Hello everyone,

So i have an 81 F150 Custom with what im pretty sure is a 302 V8 that was my girl's father's before he passed and its been sitting for about 3 years. I tried messing with it about 8 months ago and go it to crank but never start but in that time someone has taking the distributor cap and rotor off and the alternator off. I have the alternator but no idea how the back is wired or how the belt goes on and no idea if it had a round tor triangular rotor. Does anyone one have any videos or pictures of how any of this goes together. I have an 87 f150 with a straight 6 and thats the only old ford motor i know how to work on and im complete lost. I would love to get this to run again for her but im at a loss an reaching out for some much needed Help thank you to anyone who reads and responds.

 

Take a picture of your distributor and take it with you to your favorite auto parts store and get their opinion on whether you need the standard rotor/dist cap , or the round one. Once you have those put back on and wired correctly try starting the engine again using starting fluid. If it fires off, whether you can keep it running or not, you will know if it is a spark or a fuel problem... Would be advisable to drain all the old gas out of it and change the fuel filter and put some fresh gas in it before trying to start it up.. It is a carburated engine , and the carburator will need to be rebuilt or replaced to get it to run properly. You can look at about any f150 alternator to see how it is wired, and the local auto parts store can give you the proper alternator/fan/water pump belts. I believe the 81 model is pre-OBD I, so the Ignition system is the more simple electronic type and has a lot less components than the 85 and later models. All I can tell you is stay with it,google lots for you- tube videos take pictures to help with questions you ask here and other places. Rock auto online has a lot of the parts you might have trouble finding. Good Luck

 

81 was the first year of EEC. It does have an O2 sensor which controls the fuel mixture. It has a feedback carburetor and a smog pump.