This one ought to start some talk. Every time it rains, I think, "Man, wouldn't it be great to have a truck that I would never have to worry about getting into water too deep on the way home?" Where I live, there are some real drainage issues. In a quick, heavy rain, it can look like Noah was right, actually. So, what are the tricks to building a truck that can ford? This would be on the 76 F150 4X4 with, what will become, a 390, C6, and NP203.

I know that all the vent tubes (axels, trans, t'case) have to be extended, so that's no problem.

I know that the air intake has to be higher than anticipated water level, and it has to be watertight. Are there special carbs and/or air cleaners for this? I'm assuming at least a special air cleaner. Other than that, I'm guessing the ducting is largely a matter of choice.

I also know that having the exhaust out of the water is benificial incase you get stalled and have to start again. If the pipes are out of the water, the engine doesn't have the added task of pushing the water out of the way when cranking. Again, I already have a plan for that. Remember the old Dodge "Lil' Red Express" trucks?

Two big things come to mind. Distributor, which seems rather prone to water problems. Right on the front of the engine, right by the fan, and on my daily drive with same engine, it seems to be very moisture sensitive. Are there special distributors, or just a method for sealing the cap up? Other problem I see is fan. Truck has a rigid fan, and that seems like it would make a big mess and be a huge drag on the engine to be spinning in water if it were that deep. Would changing to a flex fan and/or a clucth take care of this/lower resistance?

Any help would be great. I'm going to search the web for any fording information, but knowing the wealth of knowledge assembled here, I thought it would be good to ask and maybe spark some good imaginations.

Thanks, all.

Matt

 

Hi-
As far as the distributor goes put silicone on the mating surfaces (or go crazy and dump liquid electric tape on it) and remember to plug up the vent hole in it (i got a daily street driver, believe me it doesn't matter). Don't forget your PCV, just put it somewhere dry if you don't have it in your sealed airbox). I'm assuming here that you've already been through other electrical connections, etc.
The fan is gonna spray an exorbitant amount of water on everything under there regardless if it's clutch driven or flex/fixed.
Deal with squealing belts and pulleys burning out or delay it with selectable electric fans. For ultimate reliability a mechanical fan is best though- that's my disclaimer
For the exhaust i say if it dies cause of water it's not gonna restart anyway. Instead of running stacks just have whatever tips on it you got face down. This way when you get pulled out it doesn't get an extra helping through any open exhaust valves.
Also keep in mind with a fully sealed intake a carb might get some mysterious vacuum signals that could mess up troubleshooting. Gotta go, something fell in the 'fridge-

edit: It smells like hay in there because them rats are trying to make a che^y out of it. What would your mother do?

 

If you have a mechanical fan,deep water, and rpm's you will probably "propeller" your fan into the radiator. When the fan is spinning uderwater it flexes far more than when just turning air. This pulls the fan into the radiator and shreds it....Been there done that.

Many Lincoln cars had a rubber boot on the distributor, im not sure if they will fit your truck but it might. The boot is like a rubber cover that wraps around the distributor, it will help shed the water but you still need to seal the cap with silicone.

 

Yep, you can also get the distributor boots off of Mustangs, they fit great. Won't help if it's submerged, but will keep splash off of it. They actually fit really well, with just a hole on each side for the 4 plug wires.

 

Make sure your starter relay is shielded. I had the misfortune of stalling out in the middle of a crossing (20 inches - up to the frame of my BII) because the water splashed leafs up into the engine compartment and shorted out the (+) terminals against the sheetmetal.

 

On a 390 with a regular open 14 inch air filter, all you really need if you have an electric fan is to put a shield about two inches in front of the air cleaner and carry a spare element or two. Have it wrap around 180 degrees at the front. The shield should stand out from the air cleaner and not be attached to it.

Make sure all your wheel/axle seals are cherry, front and back, and smear them with blue grease. On the front locking manual hubs where they attach, smear RTV into the crack and smooth it out.

Number your wires beforehand, bring spare spark plugs, the tools to change them, and a breaker bar to hand turn the engine. You might bring a set of points and condensor too, if the F-150 has them. If you are Duraspark, bring an extra box.

Extra fuses.

Roll down a window on the downstream side before crossing.

 

Plan on replacing the exhaust manifolds after each ford, because they'll warp/crack, and your block/heads might, too. Your alternator & starter brushes are gonna melt and your smog pump (if you keep it) is going to pump water into the catalytic converter(s) if it keeps working, but it'll most likely just seize up & burn thru the belt. Some of the vacuum system has breather caps, so you'll have to find & deal with them. There's no way to keep water out of the hubs, so plan on repacking them every time, but if you pack the bearings and hub locks FULL of grease (the locks won't work any more, so make sure they're in the lock position), it'll suck less water in. And don't make the mistake of trying to use boat trailer grease - it can't take disk brake temps. You'll also have to do a lot more maintenance on things like the e-brake cables, the speedo cable, and the drum brakes to get the water & mud out. Turn & taillight bulbs will probably blow out if you ford at night, so bring replacements.

This is why HMMWVs are so expensive - all this has already been taken care of!

 

just do a 15 inch lift with 44s. thatll get some of that stuff a little higher up.

 

or sink about 10 grand into a niice stroked 460 and hold it to the floor and skim across the water.....or lakes or whatever