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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / setting a distributor

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Posted By Discussion Topic: setting a distributor -- page: 1 2     jims33 08-02-2012 @ 7:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 25 Joined: Dec 2011 Thanks guys - I set the slider in the middle of the adjustment and it seems to run fine now, but it hasn't been in a parade yet!. TomO - I didn't replace the points to solve any problems, I replaced them because the owner bought them along with the new coil. I would have prefered to use the old ones because they seemed to be of better quality, but I didn't want to tell the owner he wasted his money on them. I replaced the coil because the truck was stalling, and like Supereal said - that could easily be the problem. The coil I removed had a sticker on it that said "Holly Ignition Parts". I thought they only made carburetors - I have no idea how old it was, but it evidently wasn't original. It would be great to have acces to a distributor calibrating machine, but I sure don't know where there is one. Jim S. supereal 07-23-2012 @ 9:14 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 That problem is a classic symptom of a failing coil. I know it was stated that the coil was "new", but that doesn't mean it was good. At our shop, the rejection rate of new parts of all kinds is a very big issue. TomO 07-23-2012 @ 7:53 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Jims33, Replacing parts without knowing exactly what is wrong, leads to more problems. I have never seen a set of points cause problems when the engine is warm and not cause problems when the engine is cold. Get the engine up to operating temperature and check the spark. It should be at least 1/2" long. If the engine dies, operate the gas pedal linkage and look for 2 strong streams of gas in the throat of the carburetor. If you don't have them, you have a fuel delivery problem. Tom Stroker 07-22-2012 @ 6:54 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Jims33: As a Shriner, I currently do a lot of summer parades. I don't believe there is any "duty cycle" that's harder on a vehicle's cooling system than a hot summer parade, unless it would be a commute on a SoCal freeway. Fords were built to move, not parade. Now, having said that, I grew up (in the 50's) hauling 180 field boxes of lemons from grove to packing house (20,00 lbs). There's not a lot of difference between collecting packing boxes in an orchard and a parade. I used a 40 Ford ton-and-a half, and I don't recall it ever overheating while loading lemons in 100 degree heat. So.... I believe that if the cooling system, ignition, and fuel system are simply functioning as designed, a parade should not be a problem with a flathead Ford during a parade. Fuel quality is an issue I didn't have to deal with, so I can't accurately relate those conditions in the past with what we have to deal with fuel-wise today, except to say that my parade vehicle works well with 80/86 octane Aviation fuel, which I use to prevent problems during parades simply because it has a very high Reid Vapor Pressure rating, which makes it less likely to create fuel delivery problems at high under-hood temperatures. Our modern vehicles get around these problems by having a high-pressure fuel pump submerged in the tank, delivering fuel to a computer-controlled injection system that will increase the flow in response to any detectable lean condition. In short, modern fuels are compounded to satisfy modern systems, and our old "fixed" systems sometimes cannot cope with low vapor-pressure fuels. You might consider the addition of an additional pump, located below the tank level to maintain fuel supply. This message was edited by Stroker on 7-22-12 @ 7:35 PM jims33 07-22-2012 @ 6:09 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 25 Joined: Dec 2011 Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how it works out. The problem the guy was having was the truck would run good until they tried to run it in a parade - then it would quit and not start for a while. He keeps saying it "gets hot", but when I asked if it steamed or gurgled out the radiator he said no. He bought a new coil and points and wanted me to install them. I think the points I took out were just fine and better quality than the ones he bought, but I used them anyway. I tried to tell him that parades are a tough thing in warm weather and they shouldn't do that, but that's the main thing he seems to want to use it for. Jim S. supereal 07-22-2012 @ 7:30 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The slider sets the initial timing which, of course, affects the entire curve. We set distributors on our Sun machine, which includes adjusting the retarding spring tension. In most cases, the snubber has little effect on operation. Most of the piston facings are now plastic instead of leather, which changes the action, and renders the action ineffective,at best. Today's higher octane fuels are a far cry from the early gas, and trying to obtain a "ping" is usually nearly impossible, in any case. We send out the distributors with the slider fully advanced. The Ford distributor is a fairly crude device, but has been proven, over and over, to be "bullet proof" in providing decades of service. supereal 07-22-2012 @ 7:30 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The slider sets the initial timing which, of course, affects the entire curve. We set distributors on our Sun machine, which includes adjusting the retarding spring tension. In most cases, the snubber has little effect on operation. Most of the piston facings are now plastic instead of leather, which changes the action, and renders the action ineffective,at best. Today's higher octane fuels are a far cry from the early gas, and trying to obtain a "ping" is usually nearly impossible, in any case. We send out the distributors with the slider fully advanced. The Ford distributor is a fairly crude device, but has been proven, over and over, to be "bullet proof" in providing decades of service. TomO 07-22-2012 @ 7:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 If the points are set to open at the correct time, the timing slider should be set at 0. With the current crop of parts, I suggest that you have the distributor set up on a distributor machine. That way the operator can check for point bounce and snd some of the other defects these new points have. Tom supereal 07-22-2012 @ 7:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The slider sets the initial timing which, of course, affects the entire curve. We set distributors on our Sun machine, which includes adjusting the retarding spring tension. In most cases, the snubber has little effect on operation. Most of the piston facings are now plastic instead of leather, which changes the action, and renders the action ineffective,at best. Today's higher octane fuels are a far cry from the early gas, and trying to obtain a "ping" is usually nearly impossible, in any case. We send out the distributors with the slider fully advanced. The Ford distributor is a fairly crude device, but has been proven, over and over, to be "bullet proof" in providing decades of service. alanwoodieman 07-22-2012 @ 6:28 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 868 Joined: Oct 2009 with my experience with a KR Wilson dist box one timing mark up from center seems to be the norm, be sure to see if the vacuum piston is free and the leather on the end is ok, set the vacuum brake with the spring adjusting bolt almost all the way out and drive to see if it pings under load, then tighten the spring adjusting bolt down a little more until the under load ping goes away

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