Projects 61 Falcon - Father Son Project

Ill have to see if there are any other markings on it. It has a fuel filter and the air filter is off so we can adjust it.

 

Thanks!!

 

I added a picture to the previous post that shows where the pad is that should have the ID numbers on it, if it is OEM.

 

Love me some Fal-coons! I had a 64 Sprint back-in-the-day!
Anywho.....don't wanna to idle right........needs the choke pulled out some to run........
classic vacuum leak symptoms.
Replace the carb gasket first. Go from there... (Don't be afraid of Indian Head Gasket Shellac)
With it idling spray around base of carb and along the intake ports and listen IF the idle picks UP.
If so.....vacuum leak in that area. Intake system HAS TO BE air tight ...to work right!
(Hey!...I made a poem!!!)
6sally6

 

Great! Thanks!

 

First off, great work so far!

I just now created this account and will start my own thread, because of this build .
My father and I are in a very similar boat, yet our ages differ from yours.
I bought my father his 1961 Falcon for this 70th birthday and wanted to 'restore' it with him (I'm 31, hes now 77). He had the same car back when he was dating my mother, which is now sinking into the ground out in the hills. Enough about my own build on your thread!

Cant wait to see what you two get accomplished next!
Y0u are very blessed to be able to do it with your son at this age!
-Aaron

 

Does it run? Why not get it going?

 

His original car too far gone to save, with any reasonable budget.
His new one runs, but has a lot of loose end that the moment.
I just posted our thread if you want to see it.

 

Were searching for vacuum leaks, so we made a makeshift smoke machine and pumped it into the carb. We found a few areas that leak.

This one is pretty obvious:


And we have a couple from the carb, which im pretty sure we cant do much about:




But here is the one I have a question about. Were getting a good amount of smoke from the distributor. is this normal?

 

The rubber vacuum advance diaphragm is probably cracked. The whole vacuum advance unit can be replaced.

A carb rebuild would help. I****ume you are leaking around the throttle shaft. Some carb rebuild kits have thin shaft bushings to help there.

 

Thanks for the replies! The carb was recently rebuilt, but ya, there is some leakage around teh throttle shaft.

I have a question about the vacuum advance. Mine has 2 vacuum lines going to it, but when I look up a replacement they all only have 1. Is that normal? The motor is a 200Ci, if I remember correctly its a 70, but Im not sure what distributor I have...

 

Single lines are vacuum advance only. Two lines are vacuum advance AND vacuum retard, in other words it's usually some type of emission control device.

 

Thanks! It seems that maybe I should get a vacuum advance for a 61 and not worry about emissions. Then I can delete a vacuum line too.

 

I spoke with the previous owner. This motor was sorta cobbled together. So I think I’ll just get a single vacuum line vacuum advance for a 61 and make it work.

 

So this Vacuum advance is becoming a mystery. The one I ordered for a 61 falcon dissent fit. The mounting holes are too close together. So I looked up the distributor number 12127.

When I looked the part number up it said its a 289 distributor. Thats odd, but OK, so I ordered a vacuum advance for a V8 and we will see if it happens to fit when it gets here on Saturday.

 

I think you want to determine what year the 200 ci engine is, figure out what year and model that would've come in, and order parts made for it.

If you can find a local auto parts store that has the wanted parts in stock, then you can see what you're getting and try to make sure it'll fit. You might be able to find pictures on RockAuto or other websites. Maybe a self-serve junkyard would have something, but 60s to 80s cars are getting scarce. Some self-serve junkyards have their car inventory online so you can see what your chances are of finding what you're looking for.

And there's the HAMB classifieds and such.

 

I ran into the same thing with my '65 F100. It seems a certain range of distributors from the era are just plain obsolete. I ended up getting another distributor.
Hope you fare better

 

12127 is the base number for all Ford distributors. The letters and numbers before and after that base number is what tells you what it fits.

 

The distributor that you would find in a 1961 Falcon, and the one that you would find on a 1970 200 inch 6-cylinder are two very different distributors. They do not exchange parts.

The distributor itself would not exchange from that year to the year of your engine either. The bore in the whole of the block for the distributor and the oil pump drive shaft hex size is smaller that year.

Earlier Falcon distributors are Load-O-Matic distributors. They run entirely on vacuum from a specialized valve in the carburetor called the spark control valve. They do not have centrifugal advance weights.

I cannot remember exactly when they stopped using them, but by 1970 and until about 1974 that 6 cylinder actually had a regular distributor, one equipped with both centrifugal and vacuum advance capabilities. After that, Ford switched to the Duraspark distributor which has an external module. That is a vastly superior distributor. You can find one in a salvage yard along with the module, or you can purchase both from a local auto parts store. You will also need to change your plug wires if you need to use that, but that's never bad idea anyway.

 

On a side note, on every single vehicle that I find a Load-O-Matic distributor in I remove that distributor and replace it with a good distributor, then cut the Load-O-Matic distributor in half and throw it away.

From every person that I know who is around from the day that they were invented to the time that they disappeared these distributors were mediocre to terrible when they were brand new.

 

There are only two 200 cubic inch in line sixes from Ford. The earlier of the two is fairly rare.

They are both in the Falcon 6 category.

The earlier one has four main bearings, and is built in the style of the 144, and the 170. They were not made for long. That one takes parts that fit the 144 and the 170.

After that all 200 blocks take the same parts.

A whole lot of the parts that also fit on the 250, also fit on the 200, with the obvious exceptions of things like the pushrods, the water pump, and a handful of other things. Things like the distributor, and the head are exactly the same between the two engines (save for model year changes, port size, plenum size, and chamber size changed across the years).

 

I'd probably go with a Duraspark distributor. I used a junkyard Duraspark II on a turbo 2.3 L (four cylinder) that was originally EFI. A quick internet search yielded a bunch of Duraspark swap information.

 

It's a simple swap, with great benefits! Not too expensive, either.

 

I don't remember a vacuum pot (nor if pot is the right word), so I suppose the electronic box replaces the vacuum control. I had my Duraspark II re-curved professionally.

A question that seems appropriate for this thread is: Is a vacuum distributor easier to adjust than an electronic one?

 

The Duraspark just has an electronic trigger. It is otherwise a conventional distributor.

It has both centrifugal and vacuum advance, but with a way hotter spark, and a more appropriate advance curve.

 

When I first got my Falcon, it had its original 144. My plan was to drive it for a few years that way before upgrading it.

I replaced the distributor with a DUI HEI unit, in place of the Load-O-Matic. I chose that one, because the 144 has a small-small bore for the distributor housing, and that was the only choice.

I set the initial timing the same as original.

That change alone felt like I added 40-horsepower.

I later added a Weber 32/36. Then it had better off-the-line throttle response, from the smaller primary, and I was able to pass on the freeway, on the secondary.

I liked the performance from that little engine so much that I kept it after the engine swap. It will go in a single-seat speedster, should I get to building that.

 

I wouldn't mind a 144 in my Ranchero; it didn't come with an engine. I had no problems (that I remember) with the 144 in my first car (in the 80s), a 60 Falcon Tudor, and I was not gentle with it. I won't go into it now, but I'm surprised the suspension held up all those years.

 

If you want to make the trip, come get mine.

 

Time for a little update.
The engine number is C8DE - 68 Falcon/Maverick
The intake manifold/head number is C9DE - 69 Falcon/Maverick
The valve cover number is D1DE - 71 Falcon/Maverick
Distributor is a D1DF - 71 Falcom Maverick

While I had the vacuum advance out, I hooked a vac pump to it. The advance side held a strong vacuum, the retard side didnt hold a vacuum at all. So I put it back in with only the vacuum advance side hooked up. I was able to get car to idle nice and low, and I can push the choke in almost all the way without it dyeing. I havent had a chance to drive it yet to get it warm, but were making progress!

Timing is at 12 degrees BTDC.

After that, we tore out the dash pad to reveal some great original paint that we just have to clean the glue off of.

 

That is a conventional distributor, however, it has a Pertronix module in it instead of points.

There is no reason to replace this distributor. If the vacuum advance side works, run it.

Just find the other end of where the retard hose was hooked up, and plug it.