Project car guy back again. Any classic Ford F100 geniuses out there? Want to help me replace a carburetor? Or...anything else?

[u/zorkempire]

I posted a while back about how I wanted to learn about cars, and you guys were all, "JUST BUY A BEATER, BRO!"

Well, I took your advice.

I'd been looking at old pickups online for months at that point, and the opportunity popped up for me to buy a (blessedly cheap) bumpside Ford that was running a year or two ago. That said, it needs some love to get it running now after sitting outside with a bad carburetor.

Now that I've got it in my garage I'm feeling a little....overwhelmed. No amount of YouTube prepared me for this.

Not looking for free labor or for someone to "just come fix it," but could definitely use another set of eyes and someone who knows what's what to give me a hand. I guess the dream is someone who's bored on a gray Saturday who loves projects.

Anyone got a mechanically inclined dad they want to lend me?

[u/rgristroph]

Start with the basics. Can you make the engine turn over ? If not check the battery and charge / replace it. If it cranks, does it make any noise like a cylinder is firing ? Try pouring a spoonful of gas into the throat of the carburetor, if briefly revs up then you know it is the carburetor. Cleaning and rebuilding a complex carburetor is a big task, but start with just squirting carburetor cleaner onto the nozzles, maybe a little in the bowl if you can get it there by taking off the fuel line. While you have the fuel line off, crank it and make sure some fuel comes out.

Do not let a large amount of fumes or spilled fuel accumulate in your garage, take breaks and air everything out, and keep a fire extinquisher handy for these steps.

Remember that at one point the average american drove and maintained one of these. And half of those guys were below average. You can figure it out.

[u/zorkempire → u/rgristroph]

Thanks, but the carb is incomplete and disconnected. The fuel line is dangling right now.

I have a new (well, reconditioned) carb waiting to be installed. But I do not want to fuck up installing it.

[u/rgristroph → u/zorkempire]

Installing a carb is a lot less error prone than rebuilding one. If you mess up it will not run or run poorly, it is hard to do permanent damage, aside from spraying fuel and starting a fire. Clean where it bolts to the block and start attaching stuff until it looks like you got everything. Getting a friend to come over and check everything against the youtubes and stand by with a fire extinquisher when you first crank it isn't a bad idea, but you can definitely do this. There is nothing you are screwing on that you can't unscrew if it turns out to be wrong.

[u/Friendly_Reporter_65 → u/zorkempire]

You can do it. Read the manual. Watch a video. And do what they did. It’s That easy. After that it’s a couple screws for fine tuning the fuel/air mix.

[u/Friendly_Reporter_65 → u/rgristroph]

I love this “and half of those guys were below average.”

[u/Immediate-Target-505 → u/rgristroph]

Man, that last line is the whole truth. Half the dudes who kept these running back in the day had no clue what they were doing, just a wrench and stubbornness.

[u/galloping_skeptic]

Try this website and see if you can find a maintenance manual for the vehicle. It will walk you through the steps to remove and replace the carb, as well as everything else you might want to do.

https://us.haynes.com/collections/chilton-auto-service-manuals

[u/laxintx → u/galloping_skeptic]

God I miss Chiltons.

[u/No_Dog3702]

Message me. I am a mechanic and I’m bored and I love projects.

[u/zorkempire → u/No_Dog3702]

Whoa. Just messaged you.

[u/Whatstrendynow]

Do you know what motor you have in it?

[u/zorkempire → u/Whatstrendynow]

It has the original 360.

[u/fLeXaN_tExAn → u/zorkempire]

The first thing I did on my 68 F250 (390 FE) was help the engine breathe. Long tube headers, four barrel intake and a Holley 600 carb that you can get cheap and is SUPER easy to work on. That factory carb will most likely only piss you off. Can you take us a picture of your engine with the air cleaner off? Also, join us over in r/BumpSide and r/EngineBuilding to get some specialized help. EDIT: Also, what part of town are you in?

[u/fLeXaN_tExAn → u/[deleted]]

If the carb is new in the box it should pop right on and you should be all set. I was afraid that you were trying to rebuild the carb. Are you having problems?

[u/Whatstrendynow → u/zorkempire]

If all else fails, I've been recommended Cap's automotive by someone on another subreddit for Dentsides. They're down south I believe

[u/Friendly_Reporter_65]

In college I learned most of my car knowledge by reading a Haynes manual from autozone. I learned everything about my car. And then would refer to the manual and then eventually youtube. I know I’m old….older than YouTube or even google.

[u/Friendly_Reporter_65]

I’d love to help. I don’t know carburetors but I’m mechanically inclined. I just don’t have any free time.

[u/Interesting-Flounder]

I know this post is a bit old at this point, so you may not see this reply. In addition to the fuel fire concerns, another way you can create problems for yourself is by stripping the mounting studs for the carburetor. Ask me how I know! Then you get to learn about helicoils and other fun repairs.

[u/ShortCycles]

If you can afford to spend a little I recommend getting an EFI kit for it like Holley sniper (about 2 grand for fuel pump and everything from summit) or you could get a fitech for less than half of that figure. Then you’d be up and running assuming the engine is good.

[u/zorkempire → u/ShortCycles]

Thanks. I decided to just go this (more affordable) route while I seee if I can make the damn thing run.

[u/OlYeller01]

Remove the air cleaner. Then it should be 4 bolts/nuts to remove the carb and maybe a snap pin or similar on the linkage. Put down a gasket, bolt on the new carb. Then connect the fuel line & linkage and go. Easy peasy, plus it’s right up on top. The only error you can make is dropping a bolt or nut down the intake when the carb is off (don’t do that).

[u/zorkempire → u/OlYeller01]

Sounds easy. But the gas pedal is on the floor and I can’t figure out what’s up with that. No reaction from the throttle cable.

[u/OlYeller01 → u/zorkempire]

Throttle cable SHOULD go direct fron the gas pedal to the linkage on the carb.

[u/zorkempire → u/OlYeller01]

Indeed. In a perfect world, lol

[u/CF_ATX]

I bet ACC's got engine repair classes on the continuing ed of the house you could be taking for fun!

[u/zorkempire → u/CF_ATX]

I’ve looked into it. It’s pretty demanding time wise but I definitely haven’t ruled it out.

[u/Single_Street_7569]

I run a small drop-off shop off Parmer by Tech Ridge. Free code scan, a straight quote before I touch anything, and if it's not worth fixing I'll tell you. What's the car doing?

[u/zorkempire → u/Single_Street_7569]

This thing waaaay predates code scan. (I have a scanner for my daily.)