New User with 2 1986 F350s

[onetonjohn]

Hi All,
I just joined the forum, although I've been lurking reading about these trucks for some time. I understand now that it's a sickness, and I think I have it. It started with a 1986 Brown F350 4wd automatic that we could use for hauling stuff occasionally. It moved our 3 bedroom house and garage one load at a time (filled bed and utility trailer) up the hill to Grass valley and I was hooked. These trucks are great, albeit slooow. From what I've read, towing with a manual is better. Besides I've always had a manual and I like them better, sooo I picked up another 1986 F350 4wd manual. My wife can't drive it, so need to keep the auto. And so it begins. The manual needs a some work. Glow plugs were all bad, with several broken off. Fuel filter was clogged so it would die whey you snap the throttle. Hoses to the heater core are plugged (not sure why). Water separator was bypassed. Lots of little stuff. There is rust in the floor of the cab by the door. I'm hoping I can cut it out and weld in a new piece, but this is new territory for me (sounds easy enough -lol). I'd like to do 5 speed swap for freeway cruising, but first I need to get it running good fixing and upgrading the little things. I'd be interested in hearing anything I should check or take care of. The plan is to do a medium cost functional restore to get this thing mechanically sound and protected from rust so it will last for years to come (I can't afford a new truck, but I can't afford to drive an unreliable truck either). I hope to post pictures of my progress and questions I have along the way, but for now I just wanted to introduce myself to the forum.

 

[towcat]

welcome John. Grass Valley, CA?
if you are in kali and would like to meet others with the same addiction, we have a get-together at the end of May on memorial day weekend. check out the "events and get-togethers" section in the main section.

 

[onetonjohn]

Thanks. Yup I'm in GV. Ca. I'll keep my eyes open for that. If it's not too far, I'm in. Thanks for the welcome and the heads up on the event.

 

[Jason1377]

Welcome to the Oilburners family John ur in great hands here n diesels are a giid drug good luck on ur restoration sir

 

[chillman88]

Welcome to OB!

 

[onetonjohn]

Here's a pic of the F350 with a manual. I noticed the tail light, bumper, and grill is a little messed up. Except for the floor of the cab, pretty much rust free (not like the brown one in my profile pic).

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[onetonjohn]

And the current state of affairs. I pulled the front clip to pull the motor to check that glow plugs weren't in head or cylinder. After pulling the heads (they are very heavy) I"m glad I pulled the motor out to do this.

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[onetonjohn]

And the heads/block. I used a shop vac while I was scraping the gasket with a razor to try to catch all the little bits of gasket. Not sure if there is a better way (some material found its way into cylinders) but it seemed to work pretty good.

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[onetonjohn]

Here's a close up of a cylinder with some gasket material or carbon debris in the cylinder. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but I think I see a .020" on the top of the cylinder. Is this a 20 tho over piston suggesting t

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his motor has been rebuilt? It did have upgraded 7.3 rocker arms (I thought that was weird as I was pulling it apart).

Couple questions. Are these 20 over pistons? How do things look? Is the debris going to cause any trouble, or will this just get pushed out the exhaust when I fire it up? Also, are the dents likely from the glow plugs that were broken off and appear to be gone. Is there a way to check if they (broken off glow plugs) are still in pre combustion chamber ( can't see in there).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Thewespaul]

Those are indeed 20 thou over, so your engine has been rebuilt. They don’t look bad, but they look pretty beat from glow plug tips going through the engine. This won’t affect the pistons’ performance but I would make sure all the valves are in good shape. The glowplugs tips are long gone by this point. I’d get it as clean as you can, but as long as it’s not metallic debris it won’t harm the engine.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

You chose a couple of nice trucks and you came to the right place for advice (and sometimes some good natured ribbing). I also prefer a standard transmission in these trucks. I don't think that you can even buy the 6.9 style of rocker arms any more so any rebuild will include the 7.3 style (although I believe that by 1986, they were already on the 6.9s from the factory). Looking at your close up picture, there appears to still be some crosshatch in the cylinder so there isn't a lot of wear. It should last you for a long time yet. As for the heater core being plugged off, my guess is that it was leaking and someone was just too lazy to replace it. It's an easy job to do.

 

[onetonjohn]

The heads look pretty good to me, but I think I'm going to have them checked at the machine shop. It probably doesn't cost much to check them, and if it's been rebuild, as long as they did a good job, they should be fine. At 20 tho over do I have another rebuild out of this block?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Since they're off, it sure wouldn't hurt anything to have your heads checked. You should be ok to go to .030. These are really tough old birds and as long as you do good, regular servicing, you won't have to worry about another rebuild for a long time.

 

[Hydro-idi]

I zoomed in to check out those pistons. Looks like glowplug tips did some damage to that engine, putting cracks in the piston tops. I had to zoom waaay in but I can spot a crack.
No bueno

 

[Macrobb]

If you are going to all this trouble of rebuilding it, get a set of ARP headstuds.
You'll thank me later - not only do they give you peace of mind when it comes to blowing gaskets, but you can safely drop a turbocharger on there and make it not-slow!
Seriously... The headstuds are a good thing now, and a turbo later when you find one. It makes a *huge* difference in performance, especially under load.