Hello Gents. New member.

[Scottio57]

I am new to model A but I am fluent in model T. I have had Ts around for many years. My Dad died last month and I ended up with his 1930 Sport coup I am sure I will have a lot of questions over time. His car is in very good shape but is no show car. It's more of a very good daily driver. This A does not seem to run very smooth. I have straightened out the front end, fixed the parking brake and hydrolic service brakes. I replaced the spark plugs, distributor cap, points looked great so I cleaned and adjusted them. I adjusted the valves. #3 and 4 the valve adjusters were completely turned all the way down. I could measure them with a yard stick. I brought them all to .015. Runs better but my T runs a lot smoother. I have a spare model B carb the I will go through and try it to see if it runs better. Compression is even all the way across. Maybe a flat cam. It feels like it has a miss when I'm driving down the road but it's hard to tell. Any suggestions?

[Mitch//pa]

Welcome
Try shorting out each cylinder for contribution... intake gasket??? Something else??? Spray carb clean around the ports or if you have the ability do a smoke test....
Just something to try while i sit in my armchair

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've seen #3 and #4 short inside the distributor bakelite, where you can't see the short.

Does a slight pull of the choke help it?

[Scottio57]

I'll have to try that Tom.

[31 Model A]

I concur 100% with what Mitch and Tom said, whatever they were talking about !!!!

Welcome to the Model A Forum.......

[Y-Blockhead]

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Sorry to hear about your Dad.
Welcome to "The Barn" A lot of talent on this site.

[rocket1]

A couple of lifter bases and cam lobes could be badly worn.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by rocket1

A couple of lifter bases and cam lobes could be badly worn.

Right.
Some of the adjustable lifters had too small a base, so the cam lobe would scrape the edge and get wiped out.

[Terry, NJ]

Welcome to the Barn! Try a compression test. You may have a low compression situation in one or two cylinders. This can be caused by a sticking valve. The back cyls. #3and 4, are the most likely to have a sticky valve. Put a little MMO (Marvels Mystery Oil) in the gas tank and that should free it up. About the "B" carb. some of us like to gain a small amount of "Free" HP by switching to a B carb. Someone named Piriano (sp?) did quite a bit of dyno testing and the B carb. with a bored throat and ported and polished intake was shown to increase HP about 3 HP. Doesn't sound like much but this is almost 10% on the 40 horse engine, Definitely worth the effort in my book. I think the Piriano tables are available are available through the Ford Barn. Good Luck!
Terry

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Welcome to the Barn! Try a compression test. You may have a low compression situation in one or two cylinders. This can be caused by a sticking valve. The back cyls. #3and 4, are the most likely to have a sticky valve. Put a little MMO (Marvels Mystery Oil) in the gas tank and that should free it up. About the "B" carb. some of us like to gain a small amount of "Free" HP by switching to a B carb. Someone named Piriano (sp?) did quite a bit of dyno testing and the B carb. with a bored throat and ported and polished intake was shown to increase HP about 3 HP. Doesn't sound like much but this is almost 10% on the 40 horse engine, Definitely worth the effort in my book. I think the Piriano tables are available are available through the Ford Barn. Good Luck!
Terry

He stated that a compression test was done

[1930artdeco]

Welcome to the barn! My 2 cents worth is the condenser given everything else is checked and functioning correctly.

Mike

[Tom Endy]

You replaced the distributor cap: Reproduction distributor caps are not of very good quality. What you need to do is take the top plate off and rotate the shaft and measure the distance between the tip end of the rotor and each on the contacts in the cap. They each should have a nominal gap of about .030. You will probably find they are way off and not the same. You should be able to obtain the measurement by filing each of the contacts and possibly the tip of the rotor. it is time consuming and a pain, but unfortunately something that needs to be done for a smooth running engine.

Tom Endy

[jm29henry]

Welcome to the barn 1930artdeco makes good sense

[1crosscut]

Welcome to the Barn.
I was working on a 31 Coupe yesterday that was not running smoothly. Shorted out all the plugs with a screw driver one at time and found that #4 was firing weakly. Distributor body was bad. Swapped it out with a new one and all is good again.
Another thing to check is your flexible wire in the distributor.
Also spray some starting fluid around the intake manifold while the engine is running. If the engine speed changes you have an intake manifold leak.

[Scottio57]

I'll get busy this weekend. If I get over this dumb cold. Thanks guys.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Scottio57

I'll get busy this weekend. If I get over this dumb cold. Thanks guys.

For the past several years I'd catch the flu at the beginning of winter, and again near the end of winter, and I'd be really sick for 4 to 6 weeks. A few weeks ago it hit me again, and by the second day my throat was really sore.

The guy on ebay that sold me the Delco Light Plant told me to eat two cloves of garlic each day. So the first day I put them on soda crackers, and the second day I put the 2 chopped cloves of garlic on my baked potato. I could immediately feel myself getting better, and after a day and a half I was good as new.
This could be the miracle cure that puts doctors out of business.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

For the past several years I'd catch the flu at the beginning of winter, and again near the end of winter, and I'd be really sick for 4 to 6 weeks. A few weeks ago it hit me again, and by the second day my throat was really sore.

The guy on ebay that sold me the Delco Light Plant told me to eat two cloves of garlic each day. So the first day I put them on soda crackers, and the second day I put the 2 chopped cloves of garlic on my baked potato. I could immediately feel myself getting better, and after a day and a half I was good as new.
This could be the miracle cure that puts doctors out of business.

for sore throats I've always heard alcohol helps. Thier usually caused by viruses so they normally have to run thier course
but not much can survive in an alcohol rich environment. So take a shot of vodka and let it burn on the back of your throat. Generally numbs it then sleep it off. When I do it I wake up and the sore throat is severely diminished.

[Terry, NJ]

Garlic is good! It also has a preventative aspect, people keep away from you! However. For the really tough things, try Colloidal silver.
Terry

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

For the past several years I'd catch the flu at the beginning of winter, and again near the end of winter, and I'd be really sick for 4 to 6 weeks. A few weeks ago it hit me again, and by the second day my throat was really sore.

The guy on ebay that sold me the Delco Light Plant told me to eat two cloves of garlic each day. So the first day I put them on soda crackers, and the second day I put the 2 chopped cloves of garlic on my baked potato. I could immediately feel myself getting better, and after a day and a half I was good as new.
This could be the miracle cure that puts doctors out of business.

[Jacksonlll]

Grab your dist. CAM AND try to move it side to side. If it moves, replace the bushings. This would cause the engine to hunt, not miss.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Jacksonlll

Grab your dist. CAM AND try to move it side to side. If it moves, replace the bushings. This would cause the engine to hunt, not miss.

May as well buy a new shaft at the same time you buy the bushings, because I always find them worn also. The lower shaft might also need to be replaced.