Hey guys,

First post here. I'd like to introduce my truck (recently inherited from my late Grandfather). It's a 76' F250 with 97,000 original miles on it. Grandpa really treated her well for the most part from what I can tell. It's a really cool truck and I'd like to work on partially restoring it and doing some modifications.

Unfortunately both my Dad and Grandfather passed away over the last 36 months so I can't pick their brains with questions and issues. I've got a fair amount of automotive experience but it's mostly with late 80's mechanical fuel injection Audi's. I was talking to my uncle about what basic maintenance or engine components I should start looking at replacing at 97K miles and my initial thought went to like timing belt and he explained it's a push rod motor so now I know...

I can pick most of it up as a I go. I've changed brakes before (disc & drum), power steering pump, water pumps, timing belts and I can actually weld (poorly) so I'll manage.

From what I can tell it runs pretty good but there's a couple issues. It's got two batteries in it to start, the primary one is hooked up with positive and negative on the starter side of the motor and the 2nd battery appears to just have a negative (ground?) connected on the other side of the engine bay. I replaced the battery closest to the starter but something keeps draining it if I let the truck sit for more than about a day...

If its charged, it turns over and starts great. I will say though, it takes forever to warm up. A solid 10 minutes before it will idle on its own. Is that normal for an older truck like this? Coolant and oil levels all good.

Oil pressure gauge doesn't appear to work but the pan is full. Other than the two batteries and the cold idle issue, I noticed it got pretty hot last week after pulling a hill and idling for a bit. It was a hot day out, sitting in traffic, then I had to pull a pretty steep grade up to our family property in the woods. I'm thinking maybe the thermostat wasn't opening all the way. The last couple times I've ran it around and idled it there wasn't any overheating or excessive engine temp issues.

Basically I'm just wondering where I should start in terms of a tune up? Plugs, cap, rotor? Replace the thermostat? Also, is this the right forum for a 67'? Appreciate your guys' guidance!

 

Neat truck! Has there been a camper on it, requiring two batteries? Power to run lights, etc in the camper. I would get rid of the extra battery, What engine? I would get the cooling system flushed and make sure coolant is flowing. New thermostat may be needed.

 

Yeah, change all the fluids. The radiator may be partially plugged or maybe even the water pump impeller is eroded/corroded to the point it isn't pumping coolant enough. I think I would take the radiator to a radiator shop and get it cleaned out and flush the engine block. They used to boil radiators or if necessary, rod them out. I would put a couple bottles of Gumout with PEA in the gas and run it through. this will help clean the carb. I use a lot of it on my old motorcycles and it doesn't harm the carbs.

 

According to the VIN, it has a 360 with 2 barrel carb.

A full tuneup would be plugs, wires, cap, rotor, PCV valve, fuel filter, and air filter. Use Motorcraft or Autolite parts.

The warmup issues could be a few things. If it takes forever for the temperature gauge to come up, the thermostat is probably stuck open. Replace it with a 190-195.

The carburetor probably needs a good cleaning and the choke and fast idle cam need to be checked and properly adjusted. It has a few items that all need to be functioning and able to interact. There's a choke heater, pulloff, and a dashpot. Idle speed is set with the dashpot, when it's unplugged, the engine should almost stall, that's adjusted with the idle screw. The fast idle cam has its own adjustment screw.

 

Yes my dude! He did have a camper on it!. Still sitting at Grandma's place. Roger about flushing coolant and new thermostat!