OK, I am a fairly experienced gearhead...with weird experience. I know tons about dealing with fuel injection, both EFI gasoline injection like my 5.0 Volvo wagon has and diesel injection like my old Rabbit has, but no carb experience. Kinda backwards. But here goes...

So, I have this '81 Ford E-100 with a 300 six that I got for $100. However, I may have overpaid. It has low miles--132k KM, which is less than 100k miles--but it's a rustbucket (solid frame, swiss cheese body) with loose steering, electrical gremlins out the yin-yang, and a crappy-running engine. I believe it is fundamentally a good vehicle--a simple Ford truck with low miles should be hard to beat. And it IS simple--doesn't even have power brakes or steering. Also, since the radiator is huge and all-metal, I think it might be the heavy-duty version. With seven main bearings, good maintenance (this van was the PO's baby for years), and lower miles, the big six ought to run fine for thousands more miles. I just need to make sure it runs WELL for those thousands of miles. So I have a few newbie questions, some general and some specific.

Generally, I was wondering what were some good tech links about the 300 and Econolines. Maybe some VIN decoding info to tell me what options this thing has would be nice. Any other stuff I should know about 300-six ownership, driving, maintenance? I have already figured out that these are torquey beasts, since there have been a few times I thought I would have stalled it and it pulled right through at what sounded like about 450 rpm. Not much pep, but it is solid. I like it.

Specifically, it has some problems that maybe you experienced straight-sixers could help me out with. First, a bit more info about its setup: it is a 300 with a 1-bbl carb, tons of messy emissions gear, and the 4-speed OD manual trans (how many big vans do you see with a 4-on-the-floor?). We got it running after it sat for 2 years. It seemed to run OK for awhile, then started running pretty badly. It got to the point where, after driving around town for 20 minutes, you would start to smell hot metal, and look under the car and see the cat glowing red down there. We had it checked with a sniffer and it was getting incredibly bad emissions (like 3000 HC before it overloaded the machine) and missing like hell. We diagnosed a vac leak at the throttle shaft. Had the carb rebuilt at a reputable carb shop and reinstalled it and it's never run right since. We need to get it running just well enough to make a 15-minute drive to the carb shop where it will get a free carb tuneup, without burning up the cat (and probably the van) on the way there. Seems like the engine is getting fouled up by possibly ignition timing, and almost definitely by the ridiculous vacuum system. Please, does anyone have a good online vacuum diagram? The Haynes manual lacks any at all. I am thinking some stuff is messed up in there, and maybe there are even other leaks, like the manifold gasket. The van needs to pass WA state emissions in the next couple months, so I guess we ought to leave the emissions crap in there--unless it can be yanked with impunity. What do you recommend? My main concern is where to hook up the vacuum advance line--above or below the throttle plate? Is there a special place on the 1bbl where it needs to go? Right now, it seems to start up OK and run all right when cold, getting progressively worse as it warms up. The choke is operating. It is shaky at idle, hesitates like crazy, and misses and barely runs sometimes at part throttle. Definitely seems mixture or timing related to me. Any ideas? Thanks. Please don't suggest a 2bbl or 4bbl carb--I only need enough pep to cruise in the slow lane on the freeway, and care more about money and fuel efficiency. Plus the 1bbl is freshly rebuilt.

 

You may not agree, but when you buy a vehicle like this, you need to be prepared to go over it completely.....translation....invest in it.
You got your moneys worth.
I have an F150 83 same tranny, same engine...had it since new.
The 300 is an easy to work on, reliable engine, but with lack of maintenance it will run like crap (not unique to the 300). Personally I don't think there's any part of the engine that is prone to problems.
A twenty-three year old carburated vehicle that hasn't been well maintained IS prone to problems.

 

Yep.

I know I will have to invest--got $500 from the sale of another car that's set aside for van improvements. Just need advice on exactly WHERE to invest it, so I don't go blowing cash on stuff that never fails on 300s.

 

Is it possible that the cat is plugged and that's why it's getting so hot?

I'm assuming that your smog guy checked that, but who knows.

 

i woukld check the condition of the cat. if it's glowing red that's usually a sign of blockage.

 

Yea if it wasn't before, you can pretty much bet the cat's dead now.