Projects And So It Begins

Thanks GG…Holley 94 jets…we’ll give them a go probably this weekend…

 

A year plus chasing a drivability issue with the coupe! This has been the culprit the whole time!! The Flathead showed flashes of brilliance in occasion, it idled brilliantly, started right up always but always felt “sleepy” and the exhaust tone was “grainy” is how I’d describe it. I replaced the plugs, wires, cap & rotor, several different jet sizes, several different power valves etc. it would run good initially after each change, but performance would drop off rapidly. After working this past Wednesday evening, it was drizzly and damp and #7 cylinder dropped out completely! Very weak or no spark. Ohmed the wire ( good ), swapped 6&7 wires but pulled them out of the loom, took it for a ride and couldn’t believe how much more pep it had. Well, last night I removed the looms and routed new wires and holy shit my problem was gone!! No more sleepy intermittent flashes of brilliance… it’s now the proverbial “raped ape”! Geezus, I was amazed at the performance that was hiding in this thing!! I thought about the looms earlier on, but it idled so well and always started, plus I’d seen several other cars with the looms and apparently no issues, so I buried the thought of pulling them. Can kick myself in the ass now. Weekend coming up, gonna drive the wheels off this thing in celebration and see how much gas I can burn up by Sunday evening. I’ll let you all know how it went over the weekend. Thanks for letting me ramble and enjoy yer weekend everyone!!!

 

Sounds like you had a lot of secondary leakage through your wires. If I may ask, which wires were you using?

 

Absolutely secondary leakage! I had a brand new set of Ton’s on it. I had an old spool of solid core 7mm wire I found in my father’s stash of stuff after he passed and made a completely new set.

 

glad ya found it now go out and let er fly!!!!!!

 

Plug wires in chrome tubes looks very cool, but I am not surprised about the electrical short issue.
Very good find !

 

Thanks Vic! It was always at the back of my mind, but everything was new and I’d seen so many others using them. Plus it wasn’t major secondary leakage, but enough to know something just wasn’t right, that’s why I kept chasing fuel. I put 10mm silicone cables on it and finally installed my electronic distributor. It’s a new frigging car now…I just wish someone sold a power valve like the original design. I’m sooooo done with them leaking.

 

I finished the valve job a bit ago, here’s a short of a longer video I’m editing to post of some of the process of grinding and installing. Sounds like a beast now, much louder than it was! https://youtube.com/shorts/Z1Vqo-Z59mA?feature=share

 

I've finally got the video complete and edited with road test. Enjoy fellas! Please sub and like...thank you!

 

Thanks for sharing this! I was going to order a wire kit from Ton's for my RPU but now I'm rethinking that.

 

Could be the old insulation had broken down??

 

I kept refusing to believe it was the brand new wires… until I removed the looms and it ran better…then I saw them arcing off to the block!!!

 

It was a brand new set of wires, that’s why I was reluctant to condemn them…

 

Sorry I just realized I misread your post. The new one's failed & old wire was good gotcha now!

 

Yes...it was a real head scratcher...until I drove it in the rain

 

I can relate. I just finally fixed an issue with my three-cylinder acreage tractor acting up. Sometimes it would run fine then start misfiring, other times it would only misfire, sometimes it would run perfectly fine.

I had NGK plugs in it with less than 25 hours of run time, and it turned out one of them failed. It must have shorted internally. Checking spark it wouldn't spark at all, then would spark through the threads, occasionally spark at the electrode but very weakly. New plug and it runs perfectly. That one was a bugger to find.

Intermittent issues are the worst. I'm glad you shared your experience with that brand, I'll go a different way for my new project.

 

When I finally witnessed the arc off to the block from midwire, I knew it was time for another alternative…
I’m glad you found the info useful!

 

No kidding! Glad you found your spark leak!

 

I made this nifty bracket for my expansion can…the zip tie looked a wee bit too sketchy…

 

I was just thinking about this thread today. Glad to see the car is alive and well!

 

Thanks HB! I've got some updates coming for some things I've been working on. Been drivin' the wheels off this thing to the tune of 7k+ miles! I've changed some things and I've got some plans that I've gathered some acorns for. Of course I'll post here, plus I'll be uploading video to my channel. Thanks for stickin' around, greatly appreciated!

 

I finally got around to finishing my hubcaps and installing them… I like it!! A friend gave me the trim rings. Nothing like some good ole procrastination Still have interior to finish, probably this winter. I’ve just been enjoying this thing too much! Thanks for checkin’ in fellas…there’ll be more…

 

Glad to see ya out enjoying the fruits of your labor nothin better than to hear the rumble as ya move down the road!!!
And the joy of doing it yourself is icing on the cake.......

 

You betcha Carl! I’ve been driving the wheels off this thing! Couple things this winter are planned. I have an almost pristine transmission for it with a new ujoint, I also picked up a set of pistons and rings. Maybe do an exploratory and see how the inside looks. I’d also like to install a better performance cam… it keeps me busy and out of trouble!