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Frankenstein's wrecker

stock shocks

4
0
OK I may be exaggerating a bit, it's a solid truck. Title says 1975, rectangular headlights tell me newer doghouse. That may be it, hard to say. Gas cap is on cab, so assuming 1975ish for most of it.

Anyway, I'm curious what the 390 (seller told me 390) or 360 or 352 etc requires in order to run. The truck ran ok until a few months ago when the gas I poured down the carb caught fire due to backfire. Normally it would fire up and then idle ok after a minute or so of feathering.. but then the fire happened and I got p'd off enough to put the fire out and just leave it. Some hoses charred, etc. Some hoses were already capped, but the spark advance hose is intact. Front of carb gasket is leaking, I can replace that. Might have to pull the hood just to see the carb numbers.. it's a 2bbl, and that's about all I know. Cab has no placards and from experience the engine could be anything from 332 352 360 or the 390. It's very torquey and ran great after couple minutes of warmup. Just curious what these old motors need to run. Apparently it was assembled before anyone heard of emissions standards. This truck does about a mile or two a year around the farm, but I could really use just the few hundred feet I'm asking of it.

For the chevy haters: the reason I went to fire it up is to load a seized 350 sb chevy motor into my scrap truck. Apparently no one wants to throw me a $100 for the darn 4 bolt (complete) block.

to summarize: spark squeeze blast boom. What else do I need? Thanks for reading!
 
1970Custom

1970Custom

They call me Spuds
14,107
447
Middleton, ID
What size truck? Not a big factor but will help narrow down engine displacement.

Fuel, air, and ignition are the basics. Rebuild that carb, or replace it, make sure all your vacuum lines are in place and the extra ports are capped, and make certain you have spark.

Is it a points system or a DuraSpark system?

FEs are one of the best engines Ford produced IMHO. Shouldn't take much to get it running again...
 

stock shocks

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hey thanks for the replies!

I don't have pics atm, it's not much to see though. F350 wrecker bed with a different grille. Found a cab tag which indicates a 360 2bbl motor, which could be accurate. Rockauto.com lists two carb kits that could fit, not sure how to id the 2bbl in there. Spent an hour googling :( other than taking a minute to warm up, (every few months) it was fine.

Fuel leaks through the accelerator pump gasket after about 80 pumps. If I could just get that gasket to seal.. haven't tried running it since noticing the leak.

Duraspark ignition, which I know nothing about. I wonder if anyone converts these over to points or a big cap with one wire.

For now I'd be happy to find out how to id the carb; I don't see anything on it.
I also have no diagram for the vacuum lines and there's a bit of patchwork going on, as with most aspects of this truck.
 

stock shocks

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spent another couple hours searching around, apparently it's a motorcraft 2100 carb, though I still have no idea how/where to route some of the missing hoses. One missing hose looks choke-related.. found a few exploded diagrams for the carb itself, but nothing for hose routing. ah well.

Carb's off and waiting for rebuild kit to come in. Thanks for reading
 
1970Custom

1970Custom

They call me Spuds
14,107
447
Middleton, ID
Should be a tag on the carb. I don't remember if it's also stamped into the carb body though...

360 is a good, near bulletproof, engine. Make sure you've got your vac line to the dizzy, and anything else that requires vacuum. How severe was the fire? Any spare vacuum ports cap them off

Accelerator pump is all too common to leak on these carbs, pretty simple fix really.

DuraSpark is pretty simple, make sure you've got power in and out and you'll be golden. On a side note, many folks keep a spare module bolted next to the one in use. When they go out there's almost always no warning.
 

stock shocks

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I do like the 360, assuming that's the correct ci. It was the best part of the vehicle. Truck felt like it could pull train cars. In the past it was used for tipping over/directing trees and moving anything where it could get traction. I'm curious about the transmission, as the reverse is about as low as the 1st/granny.

It's hard to tell there was a fire by looking at it; the charred hoses could be passed off as disintegrated from age (some were). I think the truck deserves better than that.

I like the idea of bolting the duraspark next to the existing one.. much better than the spare module left in the cab by previous owner :) I'll get the carb going for now, and (possibly) look into hei in the future. LOVE the one wire ignition system concept.

I'm a newbie when it comes to carbs. It looks simple as far as carbs go; I'm just hesitant to take it apart by myself. Don't want to fully break it, you know.
Choke parts are missing, and never used it. Curious how important choke is in a vehicle only used in t-shirt weather. Truck would be more valuable to me if it didn't need a couple minutes warmup just to move 25 feet, or activate the winch. That can't be good for the motor, either.

Before pulling carb, I isolated the fuel line, gave it a few sips and spun the motor, just to make sure it sputters. Bummer about the acc. pump. I put a bit of torque on the bolts but took it easy, considering it's aluminum. Perhaps it's about time I start learning about carbs.

Vacuum advance is about all that's intact for the small lines. Haven't been able to find good info on "vacuum hoses ford FE series" etc etc. Found pcv, egr, vac advance, that's about it. There's at least two ports I haven't been able to identify. Carb tag not there; after pulling noticed it has 2uda stamped on base, left front, between acc. pump and throttle. 108 jet size above that.
 
tjcustomranger

tjcustomranger

771
3
Newport, Wa
i rebuilt my carb for the first time last september. its really not that hard i can get you a link to a site that really helped me out if i still have it. as long as you remember to put EVERYTHING back in and clean it thoroughly its not bad. you have to tune it up once its back on the truck though.
 
1970Custom

1970Custom

They call me Spuds
14,107
447
Middleton, ID
A Motorcraft is stoopid simple... Just clean a space on your work bench, lay out a shop towel of some sort (helps keep things from rolling away), and as you take it apart set the parts in order. Replace all the gaskets/seals/etc then put it back together in reverse order.

FE-FT was killed by emissions, not by lack of popularity. My F-600 has the 330FT, it sat for who knows how long. I dumped a couple gallons in the tank, checked fluids, primed carb, and it ran...

As to vacuum lines, should only be the .25" line to the dizzy, and possibly a larger one off the base. All others should be routed of the vacuum tree on the back of the manifold.

I'm guessing it's an electric choke, those aren't my favorites. Mechanical choke is far superior IMHO. You really don't need it, as slight pedal pressure works the same. You might not have as much of an issue after the rebuild.

The trans is an NP435, good luck breaking it :D.

Reverse is actually lower, 1st-6.69 2nd-3.34 3rd-1.79 4th-1.00 Rev-8.02

If you're gonna start it and use it, run it until it's up to temp, keeps the condensation to a minimum...
 
tjcustomranger

tjcustomranger

771
3
Newport, Wa
it should take you to google now. it wouldn't let me link it to the pdf file it should work now. i converted to a manual choke from napa. oreilys has one also. starts right up.
 
tjcustomranger

tjcustomranger

771
3
Newport, Wa
if my link still won't work just put this into google and click on the one thats from the ranger station website it will bring up a pdf file..

motorcraft 2150/2100 carburetor rebuild
 
1970Custom

1970Custom

They call me Spuds
14,107
447
Middleton, ID
It worked for me, so should be good.


Another thing to consider, the Ford FE while being considered a big block by most, loves, LOVES, rpms; but, it's seriously choked down. A good carb, aftermarket intake, and free flowing exhaust will help that 360 work better and easier....
 

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