take the rad cap off,start the engine and see if there are air bubbles in the coolant.if you don't see any air bubbles it could be your intake gasket.

i'm here as well.just have been to busy to be on computer. i have a 81 f150 custom 302 srod trans 9" 3.00 rear, and 86 f250 460 t19 and sterling rear.

i would like to see some good pics of the aussie cleveland engine.from the pics i have seen they look nothing like the north american cleveland.they look more like windsors from the top.nobody i've asked from down under will ever take pics of their engines to show us these are real clevelands.

are you saying you mounted a 32' trailer to the bumper.i have been working as an rv tech for 6 months and part of my job is mounting hitchs.those bumpers are only ment for small utility trailers.you need at least a class 3 reciever hitch for a 32' travel trailer.if d.o.t. catches you they will...

i would say a carb issue as well.had the same symptoms on my 81.rebuilt the carb and problem solved.the problem with mine was the metering rods were sticking open,a real good cleaning during the rebuild solved this problem.

my 81 f150 2wd 302 2 bbl 4speed od and 3.00-1 rear.i get 18 mpg regularly,at 85 mph.at 65 mph the rpms are 1600.that c6 is a power robber.i would go with an od trans swap,like a zf.i know a couple of guys that got 3 mpg with the 460 with this change.imo

i love the I6 in my 85.and was real surprised the feed back carb and dsIII system still works great.will di a dsII conversion in the near future.

tail lights should be 1157 reverse,cargo, should be 1156 side marker,dash should be peanut bulbs

hey new to the site.i love the 80-86 f series trucks.i have 3 right now. 86 f250 4x4 460 t18 4 speed 3.55 85 f150 4x4 300 I6 t 19 4 speed 81 f150 2wd 302 srod 9" 3.00. daily driver !8 mpg.