1981 straight six manual 4x4 project

[Ford F834]

Jonathan - I have an Edelbrock manual choke cable, which is very nice, but I can't find anything beyond that for manual choke conversions on their site. And everything I find on-line looks like a Dorman or HELP unit. Sorry.

But, I did find a promising hit on a thread on FTE where a guy by the name of 1986F150Six converted his. Looks like he used a Dorman unit, but you might ask him if that's true.

Thanks for checking around Gary! Let's see if he chimes in on Monday with some expertise. I kind of have a feeling that I will have to engineer and fabricate something if I want improvement. One of the biggest problems is clearance under the air cleaner. A longer lever will give you more throw and finer control, but the whole mess nests into a dimple in the air cleaner pan and you don't have room to raise the cable. If you angle it up it stabs the pan. I battled this for years on my old 1966 F100 as it liked to have choke creep. If you rotate the lever to actuate from below then the cable action is backwards. If I could find an extremely long cable I might be able to route it to pull from the passenger side, but a cable 180* is less than ideal.

[PetesPonies]

Thanks for checking around Gary! Let's see if he chimes in on Monday with some expertise. I kind of have a feeling that I will have to engineer and fabricate something if I want improvement. One of the biggest problems is clearance under the air cleaner. A longer lever will give you more throw and finer control, but the whole mess nests into a dimple in the air cleaner pan and you don't have room to raise the cable. If you angle it up it stabs the pan. I battled this for years on my old 1966 F100 as it liked to have choke creep. If you rotate the lever to actuate from below then the cable action is backwards. If I could find an extremely long cable I might be able to route it to pull from the passenger side, but a cable 180* is less than ideal.

Earlier trucks had manual choke cables OEM. I have one from a '67 I parted. It's going on my '69 428 F100. They are nice pieces, not junk.

[Gary Lewis]

Earlier trucks had manual choke cables OEM. I have one from a '67 I parted. It's going on my '69 428 F100. They are nice pieces, not junk.

Now that's a good idea!

[Ford F834]

Earlier trucks had manual choke cables OEM. I have one from a '67 I parted. It's going on my '69 428 F100. They are nice pieces, not junk.

It ~is a very good idea... what I am using is a cable from my dad's 1966 F100 flareside. It is a bit on the short side, but just reaches the desired mounting location. I want it in the square glow plug lamp hole of my diesel rosewood bezel. The current knob will come off and a bullnose radio knob will go on so it will match the headlight and wiper knobs. A guy on Facebook did it and said the radio knob fits the best... and it looks good.

[Gary Lewis]

It ~is a very good idea... what I am using is a cable from my dad's 1966 F100 flareside. It is a bit on the short side, but just reaches the desired mounting location. I want it in the square glow plug lamp hole of my diesel rosewood bezel. The current knob will come off and a bullnose radio knob will go on so it will match the headlight and wiper knobs. A guy on Facebook did it and said the radio knob fits the best... and it looks good.

That's a cool idea!

[1986F150Six]

Thanks for checking around Gary! Let's see if he chimes in on Monday with some expertise.

The one I am using is a Dorman [or equivalent]. It is as you describe in that the throw is very short. I pull it out no more than 1/4 of the way. The cable was routed through the rubber plug which originally was used for the computer wires as they passed through the firewall. The choke cable runs parallel to the throttle cable and is secured to the throttle cable using small plastic wire ties. It works satisfactorily and does not interfere with the stock air cleaner.

By the way, in warm to hot weather, absolutely no choke is needed to start.

 

[FuzzFace2]

Thanks for checking around Gary! Let's see if he chimes in on Monday with some expertise.

The one I am using is a Dorman [or equivalent]. It is as you describe in that the throw is very short. I pull it out no more than 1/4 of the way. The cable was routed through the rubber plug which originally was used for the computer wires as they passed through the firewall. The choke cable runs parallel to the throttle cable and is secured to the throttle cable using small plastic wire ties. It works satisfactorily and does not interfere with the stock air cleaner.

By the way, in warm to hot weather, absolutely no choke is needed to start.

I first have to say I know of this "help" choke kit but have never really had much hands on with the it.

If the arm is hitting the air filter housing and the other person dose not what filter housings are you 2 using?

What filter housing is PetePony using that his clears?

Can the housing be raised up a little to clear the arm?

If the "help" black part is junk can you gut and drill a hole in the stock one and use it?

Dave ----

[Ford F834]

It ~is a very good idea... what I am using is a cable from my dad's 1966 F100 flareside. It is a bit on the short side, but just reaches the desired mounting location. I want it in the square glow plug lamp hole of my diesel rosewood bezel. The current knob will come off and a bullnose radio knob will go on so it will match the headlight and wiper knobs. A guy on Facebook did it and said the radio knob fits the best... and it looks good.

Thank-you David, for confirming your set up and experience. Once set up, I suppose it is satisfactory, but just that. I am used to the hair trigger choke cable throw, but I hate it. I may work on a better solution eventually but I have much more important matters at hand. I was just hoping there might be something else readily available.

Dave, 1986F150six and myself are running the same air cleaner (the late style 85/86 round one, not the tear drop). Mine clears, I was just relating an experience I had with an earlier truck when I was trying to set up a workable cable bracket. I know how tight it is under there, so I know there isn't any room to extend the lever which is the way to get more throw.

[Ford F834]

Thank-you David, for confirming your set up and experience. Once set up, I suppose it is satisfactory, but just that. I am used to the hair trigger choke cable throw, but I hate it. I may work on a better solution eventually but I have much more important matters at hand. I was just hoping there might be something else readily available.

Dave, 1986F150six and myself are running the same air cleaner (the late style 85/86 round one, not the tear drop). Mine clears, I was just relating an experience I had with an earlier truck when I was trying to set up a workable cable bracket. I know how tight it is under there, so I know there isn't any room to extend the lever which is the way to get more throw.

One chapter of this story that I skipped over before my Death Valley trip was my feeble attempt to get the AC working. The PO had removed the compressor, but everything was still there.

Don't throw stones, I know that just slapping it back together and adding 134A is cringe worthy, but not knowing the condition of anything I didn't have a lot to loose. The system held pressure, but as I added the refrigerant and the compressor got something to pump, the belt began to slip and the clutch started smoking. I took the belt off and have not touched it since...

The compressor is the old York style, and I don't know if it was removed because it didn't work or if the guy just didn't use it and wanted to de-clutter. But my assumption is that the compressor is bad. I don't see many of these in the junkyards, and the ones I do see look sketchy, like they have not been in use for a long time. But I did find a new style one on a truck that was a garage kept cream puff and looks basically brand new. So I bought that along with the hoses.

Now the fun begins. The cast iron hockey stick that mounts to the block was used 80-82. The 80/81's got the York, 82 had the new style, so the mounting brackets are a one-year-wonder. I have the aluminum platform piece from an 82, but looking at the diagram I'm still missing a few things 🙄. Namely the sickle shaped piece, the front to rear brace and the two ears that bolt to the compressor itself. This wasn't supposed to be this hard!

So I guess my options are to fork out $300-ish for a re manufactured York, or come up with the brackets to mount my $37 junkyard one. (Either the missing 82 parts or the entire 83-86 set up). Suggestions? I had decent luck running 134A in my diesel with the newer style compressor, so I'm leaning that direction...

[Gary Lewis]

One chapter of this story that I skipped over before my Death Valley trip was my feeble attempt to get the AC working. The PO had removed the compressor, but everything was still there.

Don't throw stones, I know that just slapping it back together and adding 134A is cringe worthy, but not knowing the condition of anything I didn't have a lot to loose. The system held pressure, but as I added the refrigerant and the compressor got something to pump, the belt began to slip and the clutch started smoking. I took the belt off and have not touched it since...

The compressor is the old York style, and I don't know if it was removed because it didn't work or if the guy just didn't use it and wanted to de-clutter. But my assumption is that the compressor is bad. I don't see many of these in the junkyards, and the ones I do see look sketchy, like they have not been in use for a long time. But I did find a new style one on a truck that was a garage kept cream puff and looks basically brand new. So I bought that along with the hoses.

Now the fun begins. The cast iron hockey stick that mounts to the block was used 80-82. The 80/81's got the York, 82 had the new style, so the mounting brackets are a one-year-wonder. I have the aluminum platform piece from an 82, but looking at the diagram I'm still missing a few things 🙄. Namely the sickle shaped piece, the front to rear brace and the two ears that bolt to the compressor itself. This wasn't supposed to be this hard!

So I guess my options are to fork out $300-ish for a re manufactured York, or come up with the brackets to mount my $37 junkyard one. (Either the missing 82 parts or the entire 83-86 set up). Suggestions? I had decent luck running 134A in my diesel with the newer style compressor, so I'm leaning that direction...

I may have an extra York, and will look in a bit. But an option you didn’t mention is to convert to serpentine and use the 1987+ brackets. See illustration P-20241 here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/300-six-compressor-illustrations.html.