Worden18

Awesome! Looking good. Keep us updated ?

I suppose it'll depend on how badly stuck it is Frank. I'd dump some in there every day for a few days and be patient. Fingers crossed for ya ?

50/50 mix of acetone and transmission fluid if you haven't tried it yet.

Very cool Frank! Nice work indeed ?

Michael, Okay I understand what you're getting at now. Thanks for the post and your concern. I appreciate you looking out for me ? Anyway, I'm no expert on this stuff. I'm certain my car is never going to boil over or develop a crack in the block. Sounds a little arrogant as I type this, but I don't mean it that way. I have 10-12K miles on the rebuild, and those are miles at speeds up to 70mph and at parade creeping speeds too, and in temps from -33F to 98F. My engine was completely cleaned by my builder (with some type of acid wash), and the distribution tube was in great shape. Also, I absolutely trust the Evans waterless coolant I use, which is guaranteed for the life of the engine, even if the car changes owner's hands. The boiling point is 375F and I believe it's -65F on the other end. Now, as far as why my temp needle pegs out and yours does not, I haven't a clue. Could just be the differences in the engines or coolants, maybe one or the other's gauges may be faulty? I honestly don't have a clue. I know that most of the Fords I've owned were so hot after engine shut off that I had to wear gloves to pop the hood most of the time. I also know that the 413 industrial truck engine in my 69 Dodge fire truck has such good flow (and sodium filled exhaust valves don't hurt) that at full temperature you can hold on to the valve covers with your bare hand for as long as you want and not get burned. Anyway, anyone who has any opinions please share ?

Wabasha, MN. Just up the river 20 miles ?

May 20, 2020: Out for a cruise with my two older kids tonight. Still sporting the crappy muffler. The picture is the band shell here in Winona, MN. They have summer concerts there. Interesting read: http://winonamunicipalband.org/history/the-winona-lake-park-bandshell/

In this picture, the 2 red clamps, the one with the square hole sitting under the handle of the timing light...that goes around the plug wire. Unless it's part of that timing light of course. My dwell meter has red and black leads for the battery, and that red clamp with the square hole for #1 plug.

Around the wire Keith. Anywhere where it will stay still when the car is running

Lots of good feedback from everyone. I always read everyone's posts and try to learn something. Congrats on the meter Keith. I have one similar to yours that I used to set the dwell on my 69 Impala (327). Bought it about 30 years ago. Hadn't used it in 25 until the other night when I rediscovered it and checked the idle rpm on the Meadowbrook. It's not set up for a 6v +ground, so I put the red lead on positive ground post and the black lead on negative. Set the switch on 6cyl and hooked up the other wire/plug thingy (damn if I know the correct term) to#1 spark plug. Tach worked just fine. I was about 50rpm low on idle and also when engaging fluid drive. Should've been at 450rpm for fluid drive...I was at 400. I'll post a pic of my meter in my thread later.

The engine (any engine), gets hotter after it's turned off and no coolant/air is running through. Or do you mean why does the gauge itself work after the engine/key is shut off? The gauge is mechanical (at least on my car) and shows the temp whether the engine is on or not. If you sit behind the wheel long enough you can watch it slowly come back down.

Wow! That's sharp! Congrats ?

Your restore is absolutely fantastic! And fascinating. I'm always amazed at what levels of work people are capable of. What an inspiration! Great work ?

5-15-20: Quick pic after the restart test. With the right lighting you can see the paint strokes from the factory on the hood. Fender has some good patina going on too ?

5-15-20: So, after we made it home I sat in the car for the un-magic amount of time (5-20 minutes) that I usually end up with vapor lock (yeah I know, it's not called vapor lock but I can't remember the proper term) and the car starts hard. It always starts, just harder than normal. Any, not this time. It started right up. ? The temp gauge is pegged out after shut off, as usual.

5-15-20: Yesterday a friend came over with his sawzall so we could tackle the muffler. I already removed the clamps. The muffler pipe chewed up the blade. Gonna need a torch to get that thing off. I've decided to just take it back to the guy who originally put the new exhaust on. He has the proper tools, and more importantly a hoist. So the muffler is kinda crappy then, mostly at idle. After a nice fire and some Johnny Cash in the backyard, I fired up the Meadowbrook. It started right up. We drove all over town and on the highway at 55mph as well. No misfires or backfiring or anything. The car seemed to run about half the thickness of the temp gauge hotter than what I'm used to. Probably because it's not running rich anymore. I'll keep an eye on that. After a few more test runs I'll pull the plugs and look at them. Here's a couple of dark pics for you guys. Gotta laugh at those ?

Welcome! And awesome car/story. Please keep us updated ?

You guys look fantastic! And so does your car? It's refreshing to know that your country keeps that date alive. One must never forget. In my section of the woods in the states I have to remind everyone that it's Veterans Day...and Pearl Harbor Day too, etc. People just simply don't care. They don't even know simple WWII history. They also don't even think about the men and women who fought (and died) to assure they could have the freedom to just forget about them and be arrogant about it as well. Pisses me off. I had an uncle who was a bomber pilot in Europe. He's been gone for 20 years now. Sorry for the rant, but that kind of thing gets to me. Again, nice looking group!!?

Keith, my heat shield is a 3 layered aluminum plate. I sometimes wonder if it's just more surface area that becomes hot and helps boil the gas in the bowl since it's so close to the carburetor. The only thing saving me from the car not starting after that "magic" (or un-magic) 5-10 shut off fuel percolation/hard starting issue is the fact that I hold the accelerator to the floor and just let her crank. It's never not started when I've done that. I remember you saying that didn't work for you. Maybe the hard fuel line and the fat gasket are the ticket. Those are two things I don't have that I'm absolutely going to update. One other thing that I believe really helps my car start is the pertronix 40,000v coil. I'm interested in seeing how much better my car will start now that it's timed correctly. It pops off nicely but I didn't try it after a 5-10 minute shut-off.

Pertronix

5-9-20: Took it out for a test drive and it's running pretty smooth despite the crappy muffler. No pinging at low rpm or under a load. No misfires or backfiring. I think I got it fellas. The gauge don't lie. Muffler is next.

5-9-20: Got my vintage Sears vacuum gauge in the mail today. It works just fine. I hooked it up to the threaded port on top of the intake manifold toward the firewall like one of the fellas mentioned in an earlier post. Started the car and let it fully warm up. The vacuum gauge read a jumpy 10-13". I was happy the reading was so poor, that meant I could improve it. I shut the car off and loosened the distributor hold down bolt. I also unscrewed the vacuum advance line. Started the car again. I advanced the timing and the vacuum reading moved in the direction of zero and the car sputtered. Wrong way. Retarded the timing... vacuum gauge maxed out around14-16" but was jumpy. Engine smoothed out. Tightened the distributor hold down bolt. Then I moved the gauge to the passenger side and began adjusting the idle mixture screw. I got the vacuum gauge to stay between 15-16". Things smoothed out significantly. Engine off. Vacuum advance line screwed back in. Distributor loosened one more time. Started engine again. Gently turned distributor to see where the gauge would even out now. Got it to stay between 15-16". Engine running probably about as smooth as I'm ever going to get it without replacing the carburetor in my opinion. Slight needle jump but acceptable. I was WAY off before on the timing and idle mixture screw setting. Picture is before I had the gauge hooked up.

Sweet! Congrats man. I went backwards with my exhaust when I blew out the muffler ? Yours sounds great and looks good. Have fun ?

Looks good man! Thanks for sharing ?

Thanks for that info Adam, I will keep this in mind. And Sam, the male/female notches in the cap and on the distributor fit nice and tight. No movement. I have a couple of extra distributors lying around, if one of them matches the existing one I'll put together a points set-up and pop in in for a test run.