jstone4646

Hey guys, I am looking at doing a frame off rebuild on the 84 and was curious what you guys look at frame and suspension/drive line wise when doing this? I plan on replacing all the usual suspects, along with anything that is overly worn out....like fuel lines, hard brake lines, wiring that looks suspect, brake components, obvious worn suspension components, u-joints....that kind of stuff. But are there any items, or parts of the frame, I should be paying special attention to and replace while its cab/bed off the frame that normally get overlooked? I am very much a bullnose (and restore in general) greenhorn, thanks for the assistance and advice! Also to note, the motor (351w) is being sent off to a shop for a professional rebuild and bore out....the transmission and rear end are not a worry to me right now.

All good things to check Gary, thanks! I do know my battery was weak, and I actually bought a new one right after this happened (thinking that was my fix...hoping anyways) and when I took the old battery to auto zone they reported it had dead cells and was holding around 100 cranking amps.....can you confirm if a low (basically dead) battery also cause the starter to get stuck by chance? I knew the battery was problematic because it was weak the whole time I was working on the truck and getting her running right. I trickle charged it probably 6 times or more during the course of getting the truck up and running. Fresh battery now after this morning so I am really hopeful this was just a one time problem....but I do need to check the flywheel just to make sure. Preventative maintenance is always preferred.

Took the truck to work today (it was beyond words to say how overly excited I was for this moment!). Everything went great, truck handled well on the highway....pure awesomeness. But then I stopped for gas, and she cranked for a second and I heard a metal on metal 'thunk' and nothing. Any attempt to crank after that was only clicking. Found that the starter was stuck in the flywheel, manually rolled it back a tad and it popped free. Truck ran and started fine the rest of the day. Should I do anything preventative here or just keep going and see if it happens again?

As the title suggests, what is the largest tire you can cram in the rear end of a stock 2 wheel drive F150. I am going to go mild performance street tire, not an A/T or M/T. I am only concerned about the rear, front will be smaller. I am going for that old school beefy looking rear end, I will end up using the same brand and model for the front but just stock size. I have not decided on wheels yet, but they will be aftermarket....I am shooting for something similar to 70s era muscle car, 5 spoke design. Something like this but looking to shove in the widest tire possible in the rear.

I have nothing on the rear lights wise. I found the plug along the frame and plugged it in but still nothing. The bed was removed by the previous owner along with just about every ground wire on the whole truck so my guess is a ground wire is missing. bulbs are brand new.

Thanks for that link Grumpin, based on what I read in that article and what my coil shows, I believe we can rule out a bad coil as it falls within the specs....I am going to go ahead and order the correct Holley rebuild kit.

I have never rebuilt a carb, but I am game to give it a shot. The rebuild kits are cheap, and I have the manual for my specific carb with all the necessary specifications. The only thing holding me back is not knowing exactly what is in my motor. I know she has a 302 cam, but I do not know if it is a direct factory cam or a mild upgrade. Based on sound alone if she is any type of upgraded cam, it is extremely mild. Would not knowing this information change how the carb would be rebuilt as far as jetting and adjustments? Or would I be safe to rebuild to factory specs?

I did a late night check on the truck, the fuel stream coming out of the jets (or whatever the term is...sorry I am still learning carbs) is very noticeable, I can hear the streams when I pump/manually push the throttle cable and see a decent amount of fuel being pushed out. When the motor is warm I hear a nice little swish when I open the throttle (engine off) followed by some steam/smoke coming out of the top of the carb.

I will take a look at that tomorrow, thank you Gary.

I was hoping I could stay away from the carb but all the research I have done actually points to the accelerator pump that you are talking about. My truck does not have an EGR system at all so I can rule that out.

What would the symptoms be of a failing ignition coil? My truck is still sputtering off idle and I am curious if a weak coil might be causing that at all. Idle is fantastic, but drop her into gear and its stutter, backfire, hesitate, and power loss central. I pulled my spark plugs which were only put in a few days ago and found them completely covered in soot. I know that would suggest possibly weak spark...or running too rich. Just looking to see where I can start diagnosing this shudder, power loss, and backfire I am having only when off idle. Battery, plugs, wires, voltage regulator, dist cap, and rotor are all new. I also bought a timing light and set her right on the money at 10BTDC. So I am fairly confident timing can be tossed out of the equation now. To bring vacuum into the equation, all my vacuum lines are new also....here is my setup on that just to put that out there as well: Holley 4150: timed vacuum port connected to distributor PCV port connected to PCV valve Power brake port is plugged (brakes are running off manifold splitter) No other vacuum ports are really necessary on my truck as I understand it since I do not have A/C. If it is not connected to the carb it is plugged, except the one line that runs down to the transmission which comes off the manifold. Vacuum on my truck is pretty steady around 20 at idle.

Found this beauty at the scrap yard, got just about every fastener I needed....and I even swiped the boxes I needed for the ducting! Truck was not really in all that bad of shape, it even had fairly new tires. I cant believe someone did not save it before it went to the yard. Edit: photo shows up chopped and green on my screen...odd.

My vacuum is sitting right about 20 so that seems good. I did however find that when I put her under load by revving or dropping her into gear that she is still sputtering and popping (backfire). Then I saw that the rubber fuel line that connects to the metal line along the frame rail is zip tied in place.... so yea previous owner got lazy I guess. Anyways it was leaking fuel while the motor was running so I will just assume that is my cause of backfire under load....motor is too lean. I couldn't be happier though, time to really start getting this thing back together (and going through things to see what other Easter eggs the previous owner left me)

I likely need a small bucket of bolts and screws to finish putting my 84 back together, everything from a few fender bolts, to hood hinge and hood spring bolts, tailgate latch bolts....some interior bolts. Curious if Ford pretty well used a standard for the majority of bolts or if there are any publications out there that could list out bolt sizes....OR....should I just make a shopping list and hit the nearest junkyard?

Now that it is running well, vacuum leaks plugged, ignition and starting issues sorted.....I think based on sound it is safe to say that the motor is not modified in any way. The side exit short pipes give it some added noise but does not sound like I have a performance cam or anything like that.