jstone4646 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 My son and I picked up an 85 xlt extended cab long bed last night, decently loaded too. Captains chairs, dual tanks, electric seats and windows. She's a much more complete truck than my 84 project. Plan for her is to get her running and flip it for a profit which I will end up putting into the 84. 83,000 miles, 351, and she is all there. Everything outside and in, and in really decent shape minus paint and some trim on the outside. Gave a whopping $300 for her. Her story so far is, the battery was dead, and all we had was a half dead jump box with us. She turns over, but will not fire. Previous owner replaced the ignition coil, starter relay, plugs, wires, distributor, and dist. cap. The dist. top is not bolted down so it twists from side to side....timing will need to be set on that end, but the PO assures me they got top dead center when they dropped in the dist and just had not gotten around to adjusting the top. When she attempts to fire she just spits out the top of the carb, but again we had a nearly dead jump box and only got maybe 5 minutes worth of attempted cranks out of her....for the price we paid I was more than willing to take the leap, if anything I can re-sell or part out (keeping what odds and ends my 84 needs, and still be well off with profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Wyatt Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 If it's spitting out the carb while turning it over sounds like to me it's 180* out of time. They may have put the distributor in while the piston was at TDC but it is at TDC twice during each cylinders four strokes. You also need to verify that the dist. was timed to the no. 1 cyl. for a Ford and not the Chevy small block. I have seen that done on numerous occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 If it's spitting out the carb while turning it over sounds like to me it's 180* out of time. They may have put the distributor in while the piston was at TDC but it is at TDC twice during each cylinders four strokes. You also need to verify that the dist. was timed to the no. 1 cyl. for a Ford and not the Chevy small block. I have seen that done on numerous occasions. You got a STEAL! Congrat's! And, I agree with White Knight - the dizzy may be 180 degrees out. (Actually 360 degrees.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstone4646 Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 You got a STEAL! Congrat's! And, I agree with White Knight - the dizzy may be 180 degrees out. (Actually 360 degrees.) That should be easy enough to tell, I assume the crank balancer on these 351s had factory timing marks yes? So it should go something like this??? 1. turn the engine over (either by tapping it over with the key or quickly shorting the starter relay, or manually turning the crank) until the indicator (assuming the crank has marks) reaches 10 BTDC 2. ensure the distributor rotor is lined up with cylinder 1 (based on the firing order that is roughly the 1 oclock position of the dist. cap). 3. reattach the cap, crank her up, assuming she fires....hit the timing light and ever so slightly adjust the cap until the 10BTDC mark is exact (again assuming these 351s have marks on the crank) Now what is all this stuff I am reading about Ford SPOUTs? Spark Output, do these trucks have this jumper, and should it pulled out while setting timing? Thanks again guys. Oh and....about the mileage....previous owner claimed it had 77k when he got it, then he put another 6k on it which made it 83k. Sure enough the dash says 83k (83 and change) and I was a bit skeptical about that being the actual mileage without a 1 or even a 2 in front of it....but sure enough the VA title says he bought it in 2014 and it was an actual odometer reading of 77k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 That should be easy enough to tell, I assume the crank balancer on these 351s had factory timing marks yes? So it should go something like this??? 1. turn the engine over (either by tapping it over with the key or quickly shorting the starter relay, or manually turning the crank) until the indicator (assuming the crank has marks) reaches 10 BTDC 2. ensure the distributor rotor is lined up with cylinder 1 (based on the firing order that is roughly the 1 oclock position of the dist. cap). 3. reattach the cap, crank her up, assuming she fires....hit the timing light and ever so slightly adjust the cap until the 10BTDC mark is exact (again assuming these 351s have marks on the crank) Now what is all this stuff I am reading about Ford SPOUTs? Spark Output, do these trucks have this jumper, and should it pulled out while setting timing? Thanks again guys. Oh and....about the mileage....previous owner claimed it had 77k when he got it, then he put another 6k on it which made it 83k. Sure enough the dash says 83k (83 and change) and I was a bit skeptical about that being the actual mileage without a 1 or even a 2 in front of it....but sure enough the VA title says he bought it in 2014 and it was an actual odometer reading of 77k. Yes, that process should work. But if this truck has an original Holley 4bbl then it will have DS-II ignition as that is the 351HO engine. So, no SPOUT. Just a very simple ignition system with no computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstone4646 Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Yes, that process should work. But if this truck has an original Holley 4bbl then it will have DS-II ignition as that is the 351HO engine. So, no SPOUT. Just a very simple ignition system with no computer. So is that then the tell-tale sign of the 351 vs 351HO, a DS-II and no SPOUT, where the standard 351 would have no DS-II and a SPOUT? I have been trying to figure that one out as well. If that is the case, then both of mine are 351HO motors and for unknown reasons that makes me happy...who doesnt like an extra 60 ponies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 So is that then the tell-tale sign of the 351 vs 351HO, a DS-II and no SPOUT, where the standard 351 would have no DS-II and a SPOUT? I have been trying to figure that one out as well. If that is the case, then both of mine are 351HO motors and for unknown reasons that makes me happy...who doesnt like an extra 60 ponies. Sorta. The HO has DS-II, and you can tell that two ways: The ignition box has a blue grommet where the wires come out, and the distributor has a vacuum advance unit. The '84 Electronic Engine Control (EEC) system has a Self-Test Indicator. But I don't see a SPOUT in the EVTM. Perhaps that came in subsequent years. Anyway, the distributor on this engine won't have the vacuum canister that the DS-II system has since the computer makes all the decisions on ignition timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstone4646 Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Sorta. The HO has DS-II, and you can tell that two ways: The ignition box has a blue grommet where the wires come out, and the distributor has a vacuum advance unit. The '84 Electronic Engine Control (EEC) system has a Self-Test Indicator. But I don't see a SPOUT in the EVTM. Perhaps that came in subsequent years. Anyway, the distributor on this engine won't have the vacuum canister that the DS-II system has since the computer makes all the decisions on ignition timing. oh ok, good info thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 oh ok, good info thanks! I like your sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstone4646 Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 I like your sig. You mentioned it a few times, I figured now that I had time I should get it plugged in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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