History 1956 Ford Thunderbird find, eventually buy, and get most of way home!!

if it all was easy what would we do for fun? - had a '47 Ford with similar symptoms - turned out that the gas tank had been resealed at some point and the sealant had loosened up enough that upon acceleration it will be pulled up against the tank pick up tube - could have same situation if the "sock" on pick up tube has debris blocking it - look for the fuel filter, if it has one, and see if any debris in it

 

I really really liked the wide whites in the first picture. Neat car.

 

Congratulations, that is one sweet T-Bird, BTW, I wish it were mine! HRP

 

U- Haul. Gets them home. Although mine was towed from Mass. to WV. in the dead of Winter. Yours looks like a good score. Once you get it sorted they are good driving cars.

 

If you change the carburetor, you have to also change the distributor. The 56 distributor doesn't have any centrifugal advance. Ford used a venturi signal from the carburetor to act one diaphragm in the vacuum advance to advance the timing as the engine speed went up. The other diaphragm used ported vacuum for normal advance tied to load. In 57 they put a set of weights in the distributor and you had true centrifugal advance.

 

I just love the '55-57 T-birds! That one is perfect! Great score.
My '55 Ford wagon had similar problems. It had been converted to 12v. I went with the later distributor, manifold and Autolite 2v carb but the condensor was really the initial problem. Don't know why they can't make good ones anymore.

 

Electrical makes me wonder about...the ignition switch, just thinking.....

 

So tell us about the tires changing from wide whites on the drivers side to narrow whites on the drivers side, all the while being moved from where you bought it to your home. The narrow whites on the passenger side stayed there for the whole trip. Curious minds want to know!

 

Denny @tubman is the source for quality ignition condensers, if you determine that to be the hot/die problem.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ndensers-now-available.1033298/#post-13468219

 

The ignition switch is a common problem. Don't add the key to a heavy set of keys. Key fob, ignition, and trunk key only.

 

You are the first person I've heard who referred to the Holley 4000 "Teapot" carburetor as a "toilet bowl." Ford thought they were so bad that they put 2 of them on the 57 "E-code" 312.

 

I think son-in-law was sprucing his new Tbird up all night!!
Did I tell y'all it had town and country radio and a tach. Tach not accurate but moves around so that's a start.
I'm feeling better and better about the paint. Not perfect but looks pretty good to me.
Still gotta polish bumpers and go under the hood but not a disaster area.
Started and ran fine for me today. Son-in-law is off with my daughter on their first ride in the car. Told him to keep it running until got back home.

 

Also, the car had a*****pit covering toneau at one time because had snap mounts around*****pit including very front of dash. Might be in stuff behind the seat... we haven't gotten that far!

 

My experience with the tea pot flooding involves a lot of black smoke and a real smell of gas after it dies. Sputtering is blocked fuel, but suddenly dies is electrical. Especially when hot.

Old eyes, small screen, but do I see a stick shift and an o/d handle in the interior pictures? That’s a real find for a car guy, a lot were Fordomatics. When you get under it look at the side cover on the trans. The curved bottom means a T-85, meaning it was originally 312, and at 70k should still be.

 

Man, that is a very nice Bird! Jealous, jealous, jealous.
Hope your son-in-law lets you borrow it now and then.

 

Somehow it now sits under my carport.
My daughter stalled it when they left our house after my wife and I had a quick spin around the block in the car.
My wife loved it.
You guessed it... dang thing wouldn't refire!
We pushed under the carport and I gave the slightly less happy couple a ride home.
I continued to search for the problem and my son-in-law soon returned to help. We checked several items but didn't get it to fire. We did find a previously unknown battery disconnect switch slyly hidden in the glovebox!! Who knew?!
I'm betting it will start just fine this morning and will have to drive it a bit to get it to fail again so can continue searching for solution. Yes, I tried going straight from battery to coil with a jumper and still wouldn't fire.
Only clue I can offer is that the spark detector I put between number one plug and plug wire flashed dimly for every cylinder and bright when trying to fire on number 1. I'm thinking that is how it usually works but can't remember.
Any more ideas? I need all the help I can get! Ford gurus please bless me with your knowledge.
Thanks,
Puzzled Al

 

Check the plate that the points screw onto in the distributer for a ground wire. It should be a bare wire that grounds the plate. I had one break once but corrosion between the two connections could be a problem.
:Edit:
That was on a later 292 engine with the vacuum advance and I cannot remember if the older ones have that ground.

 

This is off the wall, and I know you said you had fuel, but.... Is it possible that when they r&r'd the gas tank they put on a non-vented cap and you're starving for gas until 'air leakage' can break the tank vaccume (sp)?

 

That was a pretty typical issue with the teapot Holley. I went through the same thing on a '56 I used to own and traced the problem to the brass float bowl drain at the back of the carb right above the secondary openings. The problem is you can't get this plug tight enough with just a screwdriver and 'normal' wrist strength if the carb has been rebuilt. It'll leak and dump raw gas down the secondaries and flood the motor. I 'fixed' mine by using the largest sharp square-shank screwdriver that fits the slot in the plug and putting a wrench on the screwdriver shank to get that last 'little bit' needed to seal. How will you know if it's enough? If it's tight enough, the plug will 'squeak' at the last bit of tightening. Once it does that, no more leaks.

On a stock motor in good tune the teapot/loadamatic works fine as long as it isn't leaking.

 

The OEM 56-57 tonneau cover was factory-installed in place of the drop curtain and not meant to be completely removed. However, it looks like your car has snaps along the rear deck, in which case it was either dealer-installed or aftermarket. I have the same rear-deck snaps on my 55, but tonneau covers were not an available factory option in 55. Although it meant drilling more holes for the extra snaps, it can be conveniently removed when desired, and the original drop curtain remains.

 

That’s great info and I will keep it in mind as I have the original teapot as well as another on a 312. I didn’t rebuild mine so can’t speak to how tight that plug was or if that was my problem.

 

Like most stuff we learn, I learned this the hard way. I bought a 65K original-miles '56 coupe that had been sitting for about 10 years and rebuilt the carb as preventive maintenance. I fought that leak for the next six months, I just couldn't seem to stop that plug from leaking. I'd get it as tight as I could using just a screwdriver but it would loosen and leak, sometimes in a matter of hours of use. Out of frustration I tried the screwdriver/wrench trick figuring I'd either fix it or break it... it fixed it. Another tell-tale is if it's tight enough, it will 'snap' pretty loudly when you initially loosen the plug.

You have to do this with the carb mounted on the motor, otherwise you can't get enough leverage.

 

I might have found it!! Only one little wire was out of place.
It came to us that way. Seems they had the ignition resistor, coil, and distributor wired almost correctly.
Supposed to have two wires on positive side of coil with one wire (to distributor) on negative side of coil. They had the second wire (from stock wiring harness) hooked to the negative side, too. Only the one from ignition resistor was hooked to the positive side. I moved the second wire to the positive side of the coil.
Started as before so took for pretty long test drive and then back to the carport(just in case!) and cut it off. Then I started it right back up.
Well, I've fixed for at least one time!
More testing when weather warmer!
I'll keep ya posted.
Happy Al

 

Good diagnostic work, Al.

 

Hey Al, did you ever figure out what went on with the disappearing wide whitewalls? We ALL want to know.

Incidentally, I had a similar "runs sometimes and quits" issue on my (our) old Sedan Deliv. It ended up being the wire on the neg side of coil that runs to the distributor. Vibration must have weakened the wire where it went into the wire end connecter and only a strand or two were making a connection. Although it all looked fine, there was just enough of a connection that it would run most of the time.

 

One of the positive wires is 12 volt and is only hot in start position of the ignition switch , the other is a resistor wire and carries about 9 volts in the run position. Before you mentioned the miss wire job I was thinking about a Dodge I had about 40 years ago with a simlar problem. An old mechanic I knew told me to check the engine to chassis ground strap . Turns out it was broke , he told me that the points build up a static charge that causes the condenser to heat up and grounds the points . once it cooled down it would start right back up . Replaced the ground strap and no more problems. Enjoy the car while you can because once the Daughter gets driving it figure out even the son in law won't have a chance to touch it! lol Larry

 

What happens if you dribble a little gas in the carb by the throttle plates?

I chased a similar problem on my 57 that I was sure was spark because it would run a little with the key in the start position, but die when I let off on the key to the ignition position. Turned out to be fuel delivery. My very "clean" fuel tank had rust on the top side where you really couldn't see it until I pulled the tank. The rust particles were very fine and were plugging a filter that was between the tank and fuel pump (not stock).

 

Does your daughter plan to drive it to the library? (Beach Boys)

 

Al, I have a '55 Bird and have read this thread with real interest. I hope that you find the source of the problem soon, but I don't think it resulted from the incorrect wiring of the coil that you described. I'm wondering whether you or someone else might have inadvertently switched the wire from the positive coil to the negative terminal just prior to your discovery of it. If it had been that way all the time, the engine wouldn't start because there would be no fire the plugs with the starter engaged. Since one of the wires comes from the "start" terminal on the starter solenoid to supply 12V power when starting, and the other supplies a lower voltage through the resistor when running, both have to be on the positive coil terminal to start and then run.