1981 F150 Blue. Named Walter, for now anyway

[rcarlisle]

Waiting for me after work.  Just a good recent photo.  Come a long way since March.

[Gary Lewis]

Faithful companion.  

[rcarlisle]

8-9-2021:  no real update.  But when I was out getting ready to wash for the cruise-in, I went underhood and messed with the choke adjustment.  Checked the operation of the linkages - one full press on throttle to set - works.   Closed the plate with the thermostat.    Started like it should and took for a test drive, got it pretty warm.    When I got home, I checked and it wasn't fully open, so I adjusted on that to get it fully open.  Figure that's best for all situations right now.   I did notice it seemed to run a bit better with the choke closed a little - might need some jetting work at some point?  idk.  Truck is like me - it likes to eat - don't want to feed it more than necessary.  That mpg is tough on the wallet.   This could be a daily driver if not for the mpg.

Now I am planning on finishing the choke setup when the weather cools a bit - the lines from the carb that run to exh manifold and back to choke.   I have the Dorman parts to do that.   The exh manifold looks like the bosses are rusty and crusty and unusable, so going to use the Dorman.  Someday maybe get a new mainfold and plumb it in correctly.  

Cruise in highlight next.

[rcarlisle]

Highlight of the cruise in.  1984, one owner, local truck.  Original paint, garaged all its life.  My truck is behind this one over a space.  I told the owner of this one that mine hoped to grow up like his.   What a beauty this was.    Wife thinks she wants some step bars like this one has.  





There was a lot of other stuff, too. (Ratted out Edsel Wagon, Some fenderless hot rods, more new Mustangs and Challengers than you'd ever want to see)  And a purple bullnose that wife might have took a photo of while I was driving.

Then the rains came.  Was driving home and had to stop.  Rained so hard the wipers never had a chance and they work properly.  We just stopped at a car dealer and waited it out.  

Drove truck all day - ran errands, took some bags of potting soil to mom, worked at daughter's house, had a great time at cruise in, truck never missed a beat.  

[Gary Lewis]

Sounds like you are getting it tuned nicely.  But do you have the lines in place that run to the exhaust manifold?  If they aren't truly in tact then then you may not be able to get the choke to open fully.

[rcarlisle]

Gary Lewis wrote

Sounds like you are getting it tuned nicely.  But do you have the lines in place that run to the exhaust manifold?  If they aren't truly in tact then then you may not be able to get the choke to open fully.

Yep, I realize that without lines it won't work completely right.  But what I did learn was that the garage that installed motor for PO had just wound the thermostat back to hold it fully open all the time.   Before this, one full pump wouldn't get it to start - had to do the 3 pump to get enough gas in carb.   But I did get a fast idle and saw that the choke would open from a closed position as it warmed.  

That's what the Dorman kit is for.  In a previous thread, someone posted a photo showing how he drilled a second hole in the Dorman stove piece to run the full loop of lines from carb to manifold to choke.  When the weather cools enough to be able to take my time and not drown in my own sweat, I'll tackle that.  

One more layer of the onion.... but seems like I'm adding layers back to get it to whole onion instead of peeling away to the core.  

At this point, it's almost a point of pride to turn that noisy AC compressor on just to show the AC works on the 40 y/o truck.  

[Gary Lewis]

Sounds like you are on top of it.  Keep peeling!

[rcarlisle]

We be peeling for sure.  

[rcarlisle]

So with tropical storm Fred moving through, I decided that a couple of intensely rainy days would be a good time to move the 40 y/o truck under the carport instead of the 1 y/o Hyundai.  LOL.  Truck doesn't leak that I can find and isn't rusty.  I figure hte BEST thing to do is not drive it, but being dry under the carport can't hurt either.   My wife didn't initially understand why I would do that.  But it makes perfectly good sense to me.  

[Gary Lewis]

It makes perfectly good sense to me as well.  The new one is surely well protected from rust, so would be the obvious choice.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Everyone has their own priorities.  

[rcarlisle]

So I had a "free" evening last night and the rains let up.  For a while.  By dark it was pouring again.  Had tornado warnings late into the night.   5.5" rain in 24 hours.   So while the truck was under carport, I put it on ramps to get under.   Installed the Dorman choke tubes.   I drilled the other end so I could have both lines.   I would never pass as a plumber - my lines don't match up but they are both there.  Broke one of the Dorman aluminum tubes but had bought copper just in case.   That aluminum is very soft and just uncoiling it is hard to do without compromising the tubing.  Copper seems just as soft but more forgiving.  Used both entire 2' pieces.    

The little Dorman stove piece is on the down pipe - way down there.   IF I ever redo it, I may do something different.   Like a  new manifold with proper chamber.   Or something.  

Question for the experts - what is in the choke housing connection?  The tube wouldn't go up in there like I thought it should and it's kinda loose in the threaded fitting.   And of course, on the engine, it is impossible to see in there.   Was worried about vacuum leak but it seems to run fine.  It was capped when I started.  

I did get it all in place and adjusted on it some to get it to appear to be working.   And it did.   Kinda.   Still some adjusting to do.  IT doesn't seem to want to have high idle immediately.   This morning it took two tries to get it to start without babying the gas.  But it did work better than it has been.  ANd started on one full press of throttle.   Just didn't stay fired.  

So I need to adjust more.  And I guess it doesn't really exist because I didn't take a single photo of the process.   I guess I need to do that so you guys will believe how badly the tubes are run.  LOL.   I was pushing to get done before the skies let loose again and it had started raining again as I finished up.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, we'll give you a pass this once on the pics.  But, no more than once!  

I think the fitting on the carb is a flare, but I'm not sure.  Hopefully someone else will know.

And it sounds like you may not have enough choke set yet.  Which stands to reason as you'd have had to go lightly on the choke before in order to get it to come off fully.  But now with the hot air hooked up you can dial more choke on and see if that works.

[rcarlisle]

I watched a few vids before to get an understanding.  Now I've watched them again.   I really think I need to remove the carb to make sure the linkages are doing their things properly, especially the fast idle.   And to see that inlet tube better.   A couple videos looked like they had an additional brass fitting to thread onto.  Mine was capped, but was just the pot metal threaded boss.  

It's pretty easy to see how the choke plates are adjusted and if the choke pull off works and adjusts.   I can feel the fast idle screw - it has a red rubber cap on it (good idea I think).  But I have no idea how it is rotating in relation to the rest of the choke system.  Or if it's working correctly at all.  

And finally making sure the choke is fully off when warm and when that occurs.  When does it think it's warm?  What if the spring is worn and it won't go fully on or off?  Is that a possibility?  That would be the thermostat cap right?  Are they labeled what temps or anything like that?

Carb removal is easy enough but is intimidating me for some reason.  I did motorcycle carbs every day as a matter of routine when I worked for the state motorcycle program.  But mine is intimidating me for some reason.  

[Bruce moose4x4]

Most of the choke housing connections use a compression sleeve on the tube. If the nut is real loose on tube it is missing the sleeve. with a sleeve the tube does not go up into the fitting very far. sample

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/american-grease-stick/american-grease-stick-1-4-inch-sleeve-compression/ags0/cfs2b10/v/a/8220/automotive-truck-2000-toyota-tacoma?q=cfs2b&pos=0

[rcarlisle]

The Dorman kit comes with that and I tried to get it in there, but could not.  So, for the moment, the tube is just pushed into the nut.   When I get back to trying to adjust more, I'll try again.  

[rcarlisle]

Got new rear shocks for my birthday.  Woohoo!   Took out the coilovers.  With a loud POP as they let the truck drop a couple inches with me under it.  That was a frightful moment.  Put new Gabriel Ultras in.  More improvement.  Still got a slight shudder somewhere in a wheel/tire/rotor.  But very slight at this point.  Going to clean up the coilovers to see if I can determine what they even are.  May hold onto them.  

Also adjusted on the choke more.  Getting there.  And took a couple photos of choke tubes.  







And with the new rear ride height:



It may be drooped just the slightest in the rear now?  Springs probably sagging quite a bit.   But rides fine and we don't often load it big time.

[rcarlisle]

Here's what I am finding with the choke tubes and adjustments.   It still takes 3 pumps to get it started and stay running.  BUT... with the choke working, it picks up and runs on the high idle and doesn't require so much feathering to stay running.   So I'm pretty happy with that.   First two pumps just aren't enough fuel to get it going and keep it going.  One more system that is functioning.  

Woo hoo!

[Gary Lewis]

That's very good.  

But, a properly-adjusted choke should do even better.  The 2150 has a vacuum pull off, so you can dial in more choke to get the engine started and then when it does the vacuum will pull the choke open slightly.

I'd dial in at least one more notch of choke, and maybe two, remembering what you've done so you can put it back, and see what that gives.  It really should start nicely with one pump, which will both set the choke and give a shot of fuel.

[rcarlisle]

Ok, I have it fully closed when I set it.   Then when it fires, it opens some - I have not measured.  I did try to close the plates a little more to have more choke when it first fires.   Closing the choke plate harder at stop only affects how long it stays on, from what I've read (preloading the plates).   The pull off amount comes from the vacuum when it starts.  

If I were to start it and cut off to try again, it will always start the second time with no issue.   It's only when it has sat overnight or several days that it takes more than one pump to start.  

 It's an ongoing process for sure, but you can only do cold adjustments on the first start of the day, really.   Or at least that's about all I have time for currently.   I'll keep adjusting and reading up on the adjustments and keep trying.   I'm happy to have any choke at all though - makes cold running a lot easier than all that patting the gas to get it to run without dying off before it will actually move.  

Need to check the squirters too, just to make sure it is giving a healthy squirt first thing.

Thanks for the suggestions.   Next up is going to be a window regulator - that looks easy initially sorta.