1984 Ford F-150 XLT a work in progress!
 

Hey guys!
im excited to be on these forums..as i am eager to learn about these trucks.
i recently bought an '84 f-150 xlt. it has an after market holley 4bbl carburetor street avenger in it. and seemingly some jimmy-rigging here and there...ive been having some problems with this truck since i bought it.

im having 2 main problems....getting it started. and keeping it running. hahaha.

ive got some pictures ill post here in a second to really show you what im describing.

when i bought the truck it wouldnt really turn over...guys at the salvage yard just said you gotta make sure its in park when you start it....they would jam it in park and crank the key and after bad winding it would magically start.
that was the last time it started without a jump.

i replaced the solenoid and the connector (pos / neg) heads to the battery...when i turn the key i get nothing. no clicking anything. i had a friend look at it who has a meter and he said i was getting voltage but that there might be a break in the ignition line..ive traced it as much as i can and havent seen any major damage. could this possibly be an ignition switch problem?
the odd thing is, is that it starts with a jump..with a brand new battery and solenoid.
so now currently im crossing the solenoid and the battery with a screwdriver to get it started.

and the second issue...i might be kind of green here...but in the mornings ive had problems keeping the truck going. when i go to accelerate it will die out...like its out of gas.
i believe we were able to up the idle (which is apparently jimmy rigged big time) which made it idle fine yesterday.

so my newby question here is do i need to let the truck warm up for about 10 minutes before i try and drive it? because it wasnt stalling out yesterday evening at all.

thank you guys for your help!
ill post some pictures soon.

-
Matt

Here are a few pictures.
https://www.f150-forums.com/attachme...ine=1363537848

https://www.f150-forums.com/attachme...ine=1363537848

you see that little lamp cable / cheap steel bead cable safety pinned to that line?
curious as to if that is infact the idle...it doesnt pull when i press the accelerator but when we had it started we tugged on it bit and it seemed to idle faster..with less sputters. someone had mentioned to me that it may be the cruise control...which would be strange if that were the case.


https://www.f150-forums.com/attachme...ine=1363537848

Hi there. From the sound of it I think your chock isnt working. My 85 is fuel injected but I know it is cold blooded also. The idle when I first start it is higher about 1200 rpm on the tack. Then after about 4-5 minutes it drops down to 800-900rpm. Then I can drive it without it dying. So I would check tje auto choke or see if there is a manual choke to pull out the knob. I have seen some with that. Also ,