1972 Ford Ranch Wagon Questions

Dang! I just ordered one off of ebay last night, thank you for the offer though! It is a Motorcraft 2-barrel. I thought about getting something that would be an upgrade....but then remembered I don't even know if this engine will run

 

This is the relay that makes the click and "twang" kind of noise when I turn the key, the number on the back is d3ab-14677-aa.
It's up on the firewall, what does it do? Will it keep the car from even trying to turn over?

 

The '14677' in the part number denotes a power window/door lock power relay. It latches when the ignition is ON.
However, when you turn the key to start, is there any response from the fender-mounted starter solenoid? The red/blue stripe wire is the starter trigger wire, and should be on the relay's 'S' terminal.

 

Did they use those relays for different things? This wagon definitely doesn't have power anything.
There is no response from the solenoid. I remember being able to bypass the solenoid in my old 71 Ford pickup back in high school. I assume that I could try that with this one?
Thanks for the guidance!

 

Yes, if you jump battery power to the "S" terminal, it *should* toggle the solenoid. Protip: I may have mentioned, make sure the solenoid mounting is clean and free of rust. If the bracket won't take a good ground, run a wire from the battery NEG directly to the bracket. A bad ground can keep it from latching.

 

Have you tried turning the engine over by hand to see if it is free?

 

Right, barring the engine is an important step.

 

When I replaced the points I had to get it to the top of a lobe and missed it a couple times, so I was able to turn it by hand.
Anywho, I couldn't wait any longer any bypassed the solenoid and she just cranked away! I didn't keep it on long (didn't want to arc weld everything together and burn the house down). I feel like I got a good ground on the solenoid (wire brushed to bare metal on both surfaces.) Maybe a replacement is in order?
I'm still waiting on the replacement carb to get here, probably should get on ordering a rebuild kit while I'm thinking about it.
In the meantime, I'm trying to find all the trim screws that are hiding so I can get the interior panel off the tailgate so I can figure out why it won't open, then a good cleaning is in order.
I'm out of time for today, gotta go umpire a baseball game. Next year, I will be pulling up in the wagon to these games and it's going to be awesome.
Thanks for the help!

 

If the solenoid turned the starter, the solenoid's good for now. The reason it didn't crank from the key has to be no voltage on the red/blue stripe wire. The ignition switch and neutral safety switch are in the circuit path to trigger the solenoid.

 

Ok, I finally made some progress with the ol Ranchy, but now I'm looking for more guidance.
I rebuilt the carburetor over the last couple days and put it back on last night. I did some rudimentary adjustments to it on the bench but that's it.

I filled the bowl, put a couple squirts down the top, and had my wife start cranking it over. It did crank just fine, but never fired. So now I think my issue is spark?
Before the carb, I did the whole tune up (plugs, points, condenser, cap) but not wires because the local parts store didn't have any.
Or could it be vacuum related?
I guess I'm just looking for what the next logical step for me to take is. I've never tried to start a car after its sat for so many years, but I have watched some videos by people who have.
What do I start checking/replacing first?
As always, thanks for your help/ideas.

 

Engine diagnosis 101: spark/fuel/compression, in that order. Looking at the carb's choke plate, did you correctly set the choke plate? It looks completely closed in the picture. Pull one plug, see if it's sooted up (too rich by too much choke) or dry (no fuel flow). So, start with spark first, you can make a spark tester from an old plug by snapping off the side electrode, then grounding the outer shell. A good spark should be bluish in color, if dwell is correctly set (24-30° dwell). If you have spark that's not orange, hook up your test light, and while cranking, look to see where the pointer is on the damper's timing scale. Spec is the timing initial +/-2°.

Start there, verify the ignition first.

 

Good afternoon!
I finally got my manuals in the mail today!! I was able to use them to cut the smallest access hole I could in the tailgate panel and finally got it open. I cleaned about 4 inches of beautiful mulch that was in the bottom. The weatherstripping was basically gone in spots so lots of leaves accumulated over the years and turned to soil in there.


I'm still working on getting it to fire up. Just replaced the plug wires and made sure they were in the correct order. I checked spark and it looked good, plugs looked like this:
I honestly have no idea about the choke, I set it to specs on the bench, but as far as all the adjustments it probably needs...I don't know how to do any unless the car is running and I can hear the changes...tomorrow I might get some time to mess around with it more. Thank you for your guidance.

 

Of course, if you have any questions, PM me. I'll do what I can to help.

 

Plugs look oil fouled to me. Could be stuck rings from sitting or worn/bad valve guide seals which Fords are known for.

 

Been a while, thought I'd give an update. I didn't get as much free time over the summer as I thought I would but here's where I'm at:


I had gotten the engine to turn over and run VERY rough, but after trying a number of things, finally did a compression check and came up with three cylinders with great compression, four completely dead ones, and one with minimal compression. Off came the valve covers, and out came the pushrods (only 7 of them were bent!)
As it sits right now, I've got the intake off and I'm hoping to remove the heads this weekend.
I feel like I could maybe have avoided some of this if I'd have ran the compression test earlier like OldFox said, but it's a learning process. Hopefully it won't need a complete rebuild, but if it does...I'm sure Silvertwinkiehobo will walk me though it as he has been the whole time.
Thanks for the support!
On a positive note, I did get the tailgate window to go up and down when I hot wired it directly with a battery! I feel good about that