I been trying to get my car in a decent tune,and was hoping for some of y'all to see if you can help out,because its not stock maverick,but still stock... Fuel mileage is low,9-10 mpg,so even though i don't drive much,still hurts... Set up is 91 f1se block,e7te heads,stock cam,performer 289 intake,holley 1850 with 68 main jets,7.5 power valve,31 squirter(runs better than the 3310 I started with) hedman shorty headers... Distributor is reman 302 with 5.0 gear,points triggered TFI,accel coil,taylor wires,msd cap... Points are set at .018,enough spark to nearly knock you down,(found out by accident),timing is 32*all in at 3k,16* at idle,ported advance (any more and it rattles)... Eating as much as it does,and smelling like rich,and gas,the plugs are white as if too high heat range,or excessive lean,but it will nearly take your breath,and leaves a little black smoke when you stuff it... Any ideas,or things i may have overlooked? Has a set of autolite ap104's in it... What plug would be a starting point,with the E7 heads and carb? Car would lay a short patch with the old tires,now not even a squeak Thanks,Y'all have already helped a bunch with this car
What does the strap on the plugs look like? I'd have started with whatever motorcraft plug an e7 headed mustang uses. Lean out the Idle mixture a little also.
I ask because the engine was not carb'd from the factory,fuel injection would be naturally leaner,so different heat range... If I turn the idle mixture any lower it sputters and goes dead...
It's hard to see in the pic but the heat range looks close. It the color change should be close to the bend in the strap. Check the power valve,float level and choke.
I agree, check power valve, if it's diaphram is leaking or gasket is missing carb will be far too rich... May not help but total timing should be 36*-38* at approx 3K rpms... The jets are larger than a stock 1850, I believe original are 65 but I run 67 in mine, makes decent milage, at least far better than 10 mpg... BTW I doubt that TFI is going to care what gap is, but FYI my points are around .012...
You would be amazed by the point gap with TFI,this car had some point problems,the spring broke and was at a friend's house. So I get new ones,and just "eyeball" them ,didn't have a feeler gauge... They were too close,and at about 3500 rpm it would fall on it's face and crackle... Set them to .o18 and problem gone,even though it's not supposed to matter... I just can't get over the plugs being so white,cause i'd hate to be behind me at a traffic light... Power valve is new,they're proud of them too,and squirters,at least locally... Kit in the 3310,backfire got the PV in it when the point incident happened,so I transferred everything to the 1850 (blue nonstick gaskets)... 1850 has blowout protection... I can't find any intake leaks,around 15-16" vacuum at idle,that's the reason for the 7.5 power valve,and what was on the shelf... New tank,new metal lines,new alcohol resistant marine flexible hose,new manual fuel pump... I don't beat it,drive normally,kinda grandpa-ish sometimes... Car runs pretty good for the most part,gets the occasional Holley heat flood start thing... Smells like gas,light black smoke when you stomp it,but no carbon on plugs,not even tan color... Just grasping at straws I suppose... Thanks...
I have a quick question or two before I toss my dirty penny in. Square jetted? 68 front and rear? Also, how did you get your mechanical sweep shortened up to 16 degrees? ...That would be in the range of an 8L reluctor shaft which is damned short for an OEM configuration. FYI, retarded and/or slow advance curves cause a richer unburned mixture condition. A quick tip would be to push the initial timing up another 4 degrees, around 20 initial, and end up around 36 total. Assuming this motors ring and valve seal is even remotely healthy.. this motor should EASILY reach past 18" manifold vacuum. Personally I wouldn't stop tuning till it hit 20" or better.
Yeah,I know right? I tried putting a fresh set of plugs in and drove it,and it seems like the timing is too high still... Turns out had3/4" reach plugs in a 1/2" hole... Starting to suspect something screwy with this engine,slipped balancer maybe... Using ported distributor vacuum,may just lock it down and try it... Gas rattled so bad it started lurching on the way home at my opportunity to punch it,so I let out of it on the way home... I've had to change the flywheel,was new,wrong balance... The harmonic balancer is the right one,will check it out again tho... No idea about the rear jetting,other than it was the plate on it when I got it... I changed the throttle shaft out on it for ford kickdown,put all the gaskets out of the other carb,checked for cleanliness put back on set till I got the floats and best idle outta it I could get without killing any wildlife... I believe it could use a "tuner mod" too maybe...
OUCH!! No wonder your plugs were running hot and causing detonation... I should have noticed that in your pict... Only stock 5.0 to use the long reach plugs were the Lo-Po E6 headed versions used in Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car and '86-'88 T-Birds/Cougars...
Yeah... Plugs aside,just pulled up from setting the timing back to where it was showing 8* on the crankshaft,at idle in drive with the parking brake on,550 rpm... Best its ever idled,gas it rattle rattle rattle... 4bbl is useless... I have a 2100 2bbl I may just kit and adapt... My 73 comet I had years back would run circles around it, with a 2bbl 73' 302... When it sits turned off,the carb sounds like its boiling gas inside the bowl,put ear closer(kinda hot) and is front bowl... Throttle bores are dry tho... IDK,too late to fool with it tonight,I hear my train and a bath calling... Thanks...
IMO, you have some major tuning issues going on there. TONS of combo's like that running around happily on pump gas with WAAYYY more than 8° initial timing lead. Not sure what you're describing is rattling as in.. pinging?.. or lean firings that can also cause preignition/crackling sounds? If you're laying hard into the throttle then the vac advance is falling away anyways regardless of where you have the vacuum sourced from. Easy to try the full manifold vacuum advance option to see how it runs too. As you can tell.. not a big proponent of just tossing other parts on a motor to cure issues. Holleys are highly tunable and very forgiving if they're even remotely in the ballpark for calibration. Good luck with it.
That's what gets me,not my first time with this... Yeah,pinging,gas rattle,spark knock,detonation... Runs some better now with fresh plugs,but not right... Falls off anytime I push it,acts lean but smells rich... I have even questioned the fuel that maybe it was bad... Is the first full tank since it's been put together so not sure but may pull a sample anyways...
Well,it turned out to be water in the gas... I guess that it being humid and warm while i was putting it together,and then this little cool snap about the time I fueled up washed some moisture off the tank,or just bad gas... Usually buy it from the same place all the time,but pulled a sample,was cloudy and had drops in the bottom... Drained tank (that drain plug was worth the money),bought 5 fresh gallons of 89 octane and set the timing to 10* and it's good now... Not a smoky tire shredding monster,but no ping and pulls like a freight train... My mind said "you just got fresh gas",so I guess my mess up was omitting that variable... The plugs didn't hurt by any means,and apparently the new ones aren't hurt from the pinging or moisture,least not yet... On a side note,the fuel gauge doesn't read 100% correct,seems that after it has hit empty,it's still got around 4 gallons still in it... Thank you for the help...
That better than a Falcon I used to have, if needle fell below ¼ tank and there wasn't a gas station in sight, I was walking...
