7 April 2018 - ignition issues - cont'd

I attempted to buy a set of 8 plugs for the ford, but the parts store only had 6.  So I bought what they had and gapped and installed the 6 plugs.  The plugs are NGK TR5 2238 V-Power.  Since I didnt have 8 plugs, the two that didnt get replaced were removed, cleaned up, gapped and re-installed.

I checked the gap on the plugs and they were .044.  So I adjusted that gap to .040, to see if that will reduce the load on the ignition system and slow/stop the carbonization on the MSD distributor cap terminals.

7 April 2018 - ignition issues - misfire/no fire

I have noticed now that the carb has been replaced that the ignition also has issues.  There is a miss at idle and probably all engine speeds.  I thought I would start with checking connections, voltages and resistance checks.  So far they are all good.  So I am considering replacing the MSD 6 Box or just removing it and going with a less expensive setup.  The MSD distributor and MSD 6 box were installed in 2002.  Today I installed a replacement MSD igntion coil.  The old one was an MSD 8222 unit, the new is the exact same unit just new.  I installed it but the miss is still happening.

7 April 2018 - Holley Carb Choke cable installation

I thought I would install a choke cable and see if it actually works on this new carb.

I bought a universal choke cable kit and had to make some adjustments to the hardware for it to work for my application.  I installed the choke actuator in the ashtray.  I only had to drill two holes to mount the bracket for the choke cable assembly.  The ash tray cigarette lighter assembly was removed long ago, so the hole for the cigarette lighter was a good spot for the choke cable assembly.

I had to test fit the cable assembly a couple of times to get the proper routing and cable length.  But after all that, the installation looks pretty decent and the choke works!  The old carb has some issues with a choke assembly being used/setup so I gave up on using it years ago.

6 April 2018 - carb rebuild - replacement

Well I bought a holley rebuild kit for the 0-1850s carb and replaced all the gaskets/hardware provided in the kit.  The rebuild was somewhat of a success.  I accidentally installed the incorrect gasket between the main body and throttle plate.  That error created a very bad vacuum leak between the main body and throttle plate.  So I put the correct one in and the engine ran better but still did not idle smoothly.  I could still drive the car but I had to let the engine warm a bit longer than usual to be to drive.  So after all of that I decided to buy a new holley 0-1850s carb from Summit Racing.

I replaced the old carb with the new and it was a night and day difference.  I had some other issues with the old carb.  The engine now runs alot better.  Crisp throttle response at high way speeds and very good response from a standing start.

I am looking into what I am going to do with the old carb...

4 April 2018 - Carb issues, maybe

On the 30th of March while driving home, the car started running real rough while stopped at a traffic light.  I kept up the rpms and made it home.  Thinking it could be one of the following; crappy gas(just put a full tank of gas from a station I never go to) or debris in the gas from the gas tank(its original never replaced it), I started with rebuilding the carb.  After rebuilding the carb and installing, I could not get the car to idle no matter what adjustments I made to the carb.  So I removed the carb, disassembled and checked gaskets, floats, eveything.  Seems I used the wrong base plate to venturi body gasket.  After just replacing that gasket, the car started and idled much better but it was still missing.

So I thought I would check the distributor cap/rotor.  I found burn marks on all inside terminals and on the rotor contacts.  I cleaned up the carbonization, wiped everything down and then checked the car.  It now idled much better.  So now I need to look into what is causing this problem with the MSD distributor.  The unit itself is 15 years old.  The cap, rotor, wires are 10 months old as are the spark plugs.

24 March 2018 - Radio

About a week ago the radio had a mechanical malfunction.  While turning the knob to tune an FM radio station, there was a loud pop and then the sounds of loose pieces/parts.  Today I was able to work on the radio.  I disassembled the radio and found out that a couple of plastic pieces that are part of the AM/FM tuning functions were missing.  The pieces were scattered in the radio chassis.  I emptied the pieces and started looking at ways to repair the failures.

Below are pictures of the damage and repairs.  As soon as I purchase and install a replacement antenna I will test the radio repairs.

I thought I would try a cotter pin as a mounting point for the nylon string.  It does work, so I will see how well that repair lasts

The frequency pointer does not have a pointer any more, but it still mounts to the nylon string and works.  I am looking into a suitable replacement

25 Feb 2018 - General stuff

Worked on cleaning up the engine bay this weekend.  The valve covers had overspray of blue engine paint from when the engine was worked on in 2016.  Today I removed the valve covers, and removed the blue paint and re-installed the valve covers.  Although the valve covers are 15 years and rusty in spots, they still look okay and are useable.

I cleaned up and painted the export brace.  I used VHT roll bar and chassis black - Satin, to touch up areas in the engine bay and the export brace.

For the moment its fairly clean in the engine bay.  I do need to clean up and paint areas under the engine bay and crossmembers.  Weather permitting I will do that the week of 25 Feb to 2 Mar.