HBF comes out of retirement

This one might show the smoke a bit better:

You can buy a Dorman choke stove repair kit in the HELP! aisle of most any auto parts store.
It has the tube, insulation and compression nuts with ferrules*

I'm not sure what "this" is.
No frame of reference for me.

If it's something connected to vacuum, any kind of backfire would blow a cap off.
But what is the wisp of smoke you're trying to show?

I was debating a kit but I am not sure I could pull that off without breaking a bunch of rusted metal!  So, I figured I would try to jerry rig it for now!

Well Jim, I really am not sure what I am looking at.  It's a hexagonal tube underneath the carburetor and it has a few vacuum lines attached to it.  (At least three vacuum lines and two rubber caps.)  The hexagon tube seems to bolt into the intake manifold but I might be wrong.  No luck finding it when I am looking through the documentation so I could refer to it by name.  I'm sorry.  

Yes, I think the rubber cap must have heated up and melted through or perhaps another section of it popped off under pressure.  I definitely smelled burning and then there were the wisps of smoke.  Better start driving around with a fire extinguisher!    

Yep! That is the vacuum tree.

David has documented what connects there.
But not every outlet was used in all cases, so a vacuum cap is easy enough to replace.

Everything is really close to the exhaust manifold under there.
Maybe there was a line. Maybe not.
But what you are showing is a vacuum leak.
And the smoke you see is fuel vapor, because there is no oil in the intake (except if the PCV is really blowing)

Oh!!!  That's the vacuum tree!  That makes sense!  THANK YOU!!!

Do you see it as a hex with 'Man Vac' shown on the routing diagram sticker? (on the radiator support)

That way you could tell if any hoses are missing.

I appreciate the thanks, but that's why most of us are here, to help others understand how these old trucks function.

I'll look tomorrow!!!

ALL OF YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!  THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!!!

Good morning Bullnose Family!

OK, so I left Happy Blue Ford out in the driveway overnight and just got back from a test drive in 30 degree weather.  But first, in regard to the vacuum tube diagram:



And the second thing to report was the smoke seems to be coming from the rear of the engine:





So, I think it's safe to say, the smoke isn't coming from the vacuum tree!  But, why would the back of the engine start burning off the oil crud right after I reconnected the separated heat stove?  Could it be that the heat stove never got that hot when the stove pipe component was just spewing hot air immediately upon exiting the stove before I re-connected it?  And, now that it is connected, it's hotter?  Or, have I actually blocked the egress of air with my aluminum foil tape contraption?  I figured after driving HBF for several months now, any oil back there that would have burned off would have burned off by now?

Well, the smoke revealed itself (or perhaps we could call this a smokeshow?) at a parking lot 3.6 mile drive away.  At this point the idle was really racing high but at other points in the drive, it was running great.  I drove immediately home after that.  When I arrived back in my driveway, it wasn't smoking anymore.  I have some degunker so I should probably use it in the whole area.

Thoughts?!?  Use my Jeep (named Chewy by my girlfriend, who is definitely a smokeshow and who loves this website) to go get a fire extinguisher?  Or, heck, go test drive HBF again!  

Colour code red is manifold vacuum, so you see there are only two lines connected.
There is likely a third for climate control, and another for the brake booster but this diagram only shows emissions.

Perhaps because with it disconnected there was never vacuum drawing heated air through the line to the choke?
If the smoke is way back there I'd be looking for oil getting on the exhaust.
I don't think it's a big deal if there is not a substantial leak.

Well, I decided to idle it in the driveway with a water hose at the ready (of course water could potentially make an oil fire worse) and it didn’t start smoking again.  With the air cleaner off, after some time, the stovepipe got too hot to touch with my fingers, so I am happy to say that seems to be working.  And the idle hummed along as it should!

Yes, I suspect some globs of oil must have been displaced when I was working on the stovepipe last night and were burning on the manifold or something like that.  

I used up two old remnant bottles of degunker the previous tenants left behind and I was able to get more oil build up off the rear of the engine.  

So, hopefully the stovepipe works well through the week and the idle won’t scream with over choked RPM’s!

You are making good progress peeling that onion.  Well done.  Soon you'll have a mess of onion rings!

HA!!!  Onion rings!!!  

My trip into work this morning was at 38 degrees and about the same heading home.  Idled like a champ!  

Another little thing I worked on over the last week or so was a deep cleaning of the floor mat.  I had washed the black floor trim pieces in the sink and there was quite a contrast between the black trim pieces and the "black" floor mat.  So, I pulled it out and gave it a good scrub with soapy water and a scrub brush.  





I had no idea the floor was so caked with dirt in the nooks and crannies!  Maybe I shoulda kept scrubbing some more, but I am happy it improved a bit!




Anyhow, thought I'd throw this out here for others.  Really simple to pull it out and scrub it down and I think it made it look a bit better.  One day I'll buy a new one after I get the floor pans all fixed up!

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I wish we could just pick up a Fey replacement for $200 like 30 years ago, but it seems no one stocks anything like that any more.

Like this, Jim?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Ford-F-150-1975-1996-Replace-FEY20000-Rear-FEY-Step-Bumper/284160083079?epid=1777064725&hash=item422942c487:g:BSkAAOSwY8BgDqdx

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Ford-F-150-1975-1996-Replace-FEY20002-Rear-FEY-Step-Bumper/283999584022?epid=1777064713&hash=item421fb1bf16:g:msMAAOSwVexfUYsq

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westin-Fey-For-F-150-250LD-67-96-Ford-F-250-HD-67-98-Universal-Bumper-Mount-Kit/224306151585?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3439b040a1:g:YswAAOSwW~hf9P3O:sc:ShippingMethodStandard!95125!US!-1&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkgCVySCgrNFPU8Iu85TabMGMhYEY72XKAbAhxTYvRFWEBYoZmP7RiKGjiMj8U2RQPOtgzhX9eLqFgTn7gk51JBes8SP2r73jrfdD2MwYrc6tPPnMxBTb84tbyUxRNWyIR5jF1%252BH2z49gONKDzm88D1g79Kym%252Fop0ADpQEQxCNIcSBXwLCmG3%252F3TcYoNBVFI%252BWhnLBow5wD1Fqn8wlLoDr73JDjf6ZkSaahNQl0IXrJ0w3y3PUPklKDvSitYxcN9N63vNb2I6C7lhm65yf1GjiN70Un6zzrq73lqmS%252FCynRAxGuecD%252BEc1Z49YPuWArhvB16R6Rp%252FWQSHSkroL8UP3L1bAj8Mn0So3M1DxhuohnECxLJfb1zddB3u3NBr68WbQwNmGDrEQguQNp4%252BtEdIfFwfCQLE8bPP%252B2KwTCaii9BIuhP72JpF9oM1d%252Fy0TXvIQ2hcOXmuLl1z1bdk5ozzIveS1Rpa4rIVUxKoqslzCecShZijbQoRwLJOieOkO90ql9rzfmNOwb16xwFRf30oa9etL8LaNu5DoRcrktAHD1SV7r3TSiCdag9rWXxANa2cq6TpkpABBPC%252BtYgxFw1I1SK68YUlXJLIFCOD1F4kfyfO%252FsKN55qwTuqxRJ4ZhV%252BWuJABX3idvhIE6tL0Fo%252F6zmztD%252Bp7LvitOrzGCsHQt1NKeN2xinqxUB7s4nOIuI669H5payvF7KodR%252F8%252BKzdaAWtxm%252B02e2944cj%252FQUvXvPw8C905D1CPlfoHl%252F5CYjc8jdx1fWB1am%252FcHvXp56iXkWJG7LulZSvTxiYmcdlpHzJY%253D%7Ccksum%3A224306151585533fb15972554972bab61df4417e4542%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

Speaking of bumpers...

I have heard a handful of reasons for the three holes in the bumper.  One was to have different sized hitches/balls in each hole.  Another was to offset the trailer so it would tow a bit towards the center of the road or towards the shoulder.  Another was for the little sway bar hitch/ball.  And another reason was for holes for the safety chains.  The sway bar reason and the safety chain reason makes the most sense to me.  Is the proper use of the three holes in the bumper written in any of the literature?!?

Well, this rivet had broken about 15 years ago which probably lead to the increased vibrations so the mirror shook free from the housing.  Anyhow, drilled out the rivet today and will head to the hardware store tomorrow to find a bolt, a couple washers, and two nuts (tightened against one another) to create the right amount of give for this to serve again as a pivot.  

Anyone done this before?  Advice?  Use a Nylock?  Acorn cap nut?

What diameter hole did you end up with?

Good question...I put a ¼" bolt and nut through it for just a temporary fix on my way to the hardware store.  There was some wiggle room.  

I might suggest a 5/16 Chicago bolt (sex screw, binder post) if the local hardware has one.
They are very low profile and about as close to a rivet as you can get.
A drop of Loctite will keep them from loosening.

On second thought, a 1/4" screw will have a sleeve that is bigger.
So that might work just fine if you can find the right length.

Well, I didn't realize those screws were called that!  I thought they were called barrel nuts!  Brilliant idea!!!  Thank you!