Hey Allisca, thanks for getting back to us. Hope all goes well. Remember setting timing. Engine warmed up, vacuum line to dizzy disconnected and plugged off, engine at curb idle (regular idle by the book) speed. Look forward to your results.

 

with a timing reading of 20 BTDC, i bet you are going to find the harmonic balancer has deteriorated and the center hub is no longer secured to the outer ring.

 

I will drive it and check it out for I had to take the wife out to dinner and did not get in the test drive

 

As per 1970STs response. Yes very possible the outer ring of hub has slipped. A quick check by you and helper can verify that it has or has not slipped. Remove # 1 spark plug, forward plug on passenger side. Preferably a piece of rubber hose long enough to hold in your hand and insert into the spark plug hole to reach the top of the piston. As your helper turns the engine by hand (socket and ratchet on the crank bolt in center of damper) in normal rotation, the piston will come up and push the hose back at you. Just when the hose will come no higher the piston will be at TDC (top dead center). Now look at your pointer and marks on the damper. The pointer should be at the TDC or 0 on the damper or off if the damper has slipped.

If you go to this link here on FTZ, look at post #72 and #74, there should be pics of your pointer and damper marks. As per pic, TDC is what you should see.

https://www.fordtruckzone.com/threads/ol-blue-77-intro-thread.661265/page-5#post-5290152

If the damper has slipped, you can no longer use the timing light method and may have to resort to setting with a vacuum gauge. You could paint new marks for TDC and the correct setting # with nail polish, just to do this time with timing light. They would not work again later as hub could slip more.

 

I took the truck out today and it starts real easy but no power, acts like it is loading up with gas but I do not think that is the problem

 

bump the timing advanced about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the distributer and tighten it back down. then go for a ride. keep advancing it until you reach a happy medium when hot engine of power, and easy start without timing ping on full throttle.

 

I talked to my friend that did the timing and he had already talked to his Dad who was a Ford mechanic for 20 years and he said the same thing that the mounting had deteriorated and we are going to do the bit with bringing number 1 to TDC and mark the balancer. thanks for all the help

 

By doing the TDC test at least you will know where your at. I could write a lot on this but will try to keep short. Yes, we had in our fleet a 1979 F-350, 4X4, auto, 351M, single rear wheel , rack body, I'd call it a low boy. It was a slug, everything set by the book, ran excellent, but it would not get out of it's own way. It had every conceivable pollution control device Ford could think of. From a dead stop floor it and it felt like it was pulling 20 tons behind it. Then all of a sudden it would like wake up and go like hell. Here is the short of it. The Centrifugal Advance in the dizzy did not start to advance until after 2,000 RPM and that is when the engine would wake up and pull. Most any engine before radical pollution control would almost be finished with its Centrifugal Advance by 2,000 RPM.

When you do the TDC test for timing mark accuracy, also remove the dizzy cap and grab the rotor and try to twist/turn the rotor in the direction the dizzy turns when cranking/ running. It should rotate in that direction and spring back to where you found it. Do this a few times, making sure that it snaps back effortlessly and completely . IF IT DOESN'T TURN, the advance is frozen and will have to be freed up. Removing the rotor and looking into the center of the shaft there should be a oil wick, no one ever puts oil in there and after time the movement will begin to stick and freeze up. If free put a couple drops motor oil into the wick.

I'm sorry this IS getting long, no other way. After checking and setting the timing with the light, test the advance with engine running. The vacuum line must be disconnected and plugged for this test. Watching the timing marks, slowly start revving the engine at some point you need to see the timing begin to advance. It would be great to have a tachometer to note what RPM the advance starts and what RPM the advance has reached maximum. I think you said you were using a 78 dizzy, it could have a lot of the poor qualities of the 79. Lets see how you make out.

 

I am using a dizzy out of my 77 high boy

 

I advanced the dizzy just a little and I had a little more get up and go but when I got back and let the truck sit for about a half hour the truck did not want to start. Will post more when we check it out later this week. Can I print the response that iicap posted so that we can follow this week for when I try to print I get a blank page

 

On print, did you try right click of mouse to Blue hi-light the text begining to end. Then with cursor in text, right click again and see if a drop down window offers you a print choice. Also when Blue hi-lighted try Ctrl + P, it may command print of the hi-lighted text. Hopefully someone will chime in on how to.

That 77 dizzy maybe better than the 79, not sure. Some modern timing lights have a tack built into them, would be great if that's what your using. Be great to know exactly what your advance is doing. Bottom line, no advance = no power. Knowing what is going on, we can address fixes.

 

Well we checked and the timing marks are ok and we did the rod in number 1 cylinder to get it to TDC and we are in time and when I start and stop the engine maybe a dozen time it starts right up with plenty of power and then I drove it a couple of miles and parked it and it started right up BUT then I let it set for 30 minutes and back to where I started, hard to start and when I get it started it acts like the engine is flooded after it starts. The engine seems to bog down then it runs good. I will remove the cap and see if the advance is frozen. I really appreciate all your help.

 

i don't remember if we ruled out fuel issues. is there a spacer under the carb? it may be heat soaking.
i run a 1 inch phenolic spacer under the carb to eliminate heat from the carb.

 

I will check for spacer and see if advance is working today and get back to you

 

The advance is working and there is a 5/8 inch spacer under the carb, could this be the problem ?