Gary Lewis Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 just getting back here after a while. trucks have kept me very busy. I too have a 351m that I have been resurrecting. I just replaced the rear tank as an assembly. it is full and still I'm not getting fuel. I will figure it out but there may be a similarity to yours. mine I started last winter and started with a new front tank assembly as usual. I hate fuel problems. and old fuel in a truck left neglected is about as bad as it gets. tank to carb reworked and runs beautifully. however, I leave this truck at the garage. and use it as a tow vehicle occasionally. my brother tells me "Hey I used your truck to go pick up a set of wheels for an f 350". as it turns out he did not remember that the rear tank was still junk. as it was delivered. so, he ran crud through an already cleared system. all good he says, it is full. he tells me this while towing me home haha. how can I blow up? he is towing me home! now I take responsibility overall due to having not replaced the rear tank by now, but it is truck number 9 on the list! not my first priority. and then there is the sign. taped over the tank switch etc. back to the point. the tank selector valve is a possibility. mine is getting voltage and I have blown compressed air backwards to remove a horrible amount of debris yet on the rear tank setting the fuel pump seems to be pulling a vacuum on the fuel line. meaning it is still clogged or the tank selector is stuck in one position. another possibility is a bad ground. getting voltage to it is not the same as through it to ground. after now replacing both tanks ,sending units, vent valves and their gaskets. ,hoses, filters and rebuilt the carb (twice now) there is only the selector valve as a possibility. oh and gas mpg sucks. tbe! I hate to tell you, but Dad said his '81 with a 351M got 10 or 10 or 10 MPG depending on how you drove it. My brother says his '85 460 got 10 or 10 or 10 depending on how you drove it. Guess which one would tow and go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flareside Jeff Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Little more progress to report out, got the passenger side headlight bezel and a new to me grill in place today. Really starting to look better! Funny part is that it has the brown cab, blue and tan front fenders, and beat up white hood, black doors and black patina'd bed! Since the front fenders and original cab have the XLT trim, trying to decide if it will look goofy keeping them since there was no trim on a flareside bed. Please share your thoughts, I saw a black flareside project on here that started off the same, didn't look too bad to me, just different. Truck now has a miss on one cylinder, hoping it is a simple ignition issue... more to come. Hi Chuck, Excellent project truck you got going, I wanted to comment on the XLT trim, I think it really adds to the truck, and with a flareside, you can be creative and adapt it to your own preference. I did that with my truck with the wheelwell trim. I took the styleside box trim and used it on the flareside rear fenders and I think it looks really good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmchuck Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Do you mean a return-style fuel pressure regulator, not a filter? If so, then I think I understand. But wouldn't that cause the system to eventually have a vacuum on it as the fuel is removed with the engine running? We have a thread about that called "Fuel tank rupture caused by negative pressure????" You might read that to see what you think. Gary, I was talking about something like this filter with a built in bypass/return. I believe they have a small orifice to let the excess vapors bleed off similar to a regulator (just not adjustable):https://www.amazon.com/WIX-Filters-Complete-Line-Filter/dp/B000C9UJAA/ref=sr_1_3?crid=7LEBYB1FWC77&keywords=bypass+style+fuel+filter&qid=1689563825&sprefix=bypass+style+fuel+fileter%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-3 As far as the vacuum building, that could be an issue, although since this truck and the original filler neck and hoses are in place, I bet it is venting itself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmchuck Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 just getting back here after a while. trucks have kept me very busy. I too have a 351m that I have been resurrecting. I just replaced the rear tank as an assembly. it is full and still I'm not getting fuel. I will figure it out but there may be a similarity to yours. mine I started last winter and started with a new front tank assembly as usual. I hate fuel problems. and old fuel in a truck left neglected is about as bad as it gets. tank to carb reworked and runs beautifully. however, I leave this truck at the garage. and use it as a tow vehicle occasionally. my brother tells me "Hey I used your truck to go pick up a set of wheels for an f 350". as it turns out he did not remember that the rear tank was still junk. as it was delivered. so, he ran crud through an already cleared system. all good he says, it is full. he tells me this while towing me home haha. how can I blow up? he is towing me home! now I take responsibility overall due to having not replaced the rear tank by now, but it is truck number 9 on the list! not my first priority. and then there is the sign. taped over the tank switch etc. back to the point. the tank selector valve is a possibility. mine is getting voltage and I have blown compressed air backwards to remove a horrible amount of debris yet on the rear tank setting the fuel pump seems to be pulling a vacuum on the fuel line. meaning it is still clogged or the tank selector is stuck in one position. another possibility is a bad ground. getting voltage to it is not the same as through it to ground. after now replacing both tanks ,sending units, vent valves and their gaskets. ,hoses, filters and rebuilt the carb (twice now) there is only the selector valve as a possibility. oh and gas mpg sucks. tbe! Hey Mat, thanks for chiming in. Bummer about your #9 priority rig, hopefully it did not ingest too much into the carb and you can clear it out. I only have a single tank night now, all of the valves are bypassed so I don't think that was it. I am curious if the sock arounf the inlet in the tank may be plugged up and I happened to unplug it when it came to life though. Probably need another fuel filter change in case it pulled it into the line though... Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmchuck Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Hi Chuck, Excellent project truck you got going, I wanted to comment on the XLT trim, I think it really adds to the truck, and with a flareside, you can be creative and adapt it to your own preference. I did that with my truck with the wheelwell trim. I took the styleside box trim and used it on the flareside rear fenders and I think it looks really good! Jeff, I wish I had your skills and abilities! Your rig is exceptional and I can only hope to get in the ballpark of what you have gotten done! In fact, thanks for sprucing up my project page:nabble_smiley_good: I may have a line on a complete 82 styleside truck with a good front clip, great doors and 6' bed with the XLT trim. Kind of considering taking this truck back to stock with a styleside bed but having mixed feelings about that. Since my front fenders now have the XLT trim above the fender, or at least the holes for the trim, I need to figure out if I'm going to fill them and repaint similar to what you did, or try to finish the rest of the truck out with the trim too. I cannot find the trim on any of the common truck websites, and can only imagine the cost if I did. If I can buy the parts rig reasonable, at least I would have all the parts to trim it out. Thoughts from everyone are welcomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I hate to tell you, but Dad said his '81 with a 351M got 10 or 10 or 10 MPG depending on how you drove it. My brother says his '85 460 got 10 or 10 or 10 depending on how you drove it. Guess which one would tow and go. Gary, as I mentioned earlier, I recently changed Big Brother's tires, preparing the road trip. With his all-year-long winter tires, Big Bro used to drink around 9mpg, 10 with a back wind and rolling down a slope. His new consumption is 13mpg. I am flabbergasted Tires weren't cheap, but wow, what a difference! And not to mention the comfort and the huge noise reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I hate to tell you, but Dad said his '81 with a 351M got 10 or 10 or 10 MPG depending on how you drove it. My brother says his '85 460 got 10 or 10 or 10 depending on how you drove it. Guess which one would tow and go. I hate to tell you, but Dad said his '81 with a 351M got 10 or 10 or 10 MPG depending on how you drove it. My brother says his '85 460 got 10 or 10 or 10 depending on how you drove it. Guess which one would tow and go. Gary, as I mentioned earlier, I recently changed Big Brother's tires, preparing the road trip. With his all-year-long winter tires, Big Bro used to drink around 9mpg, 10 with a back wind and rolling down a slope. His new consumption is 13mpg. I am flabbergasted Tires weren't cheap, but wow, what a difference! And not to mention the comfort and the huge noise reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I hate to tell you, but Dad said his '81 with a 351M got 10 or 10 or 10 MPG depending on how you drove it. My brother says his '85 460 got 10 or 10 or 10 depending on how you drove it. Guess which one would tow and go. Gary, as I mentioned earlier, I recently changed Big Brother's tires, preparing the road trip. With his all-year-long winter tires, Big Bro used to drink around 9mpg, 10 with a back wind and rolling down a slope. His new consumption is 13mpg. I am flabbergasted Tires weren't cheap, but wow, what a difference! And not to mention the comfort and the huge noise reduction. Wonderful! That is a huge improvement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmchuck Posted August 6, 2023 Author Share Posted August 6, 2023 Gary, I was talking about something like this filter with a built in bypass/return. I believe they have a small orifice to let the excess vapors bleed off similar to a regulator (just not adjustable):https://www.amazon.com/WIX-Filters-Complete-Line-Filter/dp/B000C9UJAA/ref=sr_1_3?crid=7LEBYB1FWC77&keywords=bypass+style+fuel+filter&qid=1689563825&sprefix=bypass+style+fuel+fileter%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-3 As far as the vacuum building, that could be an issue, although since this truck and the original filler neck and hoses are in place, I bet it is venting itself... My vapor lock issues came back again today. I was down under a 1/4 tank and headed to a gas station when it hit. Barely made it there, gassed up and headed home. It never really cleared up and was running poorly and never able to go above 40 mph. Got home and decided to blow air back through the line into the tank in case the sending unit sock was blocked. Tank was full and burped gas from the fuel filler and gas cap area when I did it. Put it back together and the darn thing still suffers. I am still not convinced it is not a blockage in the sending unit though, since it came on suddenly, and the last time it cleared up it was sudden, like someone just threw a switch. If it is true vapor lock, I still may try to use a filter with a bypass (see link a few pages above) and use the old charcoal canister canister line back to the tank. I was hoping to avoid dropping the tank to look at the sending unit, but I just may have to. Any insights are welcome, this long hot spell (109 degrees today) in our area has been tough to deal with and I'm still not convinced the problem is not fuel starvation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted August 6, 2023 Share Posted August 6, 2023 My vapor lock issues came back again today. I was down under a 1/4 tank and headed to a gas station when it hit. Barely made it there, gassed up and headed home. It never really cleared up and was running poorly and never able to go above 40 mph. Got home and decided to blow air back through the line into the tank in case the sending unit sock was blocked. Tank was full and burped gas from the fuel filler and gas cap area when I did it. Put it back together and the darn thing still suffers. I am still not convinced it is not a blockage in the sending unit though, since it came on suddenly, and the last time it cleared up it was sudden, like someone just threw a switch. If it is true vapor lock, I still may try to use a filter with a bypass (see link a few pages above) and use the old charcoal canister canister line back to the tank. I was hoping to avoid dropping the tank to look at the sending unit, but I just may have to. Any insights are welcome, this long hot spell (109 degrees today) in our area has been tough to deal with and I'm still not convinced the problem is not fuel starvation. What about your fuel pump? Have you checked or changed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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