Hi Guys! Just wanted to say I have been a long time Lurker, and feel like I should thank the Forum for all the information! I just completed my Duraspark 2 swap thanks to the treasure trove of info on here. My truck had been hacked up badly by previous owners, but I knew it had good bones.I bought it for a song and intend to make her a runner. These trucks are great! A little study time and using the Search prevailed! When I had a question or hit a wall of uncertainty the Search was there for me. I didn't even have to ask anyone but the SEARCH a question! Well long story short, she fired up first try! had her timed in about 2 minutes and boy oh boy does she run WAY better! Thanks to all those people who put all that great stuff on here!

 

So what song did you use to get it
Welcome to the forum. When/if you can we would love to see your truck.
Besides to get her running what other plans do you have for the truck?
Dave ----

 

Welcome to FTE, Lurker! Oh, I'm mean Luke.

Anyway, glad it worked so well for you. But, would you mind being a mentor to some of the others? Help them with spelling "search"?

 

Good job Luke, welcome and thanks for sharing! I too use the "Search" function first - most question anyone may have have already been covered well over the years and it is a great resource. Searching and reading all the posts related to your question (or not!) is also a great way to learn all kinds of information about these trucks! A Haynes manual, plus factory manuals (Ebay) will also be a great resource for fixing up your truck and keeping her running well.

 

Welcome to the forum, Luke Doney!

 

Hey guys! I uploaded a picture of the truck! Not too pretty, but she has tons of character!



1985 F150, 2wd, 300, I6, rebuilt C6 Duraspark 2 swap

I bought it a few years ago, drove it for a year and then it sat while I came up with a plan for it. I plan on turning it into a daily driver/adventure rig. I'm in the process of doing wheel bearings, ball joints, brakes. Also has tons of fresh little bits all over it. Has fresh shocks, and getting some new tires tomorrow mounted on some stock(not to this truck) alloy 15" wheels. Needs a power steering pump, the one on it is knockin' and a whinin' pretty good. Just checked the valvetrain out today and everything is hunky dory as far as visual and auditory inspections say except maybe the valve guides, but not bad. Manifold Vac, is a little fluttery.

the body is rough-ish, but I don't really care, it was a fleet truck for a painting company. I do wish it had a tailgate. I've tried and tried to find one that wasn't too nice but worked, no luck yet.

Im thinking maybe a flatbed or utility bed w/ custom camper set up with rooftop carring capacity. Also, thinking about the Offy Dual Plane intake manifold & 4 barrel carb, with the Stevens REPOP HD exhaust manifold. I like that exhaust manifold, it looks the business anyway. I won't be thinking of any of that till all the worn out suspension stuff is fixed though.

I love workin' on this truck, almost everything can be done with the bare minimum tool box in the driveway, parts are dirt cheap in comparison to some of stuff I've been buying for any of the German cars I've owned.( '89 VW Vanagon, and currently a 1981 MB 300SD, turbo diesel.)

the truck

 

Thank you! I totally agree with you about the way reading the posts help you learn things you weren't exactly looking for. I already have a Haynes manual for it that I picked up at thrift store for a buck believe it or not, and I should look into the factory manuals quick before I get in trouble with you guys. JK. But seriously I will definitely look into getting those, didn't know that they were available.

I figure that im about the only one around that has the notion to save the truck from the scrap yard or crusher,so I took it on. My buddies didn't know why I bought it. Why would you buy a crappy, beat up, barely running $500 truck, right?Now I get to rub it in ,that I have about 1or2 car payments in it(about $800-1000), and it runs like a dream...... has power.........easy /cheap to work on....... and gets decent fuel mileage. It has one of the best engines ever made. IMO.

They are flabbergasted, jealous, and otherwise astonished. They're lining up to follow me, My buddy just bought a '79F100. It's way nicer than mine in the looks department. He's spent triple the cash. He's happy, I'm very happy.

 

Luke,

Did you end up buying any new parts for your conversion (carburator, distributor, cap and rotor)?
...If so, what were the make / part numbers?

Can anyone else recommend new specific part numbers that have worked well with their 300 inline six conversion?

Thanks for sharing,
.

 

I have had good success with using this carburetor on my 1986 F150 with 4.9L engine. More Information for AUTOLINE C6002

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/f...arburetor,5904

 

I bought new parts from O'reilly's. I just got the parts for a 1982 version of the same truck. I tried to find everything I could used first though. It was pretty cheap, Coil, plugs, wires, New distributor with cap and rotor included, coil connector. If you log on to their site and enter your trucks 1982 counter part it will pull the parts up for you if you just use the search on their site.

As far as the Carb goes, the Previous owner put a non feedback remanufactured Carter YFA on it. The feedback carb(not the one you want for the swap) has a solenoid on the float bowl( front drivers side of the carb) that is pretty obvious to tell apart from the others. the solenoid looks like a metal cylinder and has a wire connector hanging on it.

I had no luck in finding a wiring harness so I just made one using the available connectors from Napa/ Echlin bought a roll of wire and soldered it together myself. Truth be told it was easy. Those connectors are overpriced though.