Engine Choice Ideas for my 66 F100: original spec 240 auto

[bobenhotep]

the manual choke carter should bolt right up. Look on the exhaust manifold and you can see where the choke tube goes, if it is equipped. I have a carter with the hot air choke, no electric. I did a tutorial on here how to make one of those work well. I had a manual before, but went with the hot air choke because it was a bit cheaper and I wanted to see if I could get it to work. This is the tutorial

240/300 inline 6 choke tube repair/ upgrade

[F100forever]

Thanks for your tip about the choke! Everything is stock, and i looked at the exhaust manifold and it has a big hole, the size of my finger in it, does not have the insert that i saw in your tip page that you put the brass set screw into. (I do have the stock mechanical linkage/bell crank for the Automatic Trans kick down. That part actually seems to be fairly rare. Also, your other tips are very helpful, like it sure is nice to know how to run the DS II ignition on a GM HEI spark box if one needs to get going in a pinch!)

What is that upper hose to your carb that looks like it also goes to the manifold, heated air into the venturi or headed water into the carb from the block?

I checked the DS II max vacuum advance this morning, jeez, it seems high, 35.5* advance! I have a dial back timing light to check things with. I it does not have a tach on it, and i was by myself so i was not able to check the mechanical advance curve, and did not bother to check the total mechanical advance yet either. I also need to check if my vac advance can is adjustable. Can you recommend a timing curve, mechanical total and vacuum advance total for the 240 engine?

I noticed last night that the RPM was creeping up when the engine warmed up. In the past i noted that the idle was more consistent if i lowered the initial timing - so i set that back to 7* from 9*. It lost just a little snap on the bottom compared to 9*, but its plenty smooth, still pull fine for a 240. Power was smooth and solid.

No pining, has 87 gas in it (i used to have to run 91 with the pints ignition). I used to cruise and 14 to 15 inches vacuum, so i will check that again to see if it changed.

When i pulled out onto the highway and rolled in to the power to WOT, it pulled smoothly up to 4000 then it shifted firmly, 1-2 and again the same to 2-3 (which is about 70 MPH.) Not quick or fast, LOL, but smooth and consistent, no spark scatter or jumps in the tach needle like i had before. Considering i am putting 0 to 25 and 25 to 45 MPH most all the time, i am looking for smooth torque and consistency and as much MPG as possible. I am getting 11.6 to 12.6 town now. I would love to get between 13 and 14 in town if i light foot it... i know that's going to be a challenge.

I also have a problem in that i replaced the water thermostat with a new my temp gauge is still not working. I tested and tried a different gauge resistor, both seem to work, but either fixed my temp gauge. I thought i worked when i first got the truck but then i am not so sure now. A while back i noticed there was a wire dangling (i had forgotten to hook up up after i replaced the transmission) which looked like the correct one to plug into the temp sender, but the temp gauge still does not work... I noticed the new sender unit had thread dope on it from the factory, could this effect how the unit grounds out?

I did verify that my fuel gauge works though, but i need a new sending unit.

[bobenhotep]

If you want to run a choke tube through there see how big the hole is and beat a piece of iron pipe into it. You can thread the inside of the ends and screw a fitting into each for the choke tube.

The tube going to the top of the carb is so that fresh air from the carb goes through it and down into the hot air thing for the choke, so that it gets filtered air from the air cleaner and does not need a separate air filter. It hooks to the copper tube int the bottom of the exhaust manifold.

Does your carburetor have a thing on the outside of it that looks like a holley power valve? If it does it is a spark valve carb. The spark valve will give you crazy advance. I wouldn't worry too much about total vac advance if it is running well.

The temp gauge should have a wire coming from the regulator on the panel. The other wire should go into the wire harness, and goes to the sending unit on the engine. The wire on the engine side should be white with a red stripe as far as I know. If you ground it out the gauge should peg. If you are worried about the gauge being grounded or not, run a ground jumper to one of the mounting screws. I think it should work fine without it, though.

I got an average of 19 mpg combined when I lived in Georgia. I did a lot of stuff to get it, but from my experience, getting the engine to warm up and stay there is key to mileage. Oil viscosity will affect it too.

[F100forever]

My carb is a later model that does not have that variable vac advance. It'd date tag says 73 or something.

Ah right, choke tube fresh air, I wondered about that, it's been a while since I worked on one.

I will play with my sender and gauge again some time and see if I can get it to work.

Next big step for me is to install a dual master cylinder and change my rubber brake hoses. Need to get a junk yard distribution block.

[bobenhotep]

I am doing the dual master cylinder conversion right now. I just need the adapters for the master cylinder.

[chris401]

My thoughts in line with Unibody Madness. My situation worked will for me. 360 2v. Got my license on a Tuesday, police called and pulled over that Saturday, first speeding ticket the following Saturday. I was grounded for 2 weeks from truck. 3 days longer than I had my license for. Dad raced and abused that truck when he had it, so he knew what he was doing by letting me figure it out and making it faster on my own. I did the same for my stepson. 97 Dakota 3.9 but he is more level headed than I was.

I normally like manual trans old cars, but this little F100 short bed stepside, was a city work truck and came with a broken green dot truck C4 when i got it. So i had the C4 rebuilt, and the little 240, although shakes a little at idle (like and old tractor), does run smooth, but does not pull very hard. Its tired thought, 125-135 PSI on a compression check, warm throttle open. Mileage is fair, but only 11.5 to 16 hwy. I rebult the carb, holley 1940, but it seems jetted a tad rich.

I posted this question over on another engine forum but thought i should see what the the Slick 60s group thinks. Consider i may give the truck to my son for his first project/drive to school some/ truck. Well my choice would be an FE390 or bigger, LOL!, here are my options:

1) Keep it stock with the 240, try to improve the carb, pertronics, and maybe a rebuild some day
2) Get a full EFI 300 six from the yard, run a carb/duraspark now and have my sone help to install the EFI later.
3) My Brother in law has an A-Code 289/T10 i can pick up, its 150K on a 30 over build, but still runs good. Could bolt the engine to the C-4 and run it for now.

What is everyones optinion?

TIA.

[BKW]

"A" code 289 would be a 4V. 289's were not installed in trucks, neither were Warner T-10's or Ford 4 speed top loaders.

289's before 8/23/1964 have a 5 hole bell housing bolt pattern, from 8/23/1964 have a 6 hole bolt pattern.

289's before 8/23/1964 use a different timing cover and waterpump than from 8/23/1964.

289: 1963/68 misc Ford/Merc Passenger Cars, 1965/68 Ranchero, 1966/68 Bronco.