1970 f250 camper special

[lloyd70cs]

Hi everyone

I'm new to everything mechanical and automotive repair. I bought a 1970 f250 from a guy in North Vancouver, bc to teach myself and end up with a great truck. North Van is very wet but all in all the rust isn't as bad as it could be.

It didn't run when I got it but with some work it's going now. I've replaced the battery, solenoid, starter, plugs and wires, condenser. New filters and some fuel and brake lines. New master cylinder and brakes. Interior side I've replaced some switches and other parts that were missing entirely.

Here is the question I'm dealing with now. I'm driving it around short trips but I'm pumping out a lot of blue smoke. I haven't done anything related to timing or tuning with regards to adjustments so not sure if that would help. The previous owner included a cast iron 4 barrel intake manifold as well as chrome valve covers and gaskets with the truck. I was told he probably had these because he was lining up to replace the head gasket. What am i up against in tackling that job? Remember, I'm pretty novice. What would i need to purchase as part of that job? Heads? Exhaust manifolds? I'll take some pics and upload soon. I little wet today.

Lloyd

[ddcrim]

Timing, tuning or anything else won't help, short of a set of piston rings and a mechanic friend, or machine shop.
You may be a little over your head on this one. Sounds like the motor is ready for a rebuild. Most of these old trucks
are in the same shape.

[lloyd70cs]

Watching videos and looks like valve seals and new springs aren't too difficult with some air pressure and the special tool.

[Ranchero50]

I'd recommend doing some research on diagnosing what an old engine needs. Do a compression test dry and wet to help understand which parts are worn out. Blue is usually a sign of a worn out engine. Might be more economical to source a stock rebuilt replacement or a core and work with a local rebuilder to do an economical rebuild on it.

First you need to determine what use and duty you expect of the truck. An ice cream getter is going to have different needs vs. a working truck.

[moonhanger007]

Exactly what he said, what do you want the truck to do for you?
I'm fairly mechanically inclined, but I had a local professional shop referb my heads, and block. Alot of these FE engines did not have hardened valve seats
which makes it a difficult problem for the "shade tree" mechanic to solve.
As for "bang for the buck" there are more economical restomod options available that will provide reliable HP, and fuel economy.
Good luck with your project, and welcome to the forum!

[lloyd70cs]

Thanks guys. I'm having the engine looked at by my mechanic who is a ford guy. He's going to diagnose the problem, i take it with compression and vacuum.

[moonhanger007]

That's a great place to start, I had low compression in cyl #8, but still drove the truck for 2yrs before tearing it down.
The good news is if it dose need rebuilt you get plenty of hands on experience by pulling it apart yourself. Keep us posted on what you find out.

[lloyd70cs]

Turns out i had two bent rods.and the plugs weren't firing. The mechanic is going to do all four on the intake side. Figures it was bad gas making the valves stick? I will try and get in to at least take a look at what he did and get to know under the valve covers. As it happened i was given new covers and gaskets with the truck so they'll go on. That is as long as their the right ones!

[Ranchero50]

Valves typically stick when things get hot binding them in the bushing. That will cause the push rod to bend. The intake valve not opening will suck oil into the cylinder and I guess it could pump some of it out the exhaust. Hard call to say if it will fix the problem but you are moving in the correct direction. Sounds like he's only doing one side. I'd recommend pulling the other cover and checking that they aren't bent as well.

[lloyd70cs]

Compression was good on all but 2 on intake side. But he will put both covers on so I'll get him to check it out..

Thanks!

[lloyd70cs]

Hi again guys. Well i bought this truck to learn mechanics and I'm getting an education. So now i understand that bent push rods are a symptom not a cause better. My mechanic found four bent rods. He worked on it a bunch and put in new oil; 15w40. Ran great, and on all cylinders (bonus!) when i got it back for all of 3 or 4 hours then the blue smoke again and tapping under the hood.

So now i understood what he had done i took the covers off and checked the rods and rockers. Three more bent rods and two had sunk down 2 inches lower than the rest Into their holes. When i took the two rods out and looked down at the lifters it looked like the rods had punched a hole in them?

So now i believe i have at least two or more bad lifters. I haven't got the money to do a full rebuild with machining etc so my plan is to take the intake manifold off and replace all lifters and again new rods all around and while the rockers are off I'll check to make sure all the valves are freely moving. I'm hoping this will get me running on all cylinders and properly.
But what about the blue smoke? Either valve seals or piston rings or both. But can i take this thing all apart and not machine it? Thanks for any help.

[hfdco4]

It sounds like it was running pretty good for that three hours with little or no smoke. If that is so I would lean towards the heads need work. Second, do not replace just the lifters without taking a very good look at the cam shaft for wear. What you need to find is a local guy from Fordification or over at FTE (Ford Truck Enthusiast) to possibly help/educate you. You would be very surprised how much you can do at home for little money with so help.

[lloyd70cs]

Thanks. My neighbor is a mechanic from home and a great guy. He is willing to help with direction. If i pull heads off and get deeper can i put it back together without machining and all that that entails? I've seen master rebuild kits for 250 online.

[Ranchero50]

Heads aren't terrible to pull but get costy to 'rebuild'. But since the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, you must pull the heads and strip them down to figure out why the valves are seizing in the bores. The valve sticks, the push rod bends, then the extra clearance beats the lifter plunger retaining ring loose and the lifter falls apart. It's only terrible when those pieces fall through the drain holes and get mixed up with the rotating assembly. My buddy just went through this on a IH 866 tractor where the valve seized, the pushrod bent and a lifter got between the crank throw and the cylinder liner breaking it apart. Now he's @ $12k into a $5k tractor...

Like I stated in my original reply. I'd search for a replacement, possibly rebuilt to either rebuild or swap in while you rebuild yours. You can buy a spring compressor for under $50 and take it along to inspect replacement heads. Basically remove the retainer, drop the vale @ 1/2" and wiggle it sideways to check for looseness.

[lloyd70cs]

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