Hey guys..I got a 72 F-100 and i'm tryin to get it running right before i leave for college in august. We were working on it this afternoon and at first it would turn over and not kick off. after several tries like that, it started acting like it didnt have a good connection with the battery (it made the fast clicking noise). My grandpa wiggled something by the carb and it started to turn over like before but then it wouldnt stop, even after i turned the key off and pulled it out. (we just put a new ignition switch in it, too)..anyways, the truck kept turnin over til it drained the battery so my grandpa pulled his cadillac over to it and we tried to jump start it and it kept doing the clicking noises, even after he tried shorting it across the solenoid...has anything like this ever happened to ya'll? we think it might be the solenoid and i'm going to pick one up on my lunch break tomorrow and see if thats the problem...any other ideas or tips or suggestions? they'd be really helpful

 

Sometimes if the battery has been run down to a certain point with the starter relay being actuated at the time Trying to start the engine.
The Low battery power welds the relay contacts together (one click)thus creating a "continuous starter crank" condition.

while you are Charging the battery up with a Battery charger ........head down to a parts store and get another starter relay.

 

hurricane72 Welcome to FTE and the 67-72 forum.
Bad cables can add to your problems as well. With you going off to college, it might be a good idea to replace all of the cables from the battery to the starter, and the solonoid also.
That won't cost a lot and will give your mom peace of mind, and that is a good thing. IMHO

John

 

thanks for the response...my payday is coming up and i'll be makin a trip to either carquest or o'reilly's and pick up the cables and the solenoid. also, i found out that my uncle has a 78 ford pickup that was ordered (new, in '78) and has a 460 and c6 transmission (?) in it...he said he wouldnt sell the engine alone, instead he'd sell the whole truck and he doesnt have a price nailed down on it yet. I know engine swaps arent the easiest things in the world to do to a truck, but would it be feasible to swap my straight-6 with the 460? he said that he rebuilt the top end of it and was on the way to town and the front seal in the transmission blew and leaked trans fluid on the exhaust pipes so he turned around and parked it where its at today cause he didnt feel like foolin with it. He said that's all thats wrong with it..

One more thing...The gears in my rear end are low, so low that 60 is about my top end speed. I'm going to college out of town and I'd like to be able to drive on the freeway without having to ride the shoulder. I'm thinking about replacing the gears (or the rear axle, if that one out of the 78 will fit)..I saw the gears thread but i'm not sure what ratio would be good for my application. I'm probably not going to be hauling anything except a fourwheeler on the rare occasion and i'd like to have a little bit of speed to it...nothing like 2:70s or anything but something with a little giddy-up to it...any suggestions?

 

Welcome hurricane72 to FTE and welcome to the Arkanasas Chapter!

jimbo

 

Ford put in 2.75's then right up to 3.00's.

I would suspect that 460 could have anything behind it. Possibly 3.50's

You didn't say what exact model truck the 78 was.

 

I have 3.50's in my 72 F-100 w/ a 400 and auto. I can pull anything I want and the truck will still fly. has real good take off and doesnt matter if your sitting still or running 60 down the road.