1952-59 Ford Bad off 56 'Lane

The 56 Ford isnt running so hot. Its a 1956 292 motor, matched to a 3 speed manual on the column. Running stock distributor with pertronix internals and an external ballast resistor. Its shaking BAD under load. I checked the u joints and they are fine, I suspected that was the problem. It revs fine at an idle, as strong as ever. Minimal movement from the torque... But under load the whole car shakes as if it were in too high of a gear (shakes and jolts). The gear shifter shakes with it. It evens out at about 60 mph, but at lower speeds and taking off its HORRENDOUS. What could this be? Thanks alot, gentleman. Hopefully I will get this figured out.

 

I had something like this happen to me once. The rivets holding the clutch material on one side of the plate sheared off. I don't know if that is what's going on with you, but that's what happened to me.

 

what were your symptoms?

 

I'm no mech but worked in Ford dealerships for a few years (parts mgr). Don't know if this is it, but some driveshafts were balanced using external weights tacked onto them. I've seen those weights can come off and cause vibration.

I recollect back in the early 70s one technician going all the way "upstream" from differential to flywheel on a Maverick or Comet, replacing one piece at a time - EXCEPT the driveshaft (he even borrowed another ****** & tried it), until another tech mentioned it may be driveshaft. Pulled a D/S off another car, bingo. That, or maybe did it bottom out & possibly damage the D/S?

Not saying the guy did the right diagnosis or if that might be your problem, I'm just saying.

Ron

 

could it be missing? its possible a wire is breaking down under a load .

 

Sounds like it's missing ,as ol lady's mad suggested.First thing I would suspect is the distributor cap and rotor and/or plug wires.Sometimes the cap gets a crack or a carbon track or even moisture.The spark always uses the easiest path.Also,I have seen the br*** tab on a rotor come loose and screw with the timing.How about spark plugs?How old are they?If it's been awhile since any of the above has been changed maybe it's as simple as a complete tune-up?Please let us know what you find!

 

Sorry it took so long, but my symptoms were exactly the same as you described. Did you ever get this figured out?