Straight Sixin' '63

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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

My wife and I stumbled onto a pretty rockin' deal and moved into a new place on the Waccamaw river. House is in a private setting out in the sticks surrounded by state land and comes with its own dock and a two car garage that has a pit! :dancing: Now my 63 and 67 can keep each other company 8)

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Been driving my '63 quite a bit lately. My ranger took a dump and my 352 is too thirsty to drive daily. Chased my tail for a few weeks trying to find the source of my 223's recently developed poor performance. Swapped SCV's, coils, regapped plugs, and reset timing and dwell more times than I can count. Looks like a bad dizzy diaphragm. Despite no vac advance it still managed to drive 60 miles daily and pull 14.5 mpg 8)

edit: forgot to add; My heat riser valve actually still works! Soaked it in PB for a while and it seems to open and close now!
'63 F100 223 3OT
‘20 F150 XL
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Got my new distributor diaphragm installed. Truck is running beautifully now. The 63 had a parking buddy at work today.

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'63 F100 223 3OT
‘20 F150 XL
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Generator on my truck went kaput. Luckily I have enough extra parts laying around to do the alternator swap. I used the generator lower mounting bracket and the upper bracket for an FE engine. For an alternator I used a dual pulley with a couple washers put behind the pulley so it would line up.

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'63 F100 223 3OT
‘20 F150 XL
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

The 'ol trucks gauges reading low have been annoying me quite a bit lately so I decided to try my hand at fixing it.
I pulled out the dash to try adjusting the ICVR. No dice - it's not adjustable. I was getting pulsing 5-7 volts coming out of it, so it seemed to be functioning.

Next I made up a new ground strap from engine to firewall. The old one was covered in corrosion :shock:

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The new strap seems to have half solved the problem. The gas gauge seems to be reading correctly but the temp gauge is still low.
'63 F100 223 3OT
‘20 F150 XL
bruceandersson
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by bruceandersson »

Test out your temp gauge by grounding directly to the engine block. Should read full high temp. Could be your sender or that someone used a sealant on the sender interfering with the ground to the block. I'll need to look at my ground strap to firewall as my gauges read low as well.
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Gauge update - took the truck for a spin and fuel gauge started reading low again :cussing: I'm going to check all my other grounds before throwing a new ICVR at it...

Put a trailer hitch on the truck today. Pretty simple job. I just gotta weld up the width adjusters because the holes didn't line up.
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'63 F100 223 3OT
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Got tired of my wing windows flapping (no locks) in the breeze and my windows rattling in the doors. I have two good doors with the window seals still in decent shape and wing windows with good rubber (and locks!). So I stripped 'em down and put the goods in my uni doors. Should be good for a few more years.
Then maybe I'll have to dust off the ol' wallet and shell out for new stuff :lol:
'63 F100 223 3OT
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unibody madness
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by unibody madness »

Like the in ground pit for getting under the trucks, should make service and inspection a breeze. progress looks great on the truck.
Setting the valve lash particularly on a worn engine can drive you nuts so I am going to P.M. you an easier way to adjust lash on solid lifter engine.
You might also try the Bon Ami/steam engine clean out, if you feel the engine is carboned up...as it was told to me... slowly pour a teaspoon of a fine scouring powder down the carb throat of a warmed, running, engine and trickle in some water..adjusting idle to keep it running. until it smooths out. change oil and filter after about 100 miles
I have done this on two high mileage 223 motors and the difference was astounding I did however start and end with the water, I have also been told not to run trans fluid or thinning agents in the oil to help clean it out prior to an oil change, as this may cause oil leaks.
Turk build thread at:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=18944

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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Thanks unibody madness :thumright:

Some bad news on the truck...Friday on my way to work I lost a radiator line and the truck overheated pretty good. Fortunately I had my tow dolly with me and was a couple miles from a friend's house that could tow me.

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Looks like a blown head gasket :( Vac gauge shows it's not broken beteeen cylinders and it still runs fine (I fixed the line and refilled) it just overheats. I guess this is a good opportunity to fix my loose valve stem guides and get some practice at adjusting valve lash :lol: Assuming that the head is ok...
'63 F100 223 3OT
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bruceandersson
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by bruceandersson »

I'd check for a stuck thermostat before pulling the head.
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Is it possible to have "cooked" the thermostat close when I lost my coolant?
'63 F100 223 3OT
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by bruceandersson »

The thermostat only controls the inflow of coolant from the radiator. If you overheat, you still pressure the system and can blow a hose as the return on the bottom is still open.
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Thanks for the heads up on the thermostat Bruce :cheers:

I changed out the oil, popped a new thermostat in, and filled the coolant back up. The 63 fired up but was spitting and sputtering. I tried to retune it and couldn't quite get it right. Turns out I cooked my coil. New coil in and it's running great now!

I took the truck for about a 20 mile drive yesterday and it held temp. I'm going to drive it to work the rest of the week and make sure that I don't "gain" any oil....
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bird55
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by bird55 »

You won't gain oil, as much as the oil will look like milk chocolate.
This will happen soon if you might have a cracked head, block or blown head gasket. oil and water mixture. been there, not fun.
You should be able to tell within a few minutes of running the engine if a water passage is getting into the oil.
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

bird55 wrote: You should be able to tell within a few minutes of running the engine if a water passage is getting into the oil.
85 miles on it and no sign of a crackled head, I'm in the clear! :mrgreen:
'63 F100 223 3OT
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Noticed a slight miss at 50mph. Pulled the plugs to see what was going on. I'm no plug reading expert but 1 and 2 look dry fouled, 5 and 6 looked a little hot, 4 looked like detonation, and 3 was cracked at the electrode! Yikes. I looked into cylinder 3 and the top of the cylinder is black, looks like a bad oil leak.
It's back to square one on dialing it in.

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Also I noticed this opening between cylinders 3 and 4, is that supposed to be there? I'm pointing at itwith a flash light, hence the weird color...

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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

When I put new plugs in I packaged and labeled the old plugs. Judging from the old plugs 3+4 seem like a problem area with oil. Lots of ashy build up on the old 3 plug.

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orangeRcode
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by orangeRcode »

How many miles are on those plugs?
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ICEMAN6166 »

ThinLizzy13 wrote: Also I noticed this opening between cylinders 3 and 4, is that supposed to be there? I'm pointing at itwith a flash light, hence the weird color...

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that is the spot where the pry tool is used to lift up the head to break the gasket seal when removing the head
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ThinLizzy13
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Re: Straight Sixin' '63

Post by ThinLizzy13 »

Thanks Iceman.

Orangercode -The last 2 pictures of the the old plugs - probably 10 years old, maybe 10k miles. The first pic is of the plugs in it when it overheated - maybe 1500 miles.


It's running decent now, but seems a little underpowered. I cranked the engine with a plug out. Looks like a weak spark.
I reset everything by the shop manual - plugs .030, dwell 35, rpm 550, timing I had to set with a vac gauge because my timing mark is gone. I put a new condenser in and a new coil. I still have an orange spark. Not really sure where to go from here...
'63 F100 223 3OT
‘20 F150 XL
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