I did it again .....Empire '69 F250 ranger

[briansbronco]

Well what can I say, I couldn't leave it alone until it's running again. Pulled out the accel unit and put the points back in. Looks like the ignition wire is dead. Don't know why, so I made a jumper over to the battery and she fired right up. adjusted the carb to a nice smooth idle at about 18 on the vaccum guage. Timing looks good. Tomorrow I will figure out the ignition wire for the coil and get the electric choke wired. Runs better than it EVER has until this point. Considering the carb was on it's last leg and the timing was way off I guess it's no wonder. Adjustment screws are all the way in on the Holley avenger. My guess is that it could to drop a jet size or two. I'll know more when I get it out on the road up the mountain. So far so good. Best part is I haven't spent a dollar with the exception of gaskets and sealant.....yet. I do need to address the PCV on the valve cover. Getting a vaccum hose over there might be a challenge.

[briansbronco]

Well, issue number one rears it's ugly head. In my haste to get it running last night I may not have allowed enough time for the black RTV to setup properly in the cold. Cranked it this morning with very little effort in 20 degree temps without the choke hooked up and immediately noticed a puff of hazy smoke from the intake valley on the back of the block. Crap.... Felt back there and I can feel it leaking.

So I'll try a couple tricks to get it to seal up before removing it. First, I'll clean the area up again and injectors RTV into the leaking spot and let it cure properly. If that doesn't get it I'll have to remove the intake again and fix it. Let that be a lesson to you kids. Don't get In a hurry.

[briansbronco]

Got the dead ignition wire fixed today with a 12v post from the switch and a ballast resistor from NAPA. Still need to work on the throttle linkage, right now it's just a piece of baling wire.... works great but isn't something I want to drive down the road with.

I ordered a small rocker switch panel from eBay. The panel is very well put together with three heavy duty rocker switches that I can label myself with the included labels. One 12v plug and one double USB port. I'll use it to power relays for LED off-road lights front/back and sides. It's a trick I learned when I first moved to Montana. Light is king in the backwoods when you have to work on something. My dodge has 10 50w led off-road lights on it. Four facing forward, then two on the back and both sides. No telling how many times they have saved my butt. This truck will get the same. I bought the cheaper LED off-road lights in a bulk box from some US source. Never has an issue with them.

The little panel that I orders is almost exactly the same size as the ashtray on the truck. Since my truck doesn't have an ashtray assembly in the dash anyway, it's a no muss install.

Only thing I need for the interior now is a tachometer to monitor the beast. I'll wait until spring to worry with the bucket seats and center console for the truck. I have a donor 85 Chevy suburban with captains chairs and a tan console that should work well.

[hfdco4]

You are making great progress. Since you are going up into the mountains maybe you should build a rack on the bed and that way you can have plenty of storage. Saw a show on Velocity Channel the "Toy Maker", they just built a nice overland rescue truck. They did a great job on a rack with lots of storage solutions. Just a thought.

[briansbronco]

You are making great progress. Since you are going up into the mountains maybe you should build a rack on the bed and that way you can have plenty of storage. Saw a show on Velocity Channel the "Toy Maker", they just built a nice overland rescue truck. They did a great job on a rack with lots of storage solutions. Just a thought.

If I do keep the bed it will be heavily modified. I like the idea someone posted earlier of the recessed Jerry cans into the side of the bed. I think that would look really cool. A bed rack would be fairly easy to build as well. Those are going to be spring/summer projects for this old girl. When the snow sets in here, it stays and as of now my space inside the shop is full with my JD 755B bull dozer. I have to keep it in the shop as it's not an enclosed cab. Plus it's my snow plow when it gets 6ft deep here, and it does.

[hfdco4]

I am so jealous, you have a bulldozer and you get 6 feet of snow.

[briansbronco]

Don't be jealous. It's 5 degrees outside right now and snowing.

[hfdco4]

Still Jealous. Originally from Mass and used to vacation in Maine in the winter. We moved to MD and sold our snowmobiles

[briansbronco]

Didn't get anything fun done today, just drove the truck up the mountain in the snow. I will say it was a pain in the AZZ to crank. Choke definitely needs adjusting. Might need to get a block heater on the old girl as well. Nearly ran the battery down trying to get it going. Electric chokes are not high on my list of loves but it's what the carb had on it so I won't complain. Think I will try turning it to the richest setting and starting there. Fast idle cam needs some adjustment as well. I guess it will all be rectified in time. First step is finding the issue, then addressing it.

On the bright side once I got her up and running it warmed up in a few minutes and idled like a new car. I can barely hear it running. It was a little off putting as before it was sort of noisy. When I address a small exhaust leak it will be quieter than any other truck I own actually. Climbed like a billy goat through the hills and valleys in over a foot of fresh snow. I think she's a keeper.

[hfdco4]

That is just awesome! The block heater is a good idea. You could go cheap and try one of these;

https://www.amazon.com/Kats-Dipstick-St ... B000BO74DG

[briansbronco]

I have one of the coolant circulation types that goes in the heater hose return. It was on another truck I had. Sitting on the shelf but I tested it and it seems to work fine. I much prefer the freeze plug versions. They are just too simple to fail and draw VERY little power. My other two trucks stay plugged in all the time.

I've never used a circulation type heater but I don't see an issue with it I guess. The big plus is it's free...

Resetting the choke and fast idle cam will do wonders. Funny thing is, on my 70 high boy I have never had a block heater and it fires right up in everything but the coldest day...meaning severe negative temps. When it's below zero, nothing starts easily. If it hasn't been plugged in with a block heater we don't even mess with it.

[Manny]

I have one of the coolant circulation types that goes in the heater hose return. It was on another truck I had. Sitting on the shelf but I tested it and it seems to work fine. I much prefer the freeze plug versions. They are just too simple to fail and draw VERY little power. My other two trucks stay plugged in all the time.

I've never used a circulation type heater but I don't see an issue with it I guess. The big plus is it's free...

Resetting the choke and fast idle cam will do wonders. Funny thing is, on my 70 high boy I have never had a block heater and it fires right up in everything but the coldest day...meaning severe negative temps. When it's below zero, nothing starts easily. If it hasn't been plugged in with a block heater we don't even mess with it.

Is the heater one of the siphon style?? If so make certain its below the engine lowest point or its gonna not flow properly. Work on Generators block heaters are a common thing for me. If its a pump style no issue. Curious if as your engine breaks in and the compression comes up engine loosens up that she won't fire up easier. Glad i don't have negatives to deal with.

[briansbronco]

I have one of the coolant circulation types that goes in the heater hose return. It was on another truck I had. Sitting on the shelf but I tested it and it seems to work fine. I much prefer the freeze plug versions. They are just too simple to fail and draw VERY little power. My other two trucks stay plugged in all the time.

I've never used a circulation type heater but I don't see an issue with it I guess. The big plus is it's free...

Resetting the choke and fast idle cam will do wonders. Funny thing is, on my 70 high boy I have never had a block heater and it fires right up in everything but the coldest day...meaning severe negative temps. When it's below zero, nothing starts easily. If it hasn't been plugged in with a block heater we don't even mess with it.

Is the heater one of the siphon style?? If so make certain its below the engine lowest point or its gonna not flow properly. Work on Generators block heaters are a common thing for me. If its a pump style no issue. Curious if as your engine breaks in and the compression comes up engine loosens up that she won't fire up easier. Glad i don't have negatives to deal with.

It's the 12v pump style I'm almost certain. Commercially available one from a local parts house. On the truck it was removed from it was installed on the fender well on the passenger side. Inline in the heater return hose. The engine is VERY tight, I can hear it with the starter turning it over. Negative temps aren't usually a big deal if the trucks (s) are plugged in but I didn't have an extension cord to get out to the 69. It's been below zero here for a week with 34 positive for this week so it'll be fine me thinks. I'll jockey some stuff around and get the old girl closer to power and we should be good. Still need to rectify the intake valley leak before doing too much work with her. Also the damn throttle linkage. just baling wire handling the job right now so I can't do any more than play around the property until those are taken care of.

[Manny]

That's no issue then use to my siphons failing from improper installation. With the pump no issue. Hopefully that engine will loosen up and make it smoother for ya. Got anywhere or just blizzard cold??

[briansbronco]

That's no issue then use to my siphons failing from improper installation. With the pump no issue. Hopefully that engine will loosen up and make it smoother for ya. Got anywhere or just blizzard cold??

This week it's back in the 30's and I hope to get the intake issue fixed to get it back on the road for now. I pulled the trigger and am selling the factory bed and installing a Dually rear on this one. I thought long and hard about it and I have a need versus a want to it's got to happen. Use the funds from the bed sale to buy steel for the custom flatbed.....