'82 f150 project

Cant Write

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What color is that? I’m in love!! Some black manifolds and accessories and wow!!

I wanna dip my whole white suburban in it!!
 

Rdnck84_03

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That's the factory ford gray, think it is Duplicolor brand. Factory intake sprayed with rustoleum aluminum. I actually hit the exhaust manifolds with black header paint, hopefully I will get them installed tonight. Planning to respray all the accessory bracket with gloss black.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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Finally made a little headway on this project.
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It looks a little out of place with everything else still covered in 40 years of dirt and oil. Would have liked to clean everything up a little better before it went back in, but I decided I better just get it back together before it snowballed into a frame off restoration like my k10.

Hopefully tomorrow I can find a usable distributor in my motor collection somewhere and finish up all the little stuff. Maybe even get it fired, will have to see what tomorrow brings.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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Didn't make as much progress as I had hoped to.

Couldn't find a good distributor, ended up buying a new pickup coil and going through the original. Still need to get a new cap and rotor, but my wife cut me off on buying any more parts until after memorial day weekend.

I swapped transmissions while the engine was out, primarily due to rhe c6 dumped most of its fluid while sitting in the shop. So since i am fairly sure it is the original and doesn't look to have ever been apart. Figured it was due for a full rebuild, so I decided to install the known good aod i pulld out of my 84 short bed when i converted it to 4x4. Still need to make a salvage yard run to get a driveshaft.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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Finally got to make a little progress on this today. Found a drive shaft for the AOD trans, put new u joints in and install it. Got the trans filled up with fluid.

Got the radiator installed and temporarily filled with water. Finish up a few other odds and ends. Went and pulled one of the batteries out of the 83. First attempt to start it, i had sparks flying everywhere. The cheapo negative terminal wasn't tight on the cable.

Got that fixed and tried again with a better outcome, only took about 10 seconds of cranking to get the carb primed and started.

Was running pretty good for having just dropped the distributor "close enough" to get it started so I let it run for about 10 minutes.

Couldn't figure out why the damn electric choke wouldn't turn off, after several minutes of screwing with it I just adjusted it so it wouldn't hold it open.

Decided to throw a timing light on it to go ahead and set the timing. Was sitting at about 11° btdc, so I left it alone. I usually set it at about 10 so I will fine tune it when I get it on the road. But while I was timing it I realized why the choke wasn't working, I decided not to install the alternator belt so there was less unknowns for the first start. :rotflmao definitely felt like an idiot for spending all that time trying to figure it out.

After letting it run for about 30 minutes I decided to test the trans since it has been sitting for about 10 years. Put it in reverse, nothing. Put it in drive, nothing. Starting to get a little worried at this point, I checked the fluid. Nothing on the stick, ended up adding 5 more quarts. Get back in and try it again, I have forward and reverse this time. That was definitely a relief, still haven't driven it to find out if it will shift though.

Started trying to run the rpm up a little and it sounds good up to about 1100 rpm then it just hits a wall and dies. I am pretty sure it is a carburetor issue. There was a used carb kit in the truck when I bought it, so I am guessing someone screwed something up during the carb rebuild. I will tear it down tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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After tearing the carb apart 4 times and changing pretty much everything in it atleast once. I finally figured out why it wouldn't Rev past 1100 rpm.

Turns out the vacuum advance diaphragm was ruptured causing a major vacuum leak an higher rpm.

Got the throttle valve adjusted for the AOD. As soon as I get the vacuum advance replaced and insurance it will be ready for a road test.

James
 

XOLATEM

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You probably know this already but I just can't stop myself from being helpful...I noticed that the old crank was probably one that used a flywheel and balancer that is the same as a 5.0 engine. It has an eccentric balance weight of 50 inch/ounces as opposed to 28.something for all of the older 302's and 351's.

That means that some weight was shaved off the crank when it was cast...and from 1980-82 Ford was looking to save money because the Reagan economy had not kicked in yet. Interest rates were pretty high and so-forth. I believe that the crank casting was pretty...uh...porous and lacking alloying metals that would make it more durable as well as having that eccentric weight slinging around and putting a lot of stress on the back end of the crank.

Did you put a new balancer on it..? I could not tell from the pic...it was painted and nice looking...so..probably....if not...then sometimes the outer ring would move and throw off both the balance and the ability to accurately time the engine.

Another thing to think about would be misfire and crossfire...if the engine was running lean and misfiring...out of tune with ignition components...misfire...spark plug wires shorting out and/or laying on each other and inducing a premature voltage in each other and crossfiring...all that would put out-of-sync impulses on the crank and the engine would be fighting itself...that would tend to break a crank, also...
I have a buddy that has an engine machine shop of some notoriety from the 70's when he was running a Boss 302 in a Maverick...he was running 9's I believe in the 1/4 mile..he told me that the newer chinese cranks available now sometimes snap the snout off because of the excess eccentric weight...it is better to neutral-balance them.]

The worn out cam sprocket would seriously retard the cam timing...but shift the torque curve higher in the rpm range...which would entice the hot dog behind the wheel to rev the heck out of it...

There was an old saying about small-block chevys that they would run their best before they let go...I believe they were just describing the cam-retard situation at the cam sprocket and then the eventual toss the chain event.

Just my .02
 
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Rdnck84_03

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It is a new balancer and flexplate. Because I couldn't tell if the damper had slipped but look like it was about to, and the flexplate had about 6 chewed up teeth where the starter usually started at.

Also a good possibility that there were some misfires. I had to replace the pickup coil because the connector was melted with wires trying to fall out.

Since the vacuum advance is bad I am also thinking that could have contributed to the issue. I had it backfire out the exhaust pretty violently a couple times with very little throttle input. I am thinking there is a possibility that the kid was trying to rev the crap out of it thinking it would clear up.

James
 

XOLATEM

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Overall...it looks like you do a nice job...looks good and apparent attention to detail.

I understand completely the tendency to fully restore an otherwise repair job and having to put the brakes on out of defense of other projects...I have had a couple go that way...I started de-burring and polishing transmission cases before I quit my shop and had to stop myself by remembering that nobody is going to care that it looks great when all they want is it to work.

Anybody want a de-burred and mostly wire-brushed Turbo-350 case..? haha
 

Rdnck84_03

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Thanks. I try to do everything I can to clean everything as well as possible. The frame really needed alot more attention to get all of the grease off but I didn't have an easy way to get it where I could clean it any better.

Trust me I know all about the snowball projects. I have an 84 k10 that turned into one of those. I pulled it in the shop in 2014 to replace a front wheel bearing.... it is now a rolling frame with a completely stripped cab. I have the bodywork almost ready to start jamming everything so it can go back together.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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Finally got this project on the road. Still have a few bugs to work out here and there but overall runs and drives very well.

James
 

Rdnck84_03

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So a little update on this truck. I have been driving it daily for about the last month with no serious issues. I do have a couple things that will need attention though.

I need to service the rear brakes as the pedal is lower than I like but still stops good with no vibrations. So not super high on the list yet.

Need to figure out why the directional indicators on the dash don't work, front and rear work fine outside. The brake light is always on. The high beam indicator comes on with the headlight switch but it stays on for high and low beams. I am honestly almost scared to see what someone has done behind the cluster. I will try to figure that one out when I pull the cluster out to install the factory tach I got for it.

For the 2 issue that are causing me the most problems. It always starts easily in the morning, 1 quarter throttle pump of the accelerator and tap the key its running.

Where I'm having problems is after it is warmed up, shut it off for 10 or so minutes. It is flooded trying to restart, requires half or more throttle and a couple seconds of cranking to fire. I have been completely through the carburetor 2 times already trying to figure out why it's doing it. And it does have the 1/2" phenolic spacer to reduce heat soaking the carb.

Also have an off idle stumble under load that I have been able to help some but not completely cure. With the accelerator pump in the most fastest setting it did help with the issue.

The other issue I am having is with the vacuum advance. With it hooked to partial vacuum port, idle is perfect but as soon as you try to roll into the throttle it starts popping out the exhaust. If snapped from idle to half throttle or more it runs fine.

I have tried several different used advance pods and 1 brand new one. And have tried adjusting all of them with the same results. I have adjusted the base timing from 0 to about 25 degrees btdc in 1 degree increments all with the same results. It runs decent with the vacuum unhooked and port capped.

I'm at a loss of what else to try. Open to any suggestions.

James
 

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