking noise. I would change it and put a thicker oil in it to see if that quiets the lifters. Maybe some 10w40 or even some 20w50(as long as it is not going to be too cold around you). Run it then and see if that helps. Much cheaper than having someone put lifters in it. If it has been sitting a long while, maybe you need to put some oil additive in it to loosen up the lifters. Maybe one/more are not keeping pumped up and that is causing the noise. Some cheap tries before you dig too deep.

 

I have a 360 in my truck that sat around for 2 years or more and wasn't ran much. When I first started running it a couple of the lifters where noisy. But after driving it a while that cleared up. As far as the carb goes. Mine wouldn't idle very well. It would just set and lope. Sounded like it was going to shut off. I rebuilt the carb for about 20 bucks. Now runs very well.

 

thanx lots. I'll try these quick fix ideas asap. the miles are high, 212k, and the owner said it sat for a year or so..probably year old oil too, didn't even think of that. the exhaust is the least of my worries, it'll cut down power a little, but i just want to get it runnin well enough to be roadworthy. I'm gonna get some wd-40 on that accelerator and change the oil over the week......question....would any additives in the gas silence the lifters? when the truck idles, the 360 sounds VERY strong, just 5-15mph is slow goin. Thanx for the help, i really appreciate it

 

Gas additives only help carb issues for the most part. Will not help anything internal.

It might help clean out the gunk from sitting, so it would not hurt.

 

thanx for the help freightrain!

 

I restoerd a 77 f-100 a couple years ago. did the body work, wheels, paint, chrome, interior and etching myself. Had a 351w dropped in to replace a old 302, and all the motor work was done by others...so no experience with engines or troubleshooting, always had friends to do it for me...but this time i want to start that too so i can open a resto shop maybe in the future

 

If you picked up a running F250 for $250, pat yourself on the back. You practically STOLE it from the guy!!

 

It really sounds like your carb had an accerlerator pump problem. If you get the linkages working properly you may still have a problem. The pump in the older (original) carbs was made of leather and they do dry out/shrink/split etc which will cause the problems you are describing. The 2 bbl carbs on these trucks are proably the easiest carbs to rebuild. The rebuild kits are not very expensive and you need to use some good carb cleaner to really clean out all the years of accumulated crud. In lieu of doing the rebuild yourself, check out the price on a rebuilt carb, they are not real expensive either and the swap is easy.

 

thanx 8nray, all else fails, i'll get a rebuild. flyboy, i had a guy at work offer me 1200 for it as is, took all of about a second to turn him down. I think im gonna restore it and ged mad profit instead..I bought the 77 f-100 for $1400 in ok condition, invested 1500 in body work, rebuilt 351w, and split tri-spoke rims, drove it for a year and quickly sold it for $5500
the rebuild kit for the carb sounds simple, maybe set a day or so aside for it if i need to.

 

> second, lots of lifter tick

I fixed my ticks by running Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas tank and crank case and tehn changing the oil. I have used Dextron II in the past with good results.

 

marvel in the gas tank, didn't know u could do that

 

I took someone's advice and ran a quart of Mystery oil in place of a quart of oil when I changed my oil and filter, and ran it for a week or two that way. Then changed the oil. I did notice a quieting of the lifters on my 67.
I repeated the mystery oil trick again a few months later. Ran it for another week or so, and then changed the oil again, and it got even quieter. I think I improved my lifter noise alot using the mystery oil, driving the old truck 'nicely' and doing regular oil changes after...jz