73 Ford F250 Ranger XLT Camper Special w/Six Pac 8' Std camper

[Darky]

Haven't pulled the plugs yet, it's usually an intermittent thing with the power. The guy installed a vacuum gauge and when the gauge starts running low, the power drops out too. When it's got proper vacuum, the engine feels plenty powerful, keeping in mind the 2000 sail sitting in the bed...

 

[Darky]

Ok...bit the bullet. Just ordered the Edelbrock Performer Intake, and the 600cfm Performer carb through Jegs. Their price was only $4 higher on the carb and I was able to talk to someone there to make sure I got everything I needed. Sure put a dent in the Jeep fund though...

 

[2stix]

perfect, once you get the intake off you can check the timing chain and gear set. if i remember correctly you can see the cam gear through a hole. turn the crank back and forth just a little by hand and see if the cam turns both directions. a little play is normal, but you will be able to see how much. now that you will have the intake and carb, you can then get their performer RV cam to match when you do the rebuild. edelbrock puts alot of research and development into their stuff. it will be a good combo.

 

[Darky]

Yeah, I figured Edelbrock would be the way to go.

I wonder if the timing chain/gear set hanging in my garage is Ford...It came with the house, along with a torque converter still filled with oil.

 

[jeeperjohn]

based on the fact that it runs well with proper vaccum I would look for intermittant vaccum leaks like from some emissions device. When the vaccum runs low the timing may get retarded and kill the power. A plain old worn out carb can behave this way also.

 

[Darky]

The vacuum still isn't quite where the gauge says it should be, but it runs so much stronger now! However, it has developed a new problem: one night while driving home from class, the engine died like it was out of gas, just kinda sputtered and died. I pushed it back into a parking spot and kept cranking and got good strong cranking but no start. Didn't smell any gas, so I figured it wasn't flooded.

I started thinking maybe it was out of gas, but I had only driven about 20-30 miles on a full tank, and my mileage isn't that bad! Either way, I enlisted the help of some Marines to help push me to the pumps (it died 100 feet away from the pumps when I was returning a Redbox movie), put a gallon in the tank and watched the gas spill out from being overfull. However, it cranked right up at that point after pumping the gas a little.

Is it just vaporlock? The engine is running a bit warmer than it did prior to the carb and intake. I did a new thermostat and housing at the same time. I've also been thinking maybe the old pump isn't up to the increased flow. I've traced the lines as far as I could see coming from the filler neck and can't seem to find any holes or anything.

I'm figuring on keeping this thing for probably at least a year, unless I get a good offer on it that would allow me to get what I really want for camping/DD'ing.

 

[Skwerly]

Route any fuel lines as far away from the engine as you can, or insulate them. Especially route them away from exhaust.

 

[Trail Ready]

That's a classic congrats

 

[GSequoia]

nice truck... i have a 72.... when you start crackin in to her make sure you check the drip rail around the roof... common rust out area!!!

Copy that. My '71 is really bad, I can see daylight. Old 390 pulls strong though!

Also, pretty sure the sellers were a couple of dirty liars. I am doubting the presence of an RV cam. It idles like my old Nissan with a compression leak. I'm doubting the manual valvebody as it shifts like a regular automatic. I put it in D and away I go; it shifts twice, once into 2nd and once into 3rd. And because of these two doubts, I'm doubting the recent rebuild of the engine and trans. The engine doesn't run like a rebuild and if they lied on the other stuff, they are likely lying on this...

Not really sure what a manual valve body is (haven't really looked) but factory it should behave like this:

P - No Go
R - Go backward
N - Ghost Ride
D - 1, 2, 3
2 - 2 (starts in 2)
1 - Try to blow up the engine

I had a Ford Camper Special back in 1970. It had the ?60 engine..

360. The 460 didn't hit trucks until some time in the sixth generation bodies (same body style as Justin's here, that started in 1973).

 

[GSequoia]

Route any fuel lines as far away from the engine as you can, or insulate them. Especially route them away from exhaust.

Also move the coil off the manifold or insulate it.

Another issue I had was my crappy forty year old coil wiring grounding out when it was lying on the cast iron intake manifold. I routed it off the manifold and it runs like a champ, one day I need to re-wire the engine bay as all those years of heat cycling has played hell on the insulation.

 

[Darky]

Copy that. My '71 is really bad, I can see daylight. Old 390 pulls strong though!



Not really sure what a manual valve body is (haven't really looked) but factory it should behave like this:

P - No Go
R - Go backward
N - Ghost Ride
D - 1, 2, 3
2 - 2 (starts in 2)
1 - Try to blow up the engine




360. The 460 didn't hit trucks until some time in the sixth generation bodies (same body style as Justin's here, that started in 1973).

I'm thinking it was a leaky transmission pan. The gasket s leaking real bad, and the fluid looks brand new. I'm thinking that as the fluid got lower, it started shifting funny and they told me it was a manual valve body so I wouldn't notice. I bought a new filter and gasket, just have to get out there and do it. If only it weren't 100 degrees already...

 

[GSequoia]

I'm thinking it was a leaky transmission pan. The gasket s leaking real bad, and the fluid looks brand new. I'm thinking that as the fluid got lower, it started shifting funny and they told me it was a manual valve body so I wouldn't notice. I bought a new filter and gasket, just have to get out there and do it. If only it weren't 100 degrees already...

Is it leaking from the bellhousing?

If the transmission hasn't been messed with the front pump seal is almost guaranteed to be bad. Even if is bad it does not indicate that the transmission wasn't rebuilt. It's a real fun fix, step one is removing the transmission, step two is swapping the seals, that only takes about five minutes, it's all in the prep work!

 

[Darky]

I didn't look too closely, but it looked to be from the pan mostly.

 

[GSequoia]

I didn't look too closely, but it looked to be from the pan mostly.

I'd pull the inspection plate and take a look at the inside of the bellhousing before dropping the pan, no sense wasting Type F.

 

[Darky]

What would I be looking at? The farthest I've ever gotten into an auto is pulling the drain pan and filter...

 

[GSequoia]

The inspection plate is the small piece of sheet metal on the forward edge of the bellhousing, it's behind the oil pan. When removed it lets you see the torque converter and flexplate, it's removed by taking off two small bolts and possibly loosening two of the large mounting bolts (can't recall if that transmission is set up like that or not).

 

[Darky]

What would I be looking at once inside?

 

[GSequoia]

What would I be looking at once inside?

If you see any transmission fluid inside the bellhousing the seal is leaking.