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Posted By Discussion Topic: Electric cooling fans . -- page: 1 2 3     supereal 06-18-2012 @ 9:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 If you use an ohmeter with the "ruler" method of point setting, the result will be considerably more accurate. Just place the meter on the "1X" setting, and hook it up between the input terminal and ground. Block off the points, one set at a time, and watch the meter needle. The advantage of machine setting, as said in my post, is seeing the firing pattern on the strobe disk. This will show point bounce caused by weak springs, as well as any play in the distributor shaft and bushings. If the shaft is loose, accurate point setting is impossible. Old Henry 06-17-2012 @ 9:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 738 Joined: Apr 2010 Don't need a distributor machine to get initial timing and dwell right on. Just get the points gap right on then follow the instructions in the attached. That will get the distributor right at 4 BTDC. But, that is not necessarily the best spot. That spec is for sea level. As you go up in elevation you can and need more advance for optimal performance. At my elevation of 4,800 feet I run with maximum advance initially and maximum advance on the vacuum brake (scr*w*d clear out) and never get a ping but a lot more power than at the stock 4 BTDC. BTW that also gives me maximum vacuum on the manifold which I think is a great way to set the timing since, for me, maximum vacuum means maximum power. I just had to advance mine all the way at my elevation to maximize the vacuum. At lower elevations vacuum may be maximized at less than maximum advance. Old Henry (The older I get, the better old looks.) This message was edited by Old Henry on 6-17-12 @ 10:21 PM supereal 06-17-2012 @ 5:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The purpose of a distributor machine is to set the correct "dwell" period . Dwell is the term applied to the period the distributor feeds power to the coil. The greater the dwell, the more saturated the coil becomes, and when the power is ended, the coil discharges, forming the high voltage necessary to fire the plug. If done correctly, the timing is not affected beyond the ability of the slider on the distributor to adjust it. It is also used to test and set the vacuum brake, but the advance is strictly mechanical. Tampering with the preset advance usually only degrades performance. I've set lots of flathead distributors on our Sun machine without regard for timing. From your description, it appears your original engine is just very tired, and ready for a rebuild. This message was edited by supereal on 6-17-12 @ 5:47 PM Gary M. 06-17-2012 @ 5:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 I am using a modern cylindrical coil mounted away from any heat sources. I will check with my local v8 club president to see if he knows anyone with a distributor machine. Thanks for the input... Stroker 06-17-2012 @ 4:30 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Well, you can do what we did when we were "Hot Rodding" flatheads. You can fish a stiff rod down the number one plug hole, and find TDC (be sure the piston is coming up on the compression stroke). At that point, you can place matching white paint marks on the timing cover and crank pulley. Using a timing light clipped to the number one spark lead, you can then determine where "you're at". The problem is though, that a slight change in point gap will affect timing, so... you need to have the points gapped properly before you attempt to adjust timing. Proper points gap is necessary for adequate coil saturation, so that takes precedence over timing. Never adjust point gap to achieve correct timing. The early Ford V8 distributor uses dual points to overcome an issue with the geometry of an eight-lobe point cam. In order to maximize dwell (coil charging period), the system uses a pair of points wired so that one set of points "break" the circuit, and a second set of points "make" the circuit. Without going into the details, basically this overcomes the mechanical limits imposed by the geometry of the point cam, which. with one set of points would result in a shorter dwell time as a result of the limited number of degrees that an 8-lobed cam can deliver to a closed set of points, and still provide adequate "lift" to open those points sufficiently to allow for the collapse of the built-up primary field in the coil to generate a strong secondary current to the plugs. So.. that begs the question as to why didn't all 8-cylinder spark ignition distributors in the pre-"Hall-Effect" era have dual points? I don't have a definitive answer, but I would suspect that better materials and design of modern cylindrical ignition coils allowed for the shorter dwell times available in single-point, eight cylinder configurations. The alleged dual-point advantage lived on into the 8BA era however. Mallory (a trusted aftermarket supplier)provided a popular 8BA distributor with dual points, and a single coil. Most folks bought these because they didn't rely on the odd "balance between venturi vacuum and manifold vacuum" limits of the stock 8BA system, and you could use this distributor with multi-carb set-ups without problems. In summary though, if you can find someone with a proper "distributor machine", you don't have to deal with any of the above diatribe. Gary M. 06-17-2012 @ 2:04 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 I know that my timing is quite advanced but the car doesnt seem to have much power if I retard it. When I posted on this site some years ago about timing , I got several replies saying that because of the fact that the car has no timing marks that if the car runs ok with the distributor as is then leave it alone. Is there any way of getting the timing as close as possible to factory specs without putting the distributor on a Ford timing machine? TomO 06-17-2012 @ 8:14 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7277 Joined: Oct 2009 Gary, An electric fan will probably not help the problem that you described. The loading up of the engine at stop lights could be due to your float level. The modem gas allows the float to sit a tad lower in the fuel than the old gas. Try setting your fuel level 1/16" lower than stock. Tom Old Henry 06-16-2012 @ 10:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 738 Joined: Apr 2010 Again, it sounds like if you needed a fan at all it would be at idle. And I believe you said you'd run it off of a 6 volt generator. So, to get a 6 volt generator to run an electric fan enough to help at idle you'd have to rev it up?? That would no longer be idle speed and as long as you're reving it up to get the generator to turn the electric fan enough to help you might as well be reving up your stock fan and forget the electric fan. Again, to get any help from an electric fan at idle I believe you're going to need to add an alternator as well. Also, in addition to the timing trjford8 mentioned, is the jetting in your carburetor. I lowered my engine temperature 10 degrees by increasing the size of the jets in my carburetor one notch. Too lean is too hot. Even with the larger jets (51's instead of 49's on my Holley) my plugs are still tan, no carbon build up. Old Henry (The older I get, the better old looks.) trjford8 06-16-2012 @ 8:34 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4242 Joined: Oct 2009 I would try Skip's pumps before I would put on the electric fan. Also another source of heating is your distributor. If timing is retarded or too far advnced the motor will heat up. Gary M. 06-16-2012 @ 8:02 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 I have changed everything possible to make the car run cool, recored radiator with extra tubes, water pumps (not skips), hoses, belts, flushed out block. For the most part the car does not run hotter than it should nor does it overheat. However, when it gets completely warmed up and I stop at a red light , the engine sounds like its loading up and I have to rev it a bit. The engine has never been rebuilt and has low compression , which is what I atribute the problem to . When the engine is nice and cool, I do not have this problem , which is why I want to add the fan. The car is pretty original but its no show car,so im not too worried about adding a small fan.I drive it to shows and meets in the summer in N.Y. and our summers can be pretty brutal!!!

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