So, I picked up a 1969 Ford F100 Ranger pickup the other day for what seemed like a song. The body is straight and has little rust, and the engine runs. All in all, I felt like I stole it when I bought it for $500

I am a bit perplexed to see it has a 360 V8, when the manuals suggest the 360 wasnt available until 1970. The VIN definitely shows a Y code though, and the last owner (the original owners son) insists that the engine is original as far as he knows. Any thoughts?

That said, the truck isnt without problems. It had no brakes when I brought it home. After bleeding them though, the pedal is firm and the truck can be stopped. Always a good thing. It pulls heavily to the left now, even after doing the backup and press the brakes thing, and for some reason (I assume they leak) the last owner had disconnected the back brakes from the master cyliner, plugging it with a nylon bolt.

Of more pressing concern to me are two issues:

1) The entire truck shakes violently when Im letting the clutch out, regardless of gear or direction. Im assuming (having not looked yet) that the clutch is in dire need of replacement, and remain hopeful that nothing is warped or damaged down there.

2) The engine stutters bad under load (but never backfires). I havent put a timing light on it or changed the plugs, and its set for a long time, so I havent decided what needs to be done there. I suppose we'll start with plugs, wires, points and a tuneup, and see what happens. Sooner or later itll have to be rebuilt though, as it blows blue smoke when you let off the gas.

To be honest its a little overwhelming at the moment, even though I know its just something I have to tackle one step at a time. That said, has anyone got any good suggestions on what I need to be looking at first?

Ill post some pictures in a couple of days.

Welcome to the site. Where in Oklahoma are you?

Maybe it was built in late 1969? Just a guess. The brakes pull to the left most likely due to either a collapsed hose or (caliper if it has disc brakes). You definitely should get the backs working again. I don't know why anyone would plug up the line instead of fixing it.

Id go by the VIN but if ya want to know for sure measure the stroke by sticking a screwdriver or somethin long enough that it wont get stuck in the cylinder and turn the motor over by hand when it gets to the bottom of the stroke mark it and do the same when it gets to the top of the stroke. 3.5 inches between the marks is either a 352 or 360, 3 3/4 inches its either a 390, 406 or 427, if its a hair under 4 inches its either a 410 or 428. The only way to tell for sure what it actually is ya need to measure the bore but the stroke will give ya a good idea of what it is.

Your list is over whelming, I suggest focusing on one thing at a time, I would sart with brakes

BAOkie69 said:

So, I picked up a 1969 Ford F100 Ranger pickup the other day for what seemed like a song. The body is straight and has little rust, and the engine runs. All in all, I felt like I stole it when I bought it for $500

I am a bit perplexed to see it has a 360 V8, when the manuals suggest the 360 wasnt available until 1970. Uh huh...

The VIN definitely shows a Y code though, and the last owner (the original owners son) insists that the engine is original.

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Welcome to FTF

What manuals are you refering to? Whatever they are...they are wrong.

The 360 was introduced in 1968 (along with the 390) in F100/350's. Both were used thru 1976.

The 4th digit of the VIN is the engine code.

1968/72 F100/350: A = 240 IV 1-6 / B = 300 1V I-6 / G = 302 2V (1969/72 F100 only) / H = 390 2V / Y = 360 2V.

Bogging down, hesitating, stumbling from a dead stop and when accelerating at speed. Typical Auto-Lite/Motorcraft 2V carburetor problem.

The accelerator pump diaphragm and check valve are defective. These can be purchased separately, also come in the carb kit.

I would suggest overhauling the carb since the kit is cheap, available everywhere, and the carb is EZ to work on.

D4AZ9A586A .. 2V Auto-Lite/Motorcraft Carburetor Kit (Motorcraft CT499D) / Available from Ford and autoparts stores.

Fits ALL: 1962/74 Passenger Cars, F100/350's, Bronco's and Econolines.

Sean: Disc brakes were not available until 1973 in F100 2WD's, 1976 in F100/150/250 4WD's.

I have the same issue when starting from a dead stop. When I let off the clutch I have to give it a lot of gas to keep it from shaking violently like you mention. Does anyone have an idea what could be the cause?

wareagle said:

I have the same issue when starting from a dead stop. When I let off the clutch I have to give it a lot of gas to keep it from shaking violently like you mention. Does anyone have an idea what could be the cause?

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The clutch disc is bad. Thats what those springs are for in the disc. Change the disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and pilot bearing/bushing.

Is that a relatively easy process for a weekend mechanic, or would you suggest I go to a professional?

I'd start with a full tuneup and brakes. Plugs, timing, filters, oil, fluids, wires, run some fuel treatment through it, put an air line hose on the fuel line and blow it out, maybe drain the gas and put some fresh gas in if it's been sitting that long, get a fuel filter on it if it doesn't already have one, etc, etc, etc. For the brakes, it'd probably best to do EVERYTHING, lines, calipers, pads, rotors if it needs em, drums, shoes. Sounds like you have a firm pedal, so your booster/mc are probably fine. Just take it one step at a time, make a list, and start checking things off.

Thanks for all the advice. Glad to see the forums here are active, and knowledgeable.

The "manuals" I have are two of those generic multiyear how to books. Ones a Clymer and the other is from Chilton. Both leave a lot to be desired but between the two of them Im starting to get a better picture of how to make some of these things happen. I think Im going to cut them up and paste them together, along with some pictures of my own to make my own manual. lol. Ive been looking for a real service manual, but havent found one yet. Im not surprised to find the two aftermarket manuals are inaccurate. Given the Y code in the VIN, and the 360 on the air cleaner Im going to assume it really is a 360.

I pulled the plugs tonight and sure enough they were wet, which of course means oil is leaking into the chambers. I knew it burned oil, but Im a little worried now that it may burn more than I thought, and that I'll be rebuilding that sooner rather than later. Unlike back in the day when I lived at home, I dont really have the tools and place to pull engines these days. Something to be looking for, I suppose.

In the short term though it does run, so I've got it in mind to start with the clutch/transmission this weekend. Apparently Ive got to jack both ends up (I assume for clearance to get the tranny out) jack up and support the oil pan on the engine, and then jack up and support the transmission while I take loose all the cables, connections, and driveshaft before I slowly back it out until the gears clear and I can drop it to the deck. Anyone reading this know any gotchas on these 3 speeds that I need to be looking for this weekend?

faxonautolit.com has original shop and owners manuals, sales and accessory brouchures and other Ford literature.

When a new model was introduced, Ford came out with the full shop manual, then for the subsequent years that the same models were assembled, issued supplements.

1968/69/70/71/72 will be supplements to the full 1967 shop manual.

faxonautolit.com has original shop and owners manuals, sales and accessory brouchures and other Ford literature.

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Perfect. Thanks for the lead on the website.

Sound like an alright truck, congrats, I would think the engine needs a rebuild but might as well do a basic tune up and fix the brakes and clutch first, but when you pull the clutch check the flywheel to make sure it is straight and not burnt from the clutch, if not sure pull the flywheel and have it checked they are not to costly to have recut it sure helps with the new clutch. Good luck with your new project.

hey Blacksnapon

wareagle said:

I have the same issue when starting from a dead stop. When I let off the clutch I have to give it a lot of gas to keep it from shaking violently like you mention. Does anyone have an idea what could be the cause?

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Is changing all you mention a relatively straight-forward fix for a weekend mechanic. Was a diesel mechanic in the Marines, but this ole ford ain't close to being a diesel...

wareagle said:

Is changing all you mention a relatively straight-forward fix for a weekend mechanic. Was a diesel mechanic in the Marines, but this ole ford ain't close to being a diesel...

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Yeah, It's pretty much the same for any stickshift vehicle. Get the shifter out of the way, driveshaft, clutch linkage, trans mount, cross member, speedo gear, bell housing bolts, pressure plate,

Thanks, just sent you a PM blacksnapon.

The 3 speed ford used wasn't very heavy. If you disconnect the driveshaft and shift linkage (I assume it's a 3 on the tree), you should be able to unbolt the tranny and lift it down by hand, if your careful. The clutch linkage is easy to understand if you study it for a few minutes, whole job is pretty simple for the averager shadetree mechanic. I would get the flywheel turned, and replace the throw out bearing while your there too, as well as the thrust bearing.

can Autozone turn the flywheel for me?

wareagle said:

can Autozone turn the flywheel for me?

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I doubt it. Even if they could I wouldn't trust them. That being said I did get a flywheel from them cheaper than resurfacing my old one. I have had zero problems with it. But I would stay away from most AZ stuff. I've had too many issues to recommend them for most things LOL.

Ok, thanks Sean.