When I've had it running for short moments by feeding fuel directly in to the carb it seems to be running smooth and on all cylinders. But yes, there is a possibility the other lobes are worn too with power loss as the result. If I decide in the future that this car is a keeper I would like to get the engine rebuilt, add some speed parts to it and run a more modern trans behind it, like a C4. But that's a big and expensive project so for now I just want to get it running, driving and titled. I do have access to a press, and I found a good "How to..." on rebuilding 8BA pumps. It suggests using wood blocks to support the pulley when removing it from the axle so that's what I'll do.
I've been working as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership for the past 10 years and on my free time I've been messing with German cars from the 70's since 2009 when I was 17. So atleast I have some sort of idea of what I'm doing but I am a novice when it comes to early Fords and all their quirks
Do you buy many parts on Ebay in Sweden? I sold many VW parts and the vast majority of them I shipped to Germany.... I thought that was strange. I too hope that your cam is good and only the fuel pump lobe is bad. I'm not a flathead expert so I cannot comment on how the cam is or what fails on them. This is my electric pump setup and has served me very well. The car was not yet complete when this was taken but you get the idea. I found my gas tank to be full of nasty rust and ended up buying a Spectra aftermarket tank that had a small dent on the top for 25% of retail (Ebay). Put a coat of flat black paint on it so as not to see a shiny gas tank from behind. Edit: I replaced all of the steel lines (fuel and brake) with cupronickel. Used 5/16" (8mm) for the fuel and 3/16" (5mm) for all brakes.
Personally I've only bought one thing on eBay (for my Model A) but I know that a lot of people here buy from eBay all the time. Nice setup on your fuel pump, had something similar in mind.
Mikko, if you buy from B Bay in Sweden do you have to pay the extreme import duties of the like? Do you know if Germany does? Just wondering if it is a way around such things.
When I bought the distributor for my Model A on eBay I had to pay like $100 in import duties if I remember correctly. When I've bought other stuff from the US (not from eBay) sometimes you need to pay import duties and sometimes not, I don't know why it works like that. Don't know about Germany.
Got one water pump done and back in the car, one to go. I cleaned it up a bit with a wire wheel and sprayed some black paint on it, atleast it looks a bit better than rust.
Second water pump rebuilt and back in the car, and new drive belts as well. Tomorrow I plan to install the electric fuel pump and maybe I can do a little test drive around the block during next week.
Installed the electric fuel pump and hooked up the wires and relay. I wired the positive (+) wire to ground, and the negative (-) wire to the 87 terminal on the relay. The pump runs when I turn on the ignition but I still don't get any fuel to the carb. I even tried priming the fuel line by pouring some gas into it but still nothing. Wonder if I should try and reverse the wires and see what happens, or maybe I should leave it running for a longer time than like 20 seconds at a time? But I'm a bit afraid of damaging the pump if it runs dry for too long.
I tried reversing the wires and the pump didn't work at all by doing that so I switched them back. Then I turned my attention to the fuel line again. The line between the engine and tank is free, but the pickup line inside the tank seems to have clogged up again. Will need to pull down the tank once more and try cleaning it one more time. I wish I could get a new tank instead but the only place I found here in Sweden that sells tanks for these wants $950 for one, and that doesn't include shipping Buying one from the States will be like $600 including shipping and that too is a bit more than I wanna spend.
Do a little searching around here and on the net. I have heard that early, 1965-1966 Ford Mustang tanks will fit but do not know for sure. If you are not into a fine point restoration then that may be an option. Being in Sweden is a drawback when working on "foreign" cars but is a beautiful country none the less. See if there are any options before plunking down serious coin.
I've read about the Mustang tank but it seems like that requires modifications to the trunk floor and even if this isn't a fine point restoration that is out of the question. But good good news is that I got the fuel tank cleaned out one more time using an acid based degreaser. Installed the tank in the car, poured some fresh gas in it and turned on the ignition and waited. And gas filled the filter just before the carb, what a joy. Then it started pouring out of the carb, so no attempt of start today either but atleast it is pumping gas now. I got a spare 94 Holley (seems to be in good condition) with the purchase of the car so I'm going to rebuild that with a kit I already had laying around and see if it stops leaking. If not, a pressure regulator is my next buy. Also got my new wiring harness for the headlights and front turn signals from Dennis Carpenter today, good thing I'm free from work Thursday and Friday this week so I can work on this old heap instead.
Excellent choice not to cut it and that you got it pumping to the Carb. Hopefully once rebuilt the carb will no longer leak and you can drive it around the beautiful Swedish countryside.
Sometimes I wish I would have bought a car that was already running but where's the fun in that? 2 1/2 week 'til the planned title inspection of this car and I haven't even driven the thing yet. The carb was leaking a bit already when I was messing with it earlier so I hope it's not a fuel pressure related problem.
Turns out the spare carb was no good with some bad threads here and there. So I decided to just change the gasket between the float bowl and carb top (where the leak is coming from) on the carb that's on the car. Still leaks like crazy so I'm ordering a pressure regulator and hoping that will solve the problem.
While waiting for the regulator are you still planning to rebuild the good carburetor? If so then both should remedy the leak issue if the current carb is rebuildable. Do not forget to check the throttle plate rod and have it bushed or replaced if needed.
While waiting for the fuel pressure regulator I decided to finish the headlight wiring. Installed the new lighting harness I got from Dennis Carpenter earlier this week and now I have headlights, tail lights and license plate light. Just need to get new bulbs for the front parking lights/turn signals and hopefully those will work too. The wooden stick holding the hood is just an extra safety device. The hood did slam down on its own once, luckily my head wasn't in the way.
Safety first! Good thing your body was not in there or the car would have eaten you. Then you would have looked like one of those dolls you see at car shows.
20638843_10210061010938680_7763083619531741752_n by Travis Brown, on Flickr Fw: by Travis Brown, on Flickr Fw: by Travis Brown, on Flickr That Blue should clean up well on your car.
Hi Mikko, years ago buddy had a 51 ford, same trouble with gas tank. He took it to a real radiator shop could not flush it out. what the man did to fix it was cut a hole in the TOP of the tank ,8'x12" so he could put his arm in and clean to bare metal. He expertly soldered it closed and drove that car for 20 yrs..Before that he had a boat gas tank in the trunk to drive thc car.. I am sure some experts on here will not approve of this. Pete..
I received the regulator and installed it, disassembled the carburetor and cleaned out all the dirt that was in it before assembling it with new gaskets where needed. Back with it on the engine, let the fuel pump fill the float bowl and turn the key. And it fired up, and seems to be running pretty smooth for sitting the last 30 years. A bit of smoke coming out the exhaust but not bad at all. Now I need to figure out what the throttle return spring is supposed to be attached to before I can make that first test drive.
On my 53 there was a little chincy bracket bolted one one of the intake bolts that the return spring hooked on. But you can hook the spring to almost anything that is sturdy and will retain the spring. I have mine on a Bolt with a washer on my dual carb linkage and it goes straight to one of the screws with a washer on top of my carb. Works great, has a good angle, and never pops off or binds. The big part is make sure it FULLY returns and always has some tension on it. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Drove Alice out of the garage for the first time. Smoking from the exhaust seems to have gotten less, and the engine is so quiet. A few pictures just because
The Jalopy Journal
