Although anything is possible , I do not think the fuel possibly getting into the crankcase is the problem.
When the engine starts cold it requires a rich mixture which the partially closed choke blade in the carb provides. The fact that you are getting black smoke out the exhaust indicates a very rich mixture.
There are a couple of things to check,
If the vehicle has an electric heating element for the choke coil that could be one possibility. What you need to do is, remove the air cleaner (the filter is clean right) and when the engine has warmed up look and see if the choke blade is completely open, in a vertical position. It should be open completely. If not you, can open it and tie something there to hold it open and see if that solves the problem. If not, then you should be able to carefully look into the carburetor barrels with the engine running and if you see fuel running in. If so, the float needle and seat is not functioning as required.
That could be from a particle of material stuck between the needle and seat or a possible float level problem which could be caused by a heavy float , or something keeping the float from regulating the amount of fuel in the float bowl. And here is where excessive fuel pump pressure will overcome the float force and allow extra fuel to run into the engine manifold. But, if that were the case the extra fuel could cause a hard starting problem because of a flooded manifold. Let us know what you find. Thanks

 

Good ol' days indeed ... My first car was carburetted too, and was cleaning the carburetor at least once a month ... crappy gas filters. I remember having a similar issue (but hey, who cared about black smoke those days :-). It turned out that the float got punctured somehow (poor soldering of the end caps to the float body ...), took some gas inside it and sunk deeper, feeding too much fuel in.

Also, hanky has a great point in asking if the air filter is clean and the air duct is unobstructed - on carb engines, the air/fuel ratio is highly dependent on the vacuum level: if the vacuum is too high, the engine ends up sucking gas from the carb chambers, enriching the mix. You won't be bothered by this during cold starts since you need a rich mix anyway.

Cheers,
cougar_fan

 

trevor:
Well, THAT explain why no one here can understand why this isn't fixed yet. Ford had a 1.8L engine here in the states, but it was last used in the mid '90's, in the mercury capri. I would wonder if it's the same engine, but I doubt it. Ford doesn't let us mere mortals peruse their service manual for other countries, so I can' t offer any more specifics.
If you've checked the basics, I'm wondering if the van runs smoothly under load or if it misfires, which could explain the fuel issues. I don't even know if this car uses an electric fuel pump or not. It's doubtful that raw fuel could leak into the block without some pretty major problems, such as a God-awful set of rings or pistons or a really blown head gasket. Can you provide any more info on the type of fuel system (electric pump, with a carb, pollution control, etc) that could be useful?

 

the motor runs fine when under load when cold and much the same when warm even when it starts blowing smoke not much change. it is your standard fuel pump not electric, compression is all the same in each pot, does not use or leak water which leads me to think the head gasket is fine, ive been told i should take out the spark plugs, squirt some oil in and check the compression again just incase there is a crack in one of the rings, someone said to smell the oil to see if it smells like petrol,hence fuel pump problem... i'll just keep pluging away at it ,, i would just like to thank yourself and hanky for all your helpful ideas i am very greatfull to both of you... thank you very much....

 

Hi trevor, don't know if it's morning or night there at this time, but Do you think you could list what you have done so far and what results you received so we don't keep wondering what was done.
Going on the information you provided earlier about the black smoke, usually, it's from too much fuel that the engine can't burn completely. That could possibly be caused by an overfueled condition or anything that would prevent the fuel from igniting including an air intake obstruction. If the fuel pump which I believe from the recent posts is mechanical, has a diaphram with a hole in it, yes, fuel could get into the crankcase and the expression is "it's making oil" and the oil level and smell will most likely show that. The fact that it runs well when cold kinda eliminates the air obstruction item. Will wait to hear from you hoping to view your list of steps taken and results obtained. Thanks