Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge OT Old F100

We got any mechanics round here that know bout old Ford's?

Picked up a 67 F100 the other day. Its got a 390BB in her, over heats a little but I'm thinking its the heater core or a bad thermostat.

Second issue it it tends to get stuck in 1st gear, (converted from 3 on the tree to 3 on the floor) I'm thinking its the linkage.

Radiator?
We had a '50 Chevey that over heated. Turns out the rad was pretty much solid!

linkage is a good call...I had a 67 Bronco 3 on the tree linkage sucked...went to a Hurst shifter on the floor took some fussing but once adjusted...sweet short throw, smooth as silk...unlike the tree first was at 5 o'clock second was around 12 o'clock...sloppy as cowshite

The reason I think it may be linkage is this: Drove home ok, went to unload my bike and the hill was to high, pulled over to another area and wouldn't come outta 1st, started feeling some bending on the shifter tube so before I broke it I pulled it out, took it to work had the crack welded up put it back in and it was working fine, while doing all this the linkage seemes really sloppy and it has a very long throw, (bout a footbal field in length). And went for a shrot drive 'rounf the neighborhood last night and now stuck in 1st again.

If its not linkage I'm afraid its gonna be the throw out bearing.

when you step on the clutch does it disengage? if so not the throw out...

yep, good call

That bloody rad cost me twice as much from a bloke 5 miles away to re-core as getting a brand new rad for my '72 Riv shipped over from the states!?
Thermostat should be cheap and easy to replace though(?)

You could try taking out the thermostat and see if it still overheats. If so, your problem is elswhere.

Okay as far as your overheating issue.
1. Heater core has nothing to do with cooling the engine.
2.If it's overheating just a little perhaps check engine timing.Most times a thermostat is either bad or good.Maybe just change it for the heck of it and see if that works.
3. Is the fan shroud in place? Lot's of folks toss them for whatever reason but they do serve a very important role.
4.Back in my younger days I worked as a radiator repairman (12 years) and a clogged Ford radiator was almost unheard of(providing nobody filled it with a bunch of stop leak products).The biggest problem with the Ford radiators was the cooling fins would separate from the tubes and of course wouldn't dissipate the heat.
Hope this helps. Charlie

yep, what he said, with that old of an engine you can take the stat out and fill with water to test but it kinda sounds to me like it is prob the radiator and if i need a rad i go to radiator.com for the best deals. they usually have the very best deals and are very good to do biz with. but also make sure the return hose(more often than not the bottom hose) is not broken down and collapsing when under acceleration. with truck running have someone get in and you crawl under front and tell them to put it in gear and race while appling the brake and watch that hose if it is bad you will be able to watch it collapse. thats easy enough to check before anything else and i know it sounds silly but it has happened to me, once i bought a car that someone had replace the bottom hose with one that belonged on top so it didnt have that inner spring that holds the bottom one open so i guess what i learned was that when i buy a used vehicle from someone who sez he recently did some kind of water system repair or flush i always check that hose. but i would bet its the original rad and is probably so full of sludge that only part of it is working even though someone just flushed it. good luck but it cant be that much.

Cool, love old Fords. Here's my current F100

Well in that case Mike why don't you come down outta them hills and help me out on this one.

OK, on the over heating issue, I was assuming core or stat cause the other night I drove around the neighbor hood for a few minutes and steam, (yes steam, could smell the antifreeze) started coming up from the dash. The radiator itself wasn't hot, warm, but I could grab it and not get burnt, nothing coming out of the overflow either, but the top hose was extreamly stiff.

Blades are in great shape and yep right again shroud is missing, I know it will help but with the cooling but I don't think its the main issue.

Hmmmm...steam and antifreeze smell comin' up from the dash, ya say Matt?! Yep, my guess IS that your heater core has gone south on ya, and that your cooling system isn't sealed, causing your engine to run hot.

How about taking the hose that runs from the block and into the firewall and to the heater core and instead bypass it by just redirecting it immediately back into the block's heater inlet? I did this exact thing on my old '69 ElCamino's 350 when my heater core had given up the ghost and when I was havin' the exact same issues you're havin' with your F100 here. And after I did that, it ran much cooler.

(...in fact, I never did get around to installin' a new heater core on that baby before I sold it back in '06...SoCal never gets that cold, ya know)

Btw, nice lookin' old truck there, Mike!

On that old of a truck, I would clean out the radiator and change the heater core. Do check the flex brake lines to the front they dry rot and can cause a catastrophic failure. Thats bad news, when heads lights are looking at each other around a tree. But them are some nice truck brother I would rather have one of them old bad boys than the junk new truck I drive now. That big block suck on gas milage though. I had a 73 f250 with a 460 in it. Had power to spare but couldn't pass up a gas station. I want my old ford that had the 300 inline six back.

If he replaced the thermostat did he put it in backwards?

well, my $0.02 is pretty much what has already been said. On my F-100 I had to take the radiator out and boiled out at the local radiator shop, then put in a new thermo....hasn't heated up since....on the column to floor, sounds like linkage.....I put a C4 auto in mine....solved that whole clutch and linkage problem. Truck has over 350K on it....still running strong

Oh, damn I wouldn't even run a thermostat in that thing unless I drill a couple of 3/8 holes in the valve part.

Like has been said; change the thermostat, it's cheap and easy. Bypass the heater core to take it out of the equation though the only way it would contribute to overheating would be through coolant loss. A rotten core could also indicate corrosion in other parts of the cooling system as well. Check the water pump operation by watching the coolant flow with the radiator cap off. That's also a way to check the thermostat operation: It should circulate and stop, circulate and stop, etc.

Radiator could be plugged where you can't see it inside the tubes, but a good circulation would indicate that it's acceptable.

And always use a thermostat (except to test). An open system can overheat by not allowing the coolant to stay in the radiator long enough to cool off, and in cold weather the engine will not be able to reach operating temperature and will foul the cylinders. I would use a 180º.

Just want to say thanks for all the input so far.

Well today after work I went by the parts house got a new thermostat 180°, gasket, new exhaust gaskets and some copper rtv. Gonna get new studs too but want old out to make sure I get proper size.

When I got home and for most of the evening I been tinkering with the dang shifter linkage, btw its an old MR. Gasket, not really liking it. I still havent figure out how it get is adjusted properly, goes, from 1st to R smoothly then to 2nd and 3rd, but if I am not very, very , VERY careful when shifting out of 1st, to N, it gets hung up in 1st and wont go back into any other gear. I've tried adjusting the linkage many many way but satill can't figure it out. I'd love to go out and buy a new one but don't have the cash right now.

BTW didn't mess with the heating issue tonight.

PS I understand this isn't a Ford truck forum, (been there also) but y'all are like family so that why I bring it here.

Mr. Gasket was (is?) really cheap crap. You may want to find a new shifter.

Easy check: Take the rods off at the trans levers and see if they shift smoothly- with engine off, of course. Just be sure that the one you're not shifting is in neutral. That will be the middle position, each will have three positions. R-n-1; 2-n-3.

Sounds like a bad heater core and worn out shifter linkage to me,thats my .2 worth.

Thought y'all might wanna see what I'm working with here.

Well got shifter fixed, just need some love, hate and time. Just had to use different slot in the plate slightly bend a linkage rod, used a 5/16 drill bit to align both levers in N, and thats about it. Shifts pretty dang smooth, way better than when I picked it up.

Changed thermostat, and bypassed heater core, went for a test run, bout to pull into my driveway and oil light came on, revved and it went away, idled back down and came on again, repeat.. Popped hood no overflow, rad warm but not to hot, but top hose is still kinda stiff.

Change the oil, or the oil pump is getting weak and needs changed. The oil ports could be restricted by old sludge and not letting the oil drain down properly that happens too. If you drove it far enough to see if the over heating problem is solved the top hose will get tight from the pressure.

Hoses should get hard when hot......no, on the truck, it means that the system is pressurizing. That's what you want.

Oh, cool truck I got my drivers license in my dad's '67 F-100; 352, granny 4-speed.

Well did a little research to day and was able to talk to the ORIGINAL owner. He ordered it in October of 66, came with a 352, then later put the 390 thats in it from a 71 station wagon with 53k on it at the time, he had several othe trucks so didn't drive it all that often, when he sold it about a 1 1/2 years ago the motor had just over 100k. Also this engine has a A/C compressor on all hooked up with an electric fan in the cab, just need to put on a new belt. He also changed the steering coloum so he could have power steering so thats why the shifter is in the floor. The rear end is from a 69 so shoes for a 67 won't work. Only dent that he knew about was in the LR quarter panel but you can't tell it now. Still has original rear bumper from the dealer too.

Just a little history that I thought was kinda cool.