800 Ford won't stay running more than a few secounds

[super55]

Thats great that you got the old ford back to where she needed to be and a simple fix. I'm glad you posted the flaw that was causing all the problems because I would have never guessed in a million years that the alternator was the problem. Timing lights are one of those those tools you don't use very often but they are priceless when you are troubleshooting these old gassers.