Recent content by Giles

Thanks guys - I'll check these options too.

Fitted new coil and condenser but problem is no better. Compression tests ok. Points are clean and correctly gapped - but could they nevertheless be acting up in some way? Worth replacing them perhaps? Plugs are also clean and correctly gapped, but quite old. I am starting to run out of...

thanks folks - lots of helpful things to follow up. Since I last posted I have stripped the carb and checked all jets for obstructions. No change. Misfiring is equally bad at tickover, so I don't think it's fuel starvation. I have ordered a new coil, condenser and distributor cap ... we'll see...

Patrick - good question - I meant that the engine continues to run, very irregularly, but generates insufficient power to move the car.

My A has suddenly developed severe misfiring as soon as it reaches operating temperature, with much backfiring of unburnt fuel through the exhaust and total loss of power. Condenser checks out ok. Points are clean and correctly gapped. Plugs ditto. I have tried another coil - a used one, but as...

Interesting thread! I would just add that, having tried most combinations, I now use woven, riveted linings with cast drums. Matching lining to drum is less critical, because being softer the linings wear themselves in to a certain extent. No squeal, which was a problem when I had pressed drums...

Thanks guys - v helpful. Original cutouts are really hard to find over here in the UK, so I guess I will go the diode route. When I first had the car (23 years ago) you could get quite good repro cutouts, but the quality has gone down. I'd still love to know what is going on when the chattering...

I recently checked my cutout (repro, but not an electronic one) for gap, clean points etc. No probs. Yesterday, after a longish trip involving a lot of stop-starting, I lost charge to the battery. today (i) I checked ammeter and generator: no problems (ii) I checked cutout by putting a current...

All explained! Thanks, folks!

Can someone tell me the specification - dimensions, thread size and steel spec - of Model A con rod big end cap bolts, please? My books give info on torque settings, nut spec etc but, strangely, not the actual size. I'm too lazy to take the sump off just to look! Thanks, Giles

Hi Bnewman - If what you are describing is a raised capital B cast into the head just north of the distributor, and nothing else, then what you have is not a Brumfield but a so-called "police" head. These were an in-period Ford option and raised the CR to, if I remember rightly, 5.6. I've used...

Thanks for all the good tips, guys! I've checked compression - I'm getting 79psi on #1, 74 on #2, 78 on#3 and 76 on #4. Plugs are sooty, and backfiring is in exhaust not carb, so I'm inclined to suspect I'm running rich. As regards airleaks, I'll try the easystart test, but manifold to block is...

I get 4 tabs as tight as I can and then wipe silicone "instant gasket" round the joint between cap and wheel. It's invisible and stays rattle-free indefinitely.

I've been following this thread with interest because I have a similar prob and I'm now at my wit's end (not a long distance, you may say). My A runs rough, smokes slightly and has lost its idle. Backfires when the throttle is opened, not on the overrun. Things I have done: cleaned the carb...

thanks Al - now I can relax!