1964 Ford F100 bad idle and Tranny

[uranium67]

Hey all, I recently bought a 1964 ford f100 custom cab, its a great truck, but it idles terrible. It idles very rough and usually dies if the engine isnt revved. I suspect timing, but I could be wrong. I also noticed that when putting it in drive and reverse kills the engine quicker unless you revv the engine a bit, making parking near impossible and makes it run even more rough. The transmission(column shifter) shifts sloppy and slips in and out of gear when shifting between park, reverse and drive. I really dont want to buy a new carb and rebuild the trany if thats the problem. Whats to been done?

[leolkfrm]

Welcome to the forum
Actually it sounds like a vac leak, look around at all the rubber vac lines, 1 is probably cracked. as for the shifter check the linkage, i think it had rubber bushings back then

[75K30]

welcome to the site;

as always, leolkfrm has hit a winner here. It does sound as though you have a vacuum leak problem, so do inspect the connections of all of the lines as well as the lines themselves. You have a leak, so use a little carb cleaner to detect the leaks. Be carefull not to light yourself on fire. I have used other things such as propane but again these are flammable, and can ignite so use precaution.
The flammable substances will make the engine rpm increase when the vacuum leak is found. The leak will draw clean air in, and if you pass the flammable gas or liquid over the leak the vacuum of the engine will draw the gas or liquid into it. This is a fast and reliable method for detecting a leak.

Couple of problems with the transmission, and one has been addressed already, and the other could be the detent spring inside of the trans itself. You might have bad bushings just as mentioned above, so take a look at this first.
Much luck.....

[silverhairdeere]

how about a decent tune up and a carb adjustment .

shd

[uranium67]

Okay i checked out the Vac line(s) and they seem to be okay, i plan on disconnecting them and really inspecting them more with some gumout. I adjusted what im sure is the idle speed screw and it seems to idle a bit better. All thats left is the mysterious clicking noise coming from the heads and a profuse amount of smoke coming from my left tailpipe

[leolkfrm]

Blue smoke? may be a valve seal, noise may be a noisy lifter. some will need to correct me if i am wrong but if the tranny has has a vac modulator, make sure the hose to it is not cracked

[uranium67]

aha, i adjusted the carb needle/screw and tightend up the timing and now it seems to run smoother. Unfortunatly, i discovered a crack in the manifold but im prepared to purchase a new one if necessary. But i have a question, i want a little more horsepower out of my truck... should i look into carbs, exhaust kits, differentials? any tips i would greatly appreciate

[leolkfrm]

What engine do you have?

[uranium67]

292 Y-block and as far as i know its all factory stock

[gmctrucks]

Check to see if maybe some of the bushings are worn on the shift levers under the truck to start with or steering column. I would say try to adjust the carb air/fuel mixture screws.
Good luck! GMC