Getting ready to clean up my engine, exhaust, distrib, etc. Opinions Please!

[clintonvillian]

Well the old girl is running pretty good. As stated in some other threads I am going to rebuild the carb. I have some oil leaking, so I am going to chase that. I want to go to a duraspark II ignition and get rid of the points. I also have a cracked manifold so I need to redo them as well as the exhaust.

I plan to do a complete frame off in around 5-10 years on this ride. So I am on the fence as to what to spend my money on now vs go cheap.

Below is a list of items I am replacing/redoing now to keep it on the road.

-Rebuild 4180 Carb
-Intake Gaskets
-Valve Cover Gaskets
-Valve cover breather caps
-Waterpump and gasket
-Heater motor
-Heater valve

-Headers or manifolds, (this is an area I think I should go cheap, and save the money for a Really nice set when the motor is rebuilt), I'm thinking cheap headers, if you go headers doesn't the dipstick tube bolt to the stock manifold?

-Exhaust, again probably a cheaper aluminized kit and save the money for a stainless exhaust for the rebuild. I'm thinking Duff has a decent priced kit.

-Duraspark II Distributor, Painless Harness, Coil, module
-Plug Wires
-Plugs

If there is anything else I should be changing, cleaning, etc while I have it torn down this far, or advice on anything, I'm all ears.

 

[WyleCoyote]

If you are not going to be changing the actual engine, just rebuilding what you have, the headers and exhaust should not have to be redone when you do that, it will transfer over to the rebuilt engine. No reason to buy it twice, unless you think that between now and then it will be destroyed for some reason. I'm running the same headers and exhaust that I put on when I did my frame up, and I just repowered with a 351w, had to have slight modification done to match the exhaust back up to the headers but that was all.

 

[PickleJar]

I did a refresh also. My bronco only had 68K on it, it ran great before disassembly, the heads had already been done before I got it, and everything else I could inspect looked great so I chose not to do full rebuild and save some money as well.

When I cleaned mine up, I used Duplicolor Engine enamel. I kept my manifolds and painted them using VHT manifold paint. I have not installed yet because I'm still doing the build, but I'm happy with the finish.

On top of what your planning I also....
-timing chain and cover gasket
-thermostat and housing gasket
-harmonic balancer
-oil pick up tube (mine had a broked mounting piece)
-I also replaced my water pump studs, the old ones were badly corroded.

From my experience gunk brand degreaser is good. Just dont get the foaming kind it sucks. Some of th ebest degreaser I've ever used is a product called fast ball.

 

[jckkys]

The 4180s are excellent carburetors, but need a richer mixture in the transfer circuit. I found a good article describing a fix for that. Here; http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=162618. The rest of the 4180s circuits work better than any previous models.
The most important thing to look for in the Duraspark II ignition is an actual US made Motorcraft ignition module. Most all the complaints about Duraspark are the result of crappy Chinese replacement modules.

 

[clintonvillian]

The 4180s are excellent carburetors, but need a richer mixture in the transfer circuit. I found a good article describing a fix for that. Here; http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=162618. The rest of the 4180s circuits work better than any previous models.
The most important thing to look for in the Duraspark II ignition is an actual US made Motorcraft ignition module. Most all the complaints about Duraspark are the result of crappy Chinese replacement modules.

Thanks for that article, the 4180's are hard to find much information on. Here is another good one I found:

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?184976-Thorough-investigation-mapping-of-Holley-4180-s

I had a guy recommend I replace the stock power valve included with my rebuild kit to a 10.5 in. Mg power valve. The article I posted is using an 8.5? Do you have any input?

Man I'm a little hesitant to start switching out the air bleeds...there are something that can go wrong in a hurry, and after seeing the link I posted, it makes me even more hesitant. That guy knows his stuff.

 

[WheelHorse]

Never go cheap; that's my advice.

IF you are adamant on using a carb, a wideband makes tuning a lot easier.

 

[ngsd]

I know it is a lot of work to pull the engine but it sure made it easier to get to everything. When the engine was out I cleaned up the engine bay, painted the engine, headers etc as well as a good time to replace oil pan, rear and front main seals, intake and exhaust gaskets and just general maintenance. Now not only does it look good but it doesn't leak a drop!