[AT] O.T. Silly #$%& truck

[Robinson]

	I have an 83 Ford 1/2 ton with a 300 CID 6 in it.
Diana's youngest brother had it (bought as an old
truck) and could never get it to run right. He had it
to a couple of garages and one convinced him that it
needed a new head. It was running "fair" then so he
bought a new set of 4 tires for it then it suddenly
started running really bad and clanking. He walked
away from it and when I found out that he was selling
it he was getting ready to sell it to some guy for
$200. I told him that I would give him $300 for it and
hauled it home (he had $400 in the tires).  I pulled
the valve cover and found that one rocker arm stud on
the #3 cylinder had sheared the tiny roll pin that
helps hold it in the head. Those studs are just
pressed in and have the roll pin crosswise through the
boss on the head and the stud. I put it back with a
new roll pin and we drove it for a while OK. After a
couple of months it let go again but this time it
broke the stud off at the pin hole. I replaced it
again and after a few months it sheared the roll pin
again. This time I said to hell with it and used a
little nickel rod to weld the stud into the block. It
is still holding after some time but it still wasn't
running right. You couldn't have asked for a better
compression test at cranking speed, all 6 alike. I
finally decided that there was a problem with the
lifter pumping up too far somehow...??? I have had
several of these 300's and they have always been
pretty bullet proof before. Being at a serious stage
of empty wallet at that time I just bought a pair of
lifters for that cylinder and put them in. Ran better
but still not right. At least that #3 cylinder was
firing right but #4 was a bit weak.
	As I kept checking I found so many other little
things wrong with it I decided to just start "fixing
stuff" until it was running right.   :-)   Since I
found a couple of dollars then I was going to go
through it. The spark was kind of erratic so I looked
at the distributor. Not a pretty site. Lots of side
slop, lots of corrosion and it looked like somebody
had been in there "adjusting" stuff with a hammer.
Easy solution, complete rebuilt distributor and cap.
Spark was still a little erratic but much better. A
new ignition module took care of the rest. Those are
really cheap now. Next came the carburetion. The
manifold gasket was leaking exhaust at the #1 port so
I installed a new gasket and double checked all of the
ports and the manifold. No Problems there. Tore down
the carb and the same joker had been messing in there
too. Not going to waste time on it. Called National
Automotive lines and they had a rebuilt one in stock.
Fuel pump was pretty weak so put a new one on while I
was at it. I have a clear fuel filter on it and with
the new stronger pump it was showing a few bubbles. A
new section of tank to pump fuel line cured that.
Still a slight firing problem on #4... Seemed OK for
the first few seconds then a little rough from then
on. I had already put in new plugs and new wires and
tried a new plug again on #4, Even switched some plugs
around. Spark was OK just not firing quite right on #4
yet. I was not using the truck a lot so just kept
using it around the farm. Recently it started running
worse again, all on the #4 cylinder. I decided to
change the lifters on #4 and just a while ago I opened
it up and the intake rocker arm stud on #4 has sheared
the roll pin and lifted up about 1/4". I'm going to
change those two lifters on #4 and reinstall the stud
and see what happens. The only thing I can come up
with is that somehow something is causing those old
lifters to not release and pushing too far on the lift
popping those roll pins. I also think that they are
letting the valve close OK at cranking speeds (which
gives a good compression test) but even at idle speeds
they are not letting the valve close quite all of the
way. It was the intake on both the #3 and the #4. I'm
wondering if somebody got dirt of some kind in those
lifters back when they put the new head on it. From
the looks of the other work that was done on this
thing nothing would surprise me.

	I am average height but have trouble reaching the
back of the engine over the grill or fenders. May have
something to do with my gut sticking out more than my
arms.   :-)   I don't bend in all of the right spots
either. I have a small platform about 6" high x 2' x
3' that I put down to stand on but that was not enough
to reach this very well. There sits the compressor
ready to go... Grab the stem tool and pull both front
valve cores... AAAHHH! Easy reach now.   ;-)



"farmer"

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Francis Robinson
Central Indiana, USA
robinson at svs.net