1952-59 Ford Ok, here we go again...

1956 223 six stock.
A couple of days ago, while the rain gave us a brake, I went for a drive just to warm her up. She started right up but the iddle was a bit shaky.. Drove her some 3km or so and then she started to hesitate, not at throttle but just cruising with the foot just leaning onto the pedal. Brought her back home and called it quit.
Next day I started her up, and she now idles very roughly and stops runnin after a bit. She's got new points, rotor, condenser and sparkplugs. Point and sparkplugs gap are withing specs. Today I will install new dizzy cap and wires.
The current (original FoMoCo) dizzy cap's wire contacts are awfull, green with oxidation. Only yesterday did I recieve Rockauto's goodies. The spark wires are also original FoMoCos and spark is likely to be jumping due to bad insulation / possible cracks.
Havent yet touched the dizzys advance.
Do you think the new wires and cap will solve it or is it something you have experienced before with other cause(s)?
Thanks

 

Rui
Since you have the new parts, use them. I would double check the points gap.
What was the condition of your fuel tank, pump and filter. They would be prime suspects if the cap and wires don't solve the problem.

 

Fuel issue?? rusty tank etc??

 

Your old wires probably have soaked up all the moisture from the rain and you may have condensation under the distributor cap too. I would do wires, cap, plugs, rotor, points and condensor and I bet it runs 100% better right away.

 

Thanks guys. I hope you're right. Cap and wires are in bad shape I know, but ignition and idle werent an issue at all till now. Maybe winters humidity changed that.
As to fuel I had the carb rebuilt with a complete kit. Fuel pump doesnt work correctly tough, but I'll save that to later as the problem is only when I accelerate suddenly.
I added a filter before the pump and thoroughly cleaned the pump's filter a couple of months ago, so in this case, if anything went wrong, I 'll bet on a pump failure, not on foreign stuff coming into the carb.
I'll get back with news as soon as I install the new parts (cap and wires).

BTW, who is keepin your guts cosy with blankets or so?

Regards

 

The fuel pump might not be able to keep up with the sudden demand for more fuel on acceleration. Try pressure checking the pump. I don't know what the spec's should be for your pump, though.

 

Only 2.5-3 psi on the 223's fuel pressure is needed according to the Shop Manual.

 

on your hesitation on rapid throttle try setting float a little higher just a little as if float to low there is marginal fuel in bowl and if you ease up it will run good until you hit throttle hard

 

It's possible you got a bad condenser out of the box.

 

Thanks for the input.
I'll clear the secondary ignition known issues first. If it doesnt solve it, I'll go for the coil and then I'll p*** on to fuel supply. Sounds good?
BTW eg. at rockautos you can choose from diferent 12v coils. Some say they demand for an external resistor. Others dont. Could you explain better?
@ Bomb, got it. Points, condenser and rotor where replaced 3 weeks ago and worked fine. Just now this issue came along.
Attached is a pic of the inners of the dizzy. Is the marron fabric coated wire running on top supposed to be insulated from the dizzys body? You can see it threading at one end.
Regards

 

Replace the wire. That feeds current to the points.

 

About the old plug wires, start the car up in the dark and see if anything is arcing. Old wires soaking up moisture can easily cause a low idle condition.

 

Thanks guys, I'll get back with news soon.
Regards

 

No improvements.
I replaced the cap and wires with little benefit coming from that.
Tomorrow I'll replace the weathered wires in and out the dizzy (point feeding and resistor)
Then what? Coil?
Suggestions?

Thanks guys.

 

Engine manual says that if "engine starts but fails to keep running", I should check:
Breaker points
Sparkplugs
Resistor for an open circuit
Leaks in high tension wiring

uhh... what do they mean by an open circuit?

 

Think, broken wire.

 

Ok ok, I'll go through all that and then I'll let you know the outcome.
Thanks for the ***istance.

 

It is possible even for a new condenser to go bad in a short time. I hope you kept your old one just in case so you can try it if nothing else seem to work.

 

I know you said new plugs but have at times had new **** out especially champion after years of using them in my fords and race car in 80s their quality went for a dump I put a new set in my vicky this year because I had a new set.in less than 100 miles 3 out of 8 went south.I will now not even use them as paper weights.another thing for you to consider.as to the cloth fraying on distributor it has a vinyl type covering on wire not sure why they put cloth over it other than for ID purpose when making it.may want to pull valve cover to check rockers, push rods does not cost to eliminate another possibility.

 

Have you checked all your vacuum lines for poor connections or leaks?

 

Are you sure you got the points screw tight,recheck your gap. HRP

 

OK guys, I thank you for the input and for trying to help. The truth is that I’m so lost that I can’t even structure a decent answer or comment for all the leads you gave.

Let’s see, for now what I have accomplished is for the car to start right away and keep running but the idle is still rough… and the six ran so smooth.. On Sat morning I had my father-in-law helping. Just as I cranked it for the first time to start the day he noticed immediately spurts of gas coming from a bend on the metal fuel line. There were two holes on that bend. I thought I was out of the woods and I fixed that promptly. Cranked it again, she started but running rough, all the same. Checked all the sparks and they are there but seemingly weak. The spark plugs, which had a beautiful gray tan on them, are now black n fluffy, indicating (by the manual) gas fouling.

Then noticed that the wire coming out of the resistor and feeding the points was almost broken (in fact it broke in my hand later) at the dizzys terminal so I replaced that. Cleaned all the other contacts in the resistor and in the coil, but with no noticeable results. Checked the points gap and it had a tiny gap, so I set that to spec (.024) thinking how dumb had I been not going straight to checking points, but she ran even worse, so I took it back to what it was.

I also checked the cap for leaks or cracks and that zeroed out. Wires are brand new, built them myself. Points and condenser are new, spark plugs are new.

My primary suspect now is the coil. I’ll check that and replace if bad. I will also install the old rotor, points and condenser (still FoMoCo!) and give it a try at proper gap setting, since it’s a mistery to me how setting new stuff at .024 makes run even worse.

For now I can tell that: engine starts right away, idles roughly, plugs have gas fouling, plugs have a seemingly weak spark, I don’t trust the new condenser nor the new points, I don’t know the state of the coil, cap is new and looks good, wires are new built by me. Mechanical fuel pump is probably good because the pre-filter gets filled right away as I crank.

I haven’t checked for vac leaks (how can I do it “scientifically”?) I would also try to adjust fuel/air mixture, but I’m afraid to make things even worst. I’ll have to eliminate electrical causes first. Won’t harm.

Today I’ll take the coil to a local shop so they can check her for me.


Keep it up. Regards.

 

Sounds like you may have debris possibly overfilling carb bowl. No signs of fuel out top of carb? Try tapping float bowl firmly with handle of screwdriver when running. May shake anything in the needle valve loose. Is there a filter before carb inlet?

 

I have thought of that streetdreams, and I will follow your lead. I have a filter before the fuel pump, so that nothing coming from the tank might get into the system. Also I cleaned the pumps filter a month or two ago.

 

Friday my car wouldn't idle right. I pulled out the idle pins an blew some compressed air into the jet holes. I also sprayed carb cleaner on all the linkages then shot a little TriFlow on them to lubricate. Went for a cruse on Sunday and the car ran just fine. I think sometimes our rough roads stirs up gunk in carb and clogs the idle jets. I will do a rebuild if happens too often.

 

Thanks 1956Ford. I'll first eliminate possible electrical issues. This thing happened after a high humidity period, hence the first suspects being cap, wires, condensor... All those seem to check out fine and plugs are new, but there is gas fouling at them so I'm thinking irregular or weak spark. I'm waiting on a new coil to test. I dont wanna mess with the carb as of now. Remember I cant call for help besides you guys!

 

Blackpearl back at the Barn tipped me on a possible vacuum advance unit leak (52ragtop already suggested that) so I easily tested that with a syringe. The advance plate rotates ccw as it should but vac doesn't hold it in place, so I guess I've got a leak there.
Do you guys repair it or just order a new one?
Regards.

 

I don't think there's a way to repair the diaphragm reliably, just get a new one; you'll be happier with the result.

 

Yes, I agree, just wanted to know. Sometimes I wonder what would a guy from Cuba do....

 

A Cuban would whittle one out of a deer antler. You have other options my friend.