curious about how to hop this up a bit. had a stall the other day but turns out it was vapor lock (I think).
My personal rule with with traditional Hot Rodding........ Get stock right first, then go further if you wish. Exceptions....things worn beyond repair. 1. Fuel Start as the gas tank. After 57 years you could have rust and varnish in the tank. If so, everything and I mean everything you do is for nothing if the tank is dirty. Line , make sure they are clean and clear. Fuel pump.....these go out especially since ethanol is in gas now. Carburetor....make sure it is in good condition and adjusted properly. 2. Electrical.... The usual suspects......plugs, wires, points, time, ignition wires, all the connections and so on. A full tune up. 3. Mechanical..... Make sure it's in time. Make sure the valves are adjusted. Make sure it has good compression. Make sure the cooling system is flushed and flows good. Check transmission linkages. Make sure brakes are not dragging..... You get the picture, just go over it real good. Finally.... Have realistic expectations. I recall a photo of Vic Edelbrock is standing by a multi carbed 144 Falcon six. They can be souped up. Stock, they were kind of wheezy.
Running hot and losing power makes me wonder if the exhaust is restricted. Crushed pipe, rotted muffler...cost nothing to check.
I think the early comets used a rubber hose to connect the metal fuel line at the fuel tank. if it is cracked, it sucky air instead of fuel.
Nice looking car! Are you sure it's a 170? I ask because the 144 came with blue air cleaner and valve cover while the 170 came with red/orange. All the upgraded distributors I've seen were for the tall deck blocks(66? or so and later) Does it have the heater hoses going to the plate under the carb? Start simple like tune up and set timing, then flush the radiator and heater core and put a warmer thermostat back in.
Running retarded will make an engine run hot and a Load-o-matic is notorious for bad timing control. You can't get stock right if it never was. Weber 32/36 with adapter and the DUI. You'll enjoy it again.
I would check the fuel filter first. You may well have both fuel feed and radiator problems. Unrelated. Do everything suggested to assure you are getting gas. Filter first. Then go on
I had a 61 comet with a 144 in it. It had the fuel pump that had the glass bowl and vacuum for the wipers off of it. I went through a few new pumps and rebuild kits iver the time I owned it as well as a few condensors. I had all the symptoms you speak of on and off. A leak in the fuel filter or pump that's sucking in air will cause a lean condition and will run hot.
That’s the basics, can never go wrong there. Here is a pic of three one barrels on a small six If you get that 170 six right they are a peppy little engine and will haul that Comet just fine. Our family had two Comets of that era, an S-22 and a convertible, back in the day. Good cars. Bones
Yessir.... Loadamatic was Problematic especially when it got some age or parts were mismatched. With that said it can work and work reliably for a stock engine. Ford used it for 20 years. Sometimes I think unfortunately.... There are some simple things he can do. Make sure the advance mechanism is working. Make sure the little springs are in good condition. Simple stuff like checking the vacuum diaphragm and making sure there is no gunk or rust binding the mechanisms in the distributor. The first thing is to make sure the carburetor is indeed loadamatic compatible. Morecowbell there is period Ford literature available to service loadamatic. These are simple checks and cost little or nothing but some time. Eventually you may want to do the upgrade to the ignition. Before that though I would try to rule out any underlying problem.
thank you everyone - i just took a look and noticed that there is a Mr Gasket fuel regulator inline before the carb. settings 1-5, currently set on 3. I am going to do all the basics before moving onto new carb/DUI. The car runs very well, starts up almost instantly even in dead cold weather, it has a new radiator and flush with new coolant and a 165 thermo. shifts well. and i had driven for days and days without getting the stumbling issue. It very well could be a clogged fuel filter, etc. I never took it on the highway for more than 5 minutes until the other day so the problem could have been there all along - or not. Either way I need to do a going through. I'm trying to not get coreced by the "throw parts at it" mentality tho there seems to be a commonality that carb and HUI make a world of diff. in your opinions, what could one realistically expect in terms of "performance" from a stock 170 that while old, is at least tuned as well as it can be? again this is more for reliability and the opportunity to put some longer trips than 10 miles on it, not drag racing or anything. thank you again all.
We used them to commute to college in a town 40 miles from hone. We drove the crap out them, never gave us any trouble. They don’t have the performance of my later 289HiPo, but they were no dog. 85 MPH , no problem, run 75 all day. Bones
I haven't seen every application for Load o matics, but the ones I've worked on didn't HAVE mechanical advance which is why they were problematic. They used venturi vacuum to advance the timing and that was the Achilles heel. Carb issue or bad diaphragm...... you're running retarded. Down on power and overheating.....
LOM distributors have a couple of small springs on the vacuum linkage. Different strength springs used to be available. These provide some adjustment per 1950s Ford service manuals.
I always like to know what I'm starting with, do a compression check no use working with a weak unit. Early Falcon 6s were bad about losing oil to the upper engine I would pull the valve cover and check. If no oil pull the left rear head bolt and the #6 spark plug and start the engine and wait for oil to show up in head bolt hole. Ford had a bulletin that said to grind a flat side on the bolt to give more room for oil to pass.
The deck height has nothing to do with the distributor. There were two distributor bores, and oil pump shafts. Early Falcon sixes have a smaller distributor bore, and a 0.0625" smaller pump shaft.
As I recall, the change from 1/4" o/pump shaft to 5/16" was in the middle of teh '62 model year, so if the engine is original it should a 1/4" shaft. No, big deal, DUI and Mallory have options for them.
What's wrong with it? If you're not sure take it to someone who can check the tune up on it for you. Someone with experience.
The Jalopy Journal
