Timing question again! with Pic

[qstott]

Thanks for the reply Tom. I've looked closely at terminals but will check again. The pop out cable is ok. I did over tighten it on my original lower plate, so I was hesitant to crank down on it.

[Jacksonlll]

I agree. Take a good look at the condenser.
Also, I sure hope your spark plugs are not black and fuzzy!!! Dirty.

[qstott]

The fake condenser is just to fill the hole where the condenser used to be before switching to the modern plate. It's just a short shell only about 3/4" long.

With the top carb housing upside down I measured from the housing surface to the seam on the float. It did not require any adjustment. That's were it was previously set when it ran ok.

The spark plugs looked good.

[qstott]

I'm still struggling. I still have problems. I seem to have solved the timing, points, etc. issue. No more backfiring. Now it seems to be starving for fuel.

It will sit and idle all day long. When putting it under a load, it skips, bucks, and dies. Just even starting off in first. It's getting worse and worse. At first it was just in 3rd gear on the highway. Now it does it in the yard before I can leave the house.

I overhauled the zenith-2 carb that was on it with no improvement. I replaced the card with a good (supposedly) zenith-1. It made no difference. The gas cap vent appeared to be stopped up, and I drilled it out and put in a set screw so it wouldn't twist.

I have vacuum at the wiper hose, and pulled it and stopped it up with a bolt to bypass the motor in case of a leak.

When I tried it this morning, and it stalled, I saw some dampness at the intake on #3 and #4. I hope you can see it in the attached picture.

Could that be an intake leak? I tried spraying carb cleaner around but it made no difference in the idle.

I flooded it when trying to restart. It usually cranks cold perfectly and idles perfect.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Just a question? Are you sure you have the correct timing cover. I've see more than one that has a B cover on an A engine and the timing hole is 19 degrees off when used on an A engine. Walt

[qstott]

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Thanks for asking, but yes. It ran great when we brought it home about a month ago. I can see the piston at the top when looking through the spark plug hole and the pointer lined up the timing gear.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Remove the fuel line at the carb and hold it in a quart jar. Turn on the fuel and make sure it has a good flow that doesn't slow down after a couple seconds.

[Anteek29]

Fuel flow problem...try loosening the tank cap a bit. The cap must be a vented one.

[qstott]

Tom, I will try the fuel flow again. It does run out fine for a couple of seconds. I will try it for a longer period of time. I will probably drain the tank. I installed a filter in a new petcock. My hope is that when I seated in the petcock, it crimped the end or something.

I completely removed the gas cap, and it didn't make any difference.

Choking and mixture setting doesn't seem to help either.

[TDO]

I tried using the modern points and my coupe ran bad. Went back to original points my coupe runs great. If I was you I would go back to original points.

[Mitch//pa]

At anytime did you push the fuel line in to far on the carb or bowl side??? That will cause a fuel starvation issue... Just throwing it out there

[qstott]

Tom, I drained the tank, with no interruption of fuel flow. The flow was good.

Mitch, The line is 1/8" past the edge of the ferrule.

TDO, I have everything I need to go back to original points and condenser. I may try that this afternoon.

[Dick M]

One more thing to check. Be sure that your gas line into the firewall filter bowl and the carburetor does not go more than 1/16 of an inch past the ferrule. Gas flow to the carburetor will be restricted resulting in a backfire if the gas line is in too far.

[qstott]

IT'S FIXED!!!!! I started over with the basics. Checking voltage every where. I discovered some times I would have a little over 6 volts at the point arm, and sometimes it would only be .2 or .3 volts.

I cleaned the connections behind the dash and found that the wire inside pop out cable from the terminal box to the coil must have been broken inside the connector for the distributor. If the wire was touching the spring loaded plunger, I would have 6 volts. If it pulled away the least little bit, I would only have .2 or .3 volts.

I put a new armored cable on it and drove it to town!

Unfortunately, I went over a railroad track at slow speed and developed an exhaust leak. It is at the back of the manifold at #4 cyl.

I have several gaskets on hand. Should I try replacing it without having the manifolds surfaced?

Thanks for all your help, and I am so glad to finally have it running!

[1931 flamingo]

I would just try changing the gasket(s) to start. If you've got the late ones, just loosen the manifolds, pull back 1/2", remove old and install new. Tighten to about 35 lbs. JMO
Paul in CT

[J Franklin]

When you replace the gasket lift the back of the manifold a bit while tightening as they leak at the rear due to sag of the metal over time and heat cycles.