my name is matt and i live in beautiful missoula montana

first let me say that my dad has had fords nearly his whole life... so it was something about these old trucks that made me want to buy one...

im very new to the whole thing... i know the basics of how these old beasts work (mainly from my dad) but still very green... so forgive my ignorance/lack of knowledge...

now to the truck...

its a 1962 ford f100 s with a 292 in it... i got it at just under 100000 miles. great buy! although it has sat for a great deal of time... so there are bound to be problems

needs a little love here and there, but my main focus right now is to get the engine in top working order...

here is a list of the issues so far

fuel drip leak at the fuel pump (took the fuel filter off and the gasket was rotted, replaced with a new one, but it still leaks somewhere... i felt around and all i could find fuel from was the bottom of the cylinder of the fuel filter. i am thinking its the rubber fuel line leaking under pressure..)

leaks a bit of oil but i will stake that on it sitting for a great deal of time... i tightened the valve covers and the leak stopped. still drips a tiny bit (will post pictures)

gets horrible gas milage, below 10 mpg, i noticed that the fuel mixture is running very rich...(by the smell of the exaust) so i adjusted the screws with instruction from my dad, not sure if its completely right. i also noticed that the spark plugs are pretty sooty and black.

when changing from 2nd to 3rd, or 3rd to 4th, it sputters and hesitates.. now i know this could be any number of things, ranging from a lean or rich mixture to sticky valves, again it sat for a while, and i am sure there is gunk in it...

every time i come to a complete stop and then start again, i can hear a metallic *plink* from somewhere behind me... i looked underneath and i noticed the rear brakes are pulled by a cable... so i dont know if its a sticky spring or (god forbid) my clutch is going out.

also you can hear the valves clicking slightly

*** maintenance so far ***

replaced gasket for fuel filter housing, it literally fell to pieces upon trying to take it out... it started drip leaking fuel more than usual and one turn to tighten it and it started leakin fuel everywhere! so after i clamped the fuel hose (in retrospect a stupid idea but i had leakin fuel) i replaced it and used a hose clamp on the end that connects to the fuel line. however it still leaks fuel from somewhere... i am thinking this hose is too big (it was being held on with bailing wire, go figure) so i will need to replace that too...

changed the oil, had chunks in it, not metal... just gunky nasty crap :P

tightened valve covers, fixed oil leak as previously mentioned.

adjusted the idle (idling really low)

tightened the fuel/air mixture screws on either side of the 2bbl holley and let out half a turn on each... dosent run rich anymore by smell of exhaust, but still sputters when i change gears and let on the gas.


i am currently trying to find a chiltons somewhere so i can start working on it... but if anybody has anything that might help i appreciate it... first and foremost is the carb adjustments and the fuel leak, i cant have gas dripping... that crap is liquid gold!

will post pictures soon

thanks

matt H
first time ford owner

 

welcome. Get yourself a vacuum gauge and plug the hose onto a vacuum port either on the intake manifold or on the carb baseplate below the throttle butterflies. When you are adjusting your mixture screws watch the vacuum gauge and try to adjust the carb to provide the highest number on the gauge. Go back and forth from one screw to the other. This will help get your mixture in the ballpark.

 

Greetings! I'm just over in Helena with a '62 F100 4x4... Great to see another around here!

First, I would take the carb off, clean it and rebuild it. If it sat for a while odds are that small passages have become clogged and your needle valves varnished from gas sitting in it. A carb kit with gaskets and instructions can be found at most any parts store and usually doesn't cost much.

That 'plink' you're hearing could be many things, on my truck it turned out to be the transfercase isolators. The rubber being 40+ years old just decayed to the point it fell out and left the bolts loose in their holes on the frame. The noise could also be u-joints, transmission mounts, rear spring mounts or any number of things. Get underneath it and start pulling on stuff till it makes noise... that should be your culprit.

Rubber fuel line deteriorates just like radiator hoses, check the ends for cracking and splits, if it looks bad just replace it.

I had to do many of these same things to my truck when I first got it last spring, but now she runs pretty well.

Good luck and have fun with the old beast

Justin

 

Welcome to FTE

C4AZ9365B .. Cartridge Fuel Filter (Motorcraft FG1A) / Available from Ford, autoparts stores.

B2TZ6A631A .. Crankcase Ventilation Filter / Obsolete

BELL-MCCALL FORD in Hamilton MT has ONE.

GREEN SALES Co. in Cincinnati OH has 44 = 800-543-4959.

For a used or reprint of the original Ford factory shop manual, try: faxonautolit.com

Do not expect to get any more than 8-12 MPG City. This was about it when these trucks were new. Today nothing has changed much. Hwy mileage? Figure 12-18 MPG tops.

btw: Unless the engine has been freshly rebuilt, it isn't a good idea to use a High Detergent motor oil in old rolling piles of misery, especially if the vehicle has sat for a while, or isn't driven on a regular basis.

It will loosen up all the crap in the engine, causing it to possibly plug up the oil passages.

 

problem is number dummy, that the gas milage is backwards for me, i am getting 12-18 in town and 8-12 on the hwy... its just a putzing around town truck, so the hwy MPG dosent worry me that much... but i want this beast running in tip top shape by winter... and i fully intend on getting it there...

thanks for the pointers though

i am not sure when i can get a carb kit for it, but hopefully i can soon, being a broke fresh out of college 25 year old has its disadvantages.. in the mean time i am told to maybe run some carbeurator cleaner through it and see if that will help... it was also suggested that i spray carb cleaner down the throat of the carb to get the gunk out.. although i am not sure if that is a good idea... keep in mind these are old friends of my dad and father in law... and living in montana they have tons of "backyard mechanic" fixes. im just trying to find out if the fixes in question are credible or not.

as far as the worn out accelerator pump, it didnt start doing this until i ran it for a while..i took it on a trip (going no faster than 55) to anaconda from missoula (about 200 miles round trip) and fully expected it to burn oil, and have leaks... but it seemed after i drove it a while it started to do it... so maybe it just wore out by me driving it. it also bears mentioning that it still has an oil bath air filter... could this also be linked with hesitation? and also now that i think of it... if the engine is orignal.. i should be using lead substitute too... i havent checked to see if it has case hardened valve seats yet. anybody know how?

as far as running a detergent through it, you are probably right number dummy, it might be that this engine is being held by the dried up crap alone... which is why i havent washed the engine. however, my brother is currently looking to get me a decent running engine and then we can pull this 292 out and spend our time working on it and giving it a good rebuild.

with the plinking noise... it only happens when i come to an abrupt stop, and then start again, if i coast to a stop it wont do it... i should mention that on our way home i almost hit a deer and had to hit the breaks which are a bit stiff (gonna bleed the lines tomorrow) and it pulled to the left bad, ever since then it pulled to the left when i braked, and the plinking started... however, when i drove it home... it brakes evenly now (might have something to do with me doing the reverse....brake... self adjustment that was suggested by an old ford guy i know) but now it brakes evenly and still makes the noise on occasion... but changing the U joints probably wouldnt hurt.



thanks for the help everyone! its nice to know there are people out there who can help...

 

You're getting up to 18 MPG in TOWN??

That's )(*&(* amazing! These trucks never got that kinda City mileage originally, even with Overdrive....and I oughhta know, because I have one a these truck with Overdrive.

With that kinda gas mileage, you'll be the envy of every owner of every Ford truck that posts on FTE...and elsewhere!

Worn U-Joints usually go plinkity plink under load, not when coasting.

When driving down the road, even tho you can't hear any plinkity plink...it's there.

Unless a previous owner installed them, there are no hardened valve seats in any of these trucks, because...back then...there was no such thing as unleaded gas.

The accelerator pump has prolly been defective for years. How long did this truck sit un-driven? Once it woke up, the defective accelerator pump has reared its ugly head.

 

i may be over exaggerating that a bit, but when i am driving all over missoula i barely use any gas... at all. i drive the vehicle maybe 20 miles each day, with work and errands... and i can stay on a quarter of a tank forever.

to be sure i am going to get an accurate measurement. but i went fifty miles and used up 5 gals on the highway... and that just going 55... i rolled in sunday night with just over a quarter of a tank... driven it to and from work (10 miles round trip) and around town for two days and its resting on 1/4 right now.

 

Uh...you may think you have that much gas remaining because you are going by the dash fuel gauge, but one never knows if the gauge is accurate...or not..

The fuel sending unit's float is made from two pieces of copper (mined in Anaconda or Bisbee, AZ ) soldered together.

Solder breaks down, gas seeps in, float slowly settles to the bottom of the tank.

If the tank is the original, it holds 17.5 gallons.

I'd remove the sender from the in-cab tank (it's EZ to do) and shake that float.

If you hear gas sloshing around, it's time for a new float...which is still available from Ford = COAZ9202B / MSRP: $7.41.

 

thats possible, i could check that to make sure.... even when i filled it (and i checked inside the tank, cause like you i wasnt trusting my gas gauge) it didnt seem to do too bad...

so how would i do that?

 

also, should i be using a lead substitute then?

and it sat for a year or two... it was started once and a while... but never driven a long distance.

 

Flip the seat forward, the sending unit is on the top of the fuel tank, it's top is round and is held on by 5 bolts.

No Smoking when doing this jazz!

You can buy a gallon can of additive for around 20 bucks. Is it worth it?

That depends on how good the engine is. With 100,000 miles (it's prolly more), how long will the engine last before its time for an overhaul?

The odometers of these trucks only read to 99,999.9 then return to ZERO.

So...it could be 100,000 miles, or 200,000 miles, or?

 

judging by the awesome condition of the body, and the underbody... id say under 100,000 although the previous owner before the guy who sold it to me could have taken very, very good care of it... the engine (although gunky and leaky) looks as though it was decently maintained. but there is no real way to tell for sure how many miles is on the poor thing... but after 47 years and at least 100,000 miles, there is bound to be things worn out.

ill give that a shot today, thanks

 

Check your fuel pump real close. You could be leaking fuel out the vent hole at the base. It will leak more at highway speed and kill your gas mileage as described. If the fuel pump is grimey look for a clean swath. 292s have solid lifters and "clatter" is normal.

 

well i repaired my fuel leak problem, turns out where it hooks up to pump out was dribbling a bit of a leak, i sealed the threads and tightened everything, i also repaired the rotting piece of rubber hose that was linking the two hard fuel lines together... all is well...

now that i have worked on it number dummy... its getting constitantly 10-12 mpg... i think a lot of it has to do with the carb... i spoke with an older gentleman who has a 61 and he said his sat for a while when he bought his too... and that i can easily get up to 15mpg in town by just rebuilding and tuning the carb... i was told its possible due to its hesitation and sluggishness is because i am running on one jet, cause the other is dribbling gass due to a clog.. :P

i am running gumout carb cleaner through the fuel tank to just give it a bit of sprucing...

also, i havent figured out where yet, but the oil leak i am still experiencing is coming from the back of the motor somewhere... but its caked with so much crap i cant tell where... so i guess i have some cleaning up to do :P its not a major leak, i had maybe 8-10 drips over night. but its best i find it... the strange thing is that the oil is black and nasty like the old oil... so maybe there is a puddle sitting somewhere... who knows..

now i dont know if this is credible, but i am told if i want a bit better gas milage i should invest in replacing the oil bath air filter with a standard air filter.. suggestions?

 

The USS ARIZONA has lost one pint of oil a day since December 7, 1941. The oil bunkers were filled on December 6, 1941, so that's where the oil is leaking from.

Rear of a 292 engine, it's prolly the rear main seal that's leaking...because it has hardened up.

This is a "rope seal." There are two, one above, one below on the rear main bearing...usually it's the harder to replace upper seal that has failed.