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Thanks everyone I got the brakes back on. The switch wasn't seated on the push rod properly so it wasn't closing the circuit when I pushed down, it just took a little finagling. Small victories I guess.
Last night I started pulling the carb etc to get the intake and exhaust manifolds off but I had to call it quit at the rusted on nuts holding EGR return pipe in. I'm going to give it another go today after work. I know there is a mean leak there since you can hear both a hiss/suck sound and the exhaust coming out but when I was looking at it yesterday I realized there was what appeared to be a fairly new gasket set on (the same Fel-Pro I have). The only thing that looked way wrong to me was that the gaskets protrude a good 1/4 inch or more out from where the manifold and the head line up. I didn't think to get a picture of it but basically you can grab edge of the gasket and bend it back forth. There is no way that is seated properly, right???? If so should I try tightening down the bolts before replacing the gaskets? Also, the gasket set didn't come instructions so would guys use RTV or not? The gasket is metal for the exhaust and a fiber/cardboard material for the intake. (This one: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fe...view/make/ford )
I plan on taking the carb apart and cleaning it up while I have everything disassembled. Once those two things are done I'm going to attempt to get the vacuum lines routed in a way that makes sense.
Get some heat on those bolts (nuts) so you don't snap them. Even a propane torch will help, but if you get a bottle of MAP gas for it, you'll get a lot more heat.
I got the manifolds off today (it took a dremmel, pipe wrench and a lot of weasel **** aka acetone and ATF) and I found a crack in the exhaust manifold thread where the bolt goes up through the intake to secure the carb. I noticed when I was pulling the carb that the one bolts was stripped. At the time I thought that it just seated in the intake so I had planned on using some loctite when I put it back together but, since this is not the case I am no wondering if I should just buy new exhaust manifold. Is there any legitimate way to fix this cheaply/easily. And no, I have no welding skills or tools nor do I know any welders.
IF you can find a replacement, that would be best.
But quite possibly you may not be able to get another one, in which case you should find a shop that can weld it up and re-tap the threads for you.
A professionally done job should last.
Rockauto.com has a replacement manifold for around 150$.
Do you have to go through emissions? If not you can use the dual manifold setup from the 87 up 300 with fuel injection. Keep in mind that you will have to replace most if not all of the existing exhaust, but the performance increase is well worth it.
Rock auto has the entire 87 duel manifold set up as well.
The county I'm in does have an emissions inspection but it's not a tailpipe test for a truck this old and I'm under the 5,000 mile/year threshold so I get an exemption this year anyhow. If this truck is still on the road in 2 years I might consider the headers/intake swap but for now I'm just looking to get this thing on the road and not stalling at red lights.
I ordered an OEM replacement today on ebay for $85 shipped. Not bad in my opinion. The EGR pipe was rusted out pretty bad (the fitting just snapped out of the manifold) so I need to decide what to do with that. I'm pretty sure there is no smog pump on this thing already and that the O2 sensor isn't hooked up to anything either so I'm already in a nebulous emissions state. I may just plug the manifold and the EGR and cap the vacuum port and see what happens.
Oh and just as a (funny) side note I realized that the electric choke was disconnected and the manual one the guy had gypsy rigged in was not working so I was cruising around with the choke 90% closed. Cool.
Well the choke probably is causing most of your running issues. I like the manual choke, I'd get a new manual set and install it properly.
As long as you stay under 5k, you can get an exemption every year. Better yet though, get the PA antique plate and skip emissions and inspections forever. Plus you only pay once to register it and you'd save that money in 2 years of registering it as a truck. Even when the truck dies the plate can be transferred to any other antique. Definitely the best route to go in PA.
Pull from time to time. If you used non synthetic and switched to full sun you may get a slight leak because the syn cleans everything up but it will eventually make seals and gaskets more supple. Any mechanic does not know this tidbit bit of info hasn't done his homework. Jumping from the Motorcraft semi thin to mobile 1 5 30 70,000 miles ago has not hurt my engine a bit and I have no leaks I change it every 5000 and it burns about 1/2 qt in that period of time. Full syn is the best thing for high mileage engines. Get the high mileage Mobil one. Most high mileage oils have more zinc and other additives in it to help you out. Any leaks you have on a conversion will be temporary.
03-17-2016, 09:27 AM
