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Help with a Ford 361

A

Acesneights1

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Anybody know if a 361 uses the same distributor as a 360/390 ? My F600 is backfiring like mad when decellerating. Carb is brand new. Vac advance on the dist is bad so I plugged the line Suspect that is the problem. It has points so want to put a later model electronic dist from 390.
 
Yup, the 330-428 were all the same. There were some differences in heads/intakes for the industrial engines but for the most part they were the same. Alot of 1/2 ton - 1 ton trucks actually ran 359's/361's or 389's/391's but they were always called 360's or 390's. Wouldnt hurt to check the teeth count in the dist drive to be sure the gears are the same in case they ran different cams for more torque but i am sure they are the same.
 
It wasnt. The drive gear was differnt and could not be swapped. NAPA has a rebuilt orignal version for 130$. This thing makes crazy loud backfires when shifting gears or if you let off the gas too fast. Would a blow vac advance on the dist cause that ? It's so bad it's undrivable.
 
Does the $130 rebuilt unit come wit the vac adv? If so, buy it Kenny. If not then I'd put on a new vac adv. Backfire on decel is a symptom of too much retard. (no, not that retard...:D)
Can a ford distributor be 1 or 2 teeth off?
BTW, you really should just put in the later model electronic one.
 
I want to but I ccan't find one that fits. The 361 has a larger oil pump driveshaft and the bottom of the drive geAR where it rides in the block is differnt. I have a dist from a 360. I was hoping it would have fit. To my knowledege 361 never came with electronic. The NAPA reman comes with the vac ad. The vac ad cannot be pirchased sep. NAPA was the only one who even had the dist. It's in an F600
 
If I can remember the name there's an outfit that will make a Chevy HEI system to fit Fords or any thing else. Price wasn't to bad either. Nice because parts are esy to find and cheap.
 
Definitely let me know on that one. I'm not sure I even remember how to set points. I have long since lost my fathers Sears Dwell meter.
 
My apologies for this wrong info. I wasnt sure being an industrial engine, i know the intakes were different and i suspected the cams were too. Ford ran alot of addballs back then like the 359, 389, and the 391. You can buy an electronic upgrade for the points dist through Jegs or Summit if it take the same points as the 360/390.
 
OK. I got the reman points one. I'll see how she runs. Guy at autoparts thinks I got a valve hanging up since the truck sits alot. He sold me some seafoam.
 
If the backfiring is out the exhaust when decelerating, the issue is likely not related to timing.

Normally a backfire or POPPING in the exhaust on decel is due to an overly rich mixture and an air leak into the exhaust that allows the fuel to ignite.

Does this rig have an air pump (smog pump)
If it does, make sure the diverter valve is functioning.

These systems pump fresh air into the exhaust to help burn the excess hydrocarbons left after combustion.

A failed diverter valve will allow the pump to continue to stuff fresh air into the exhaust on decel and will make some nasty explosions in there.

A stop gap fix would be to unhook the smog pump until you can get the system fixed.

Hope this helps

MGW
 
Thanks but they didn't have smog pumps in 1973..:D
I actually got it fixed. Took it for a test drive. I ordered a distributor from NAPA but it was the wrong one or something major screwed up. The one in the truck was bigger and had a tach drive. The one NAPA gave me was smaller but the cap and rotor seemed to fit and the distributor fit but the truck would just break up off idle. So I pulled it back out. Luckily the vac adv pot was the same on both so I took that off the reman and put the original dist back in with it and the truck runs like a champ. It sucks to pay 130$ for a dist for just a vac advance but I could not get it any other way. I don't know why the reman dist ran like crap. All I can think of was either there was something wrong with it or the cap and rotor off the old one was different even though it fit. When I tried timing it with the reman dist i got it set but timing light was cutting out like something was wrong with it. I have not used it in 20 yrs and it was a cheapy sears but I noticed whhen I put the old dist back in the timing light was fine so something was screwy with tha dist. I checked the points, they were set properly. The cam lobes looked ok. Maybe was wrong cap and rotor. I'll have to look into that but for now it run a good.
 
Glad you got it fixed, I have a 72 camper special f250ranger I have been trying to find a carb rebuild kit for. of course they used 13 different carbs that year and didnt put a number on it anywhere
 
DEERE3594 said:
Glad you got it fixed, I have a 72 camper special f250ranger I have been trying to find a carb rebuild kit for. of course they used 13 different carbs that year and didnt put a number on it anywhere
Click to expand...

Just replace it with an aftermarket carb. I did this on my old 1979 Chevy and it ran 100% better than it ever did before.
 
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