Ford flathead drivability

M

Miner

Junior Member
Hi, I have a flathead ford its a 59ab with the distributor up top with the line going to the 94 carb. I rebuilt the carburetor put new points etc in it. The motor is fresh from a man who made a living building flatheads and model Ts. Unfortunately he is no longer with us for me to have help with this issue.

It will idle great and will rev up nice with no hesitation, but when coming up a hill even on flat when pressing the gas it will feel like fuel or power is intermittently turned off, it will hesitate and buck. Making it undrivable. I made sure the vac pot was not leaking and have done pretty much everything I know to do. I was thinking maybe it was advancing too much on a pull or maybe the carb is falling on its face under load. I know alot of ppl dont like this distributor set up.

Its my dads car I built for him and he just got diagnosed with cancer that has spread and Im just wanting to let him get a little enjoyment from it while he can. But i have been beating myself up over this thing feeling guilty because I cant get it figured out. I have read these forums and just joined up. I own fords but am one of those bowtie guys. Im sorry if I did anything wrong posting, I appreciate any help you guys can give me.
 
sometimes you can mask lean/fuel flow issues by pulling out the choke

you can take off each sparkplug wire making note of how long of a spark is made at each plug, and the color of the spark ----compare when cold----hot ----looking for weak spark to one or all cylinders, going away hot evenly could be coil or condenser----on just one or several cylinders--look at cap wires
 
What do you mean "UP TOP" with the distributor?
How was the timing set? If you mean that you have the distributor from a 49-53 Ford/Merc on the 59 series engine, those distributors have a different vacuum requirement then the earlier distributors. I think you might need to use the carb or manifold that is the same year as the distributor if it is the later distributor that is up on the front passenger side head.
 
how about a picture under the hood so we can better help you. We want your Dad to have the most fun possible and for you not to feel guilty--we on this board can help
 
Miner said:
... I have been beating myself up over this thing feeling guilty because I cant get it figured out.
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Welcome Miner! You need a helping hand. Where you at? Someone needs to stop by and listen, smell, and feel what's going on.

Put your location in your profile for a start.
 
Thanks, I live in Airville, Pennsylvania. The timing I have moved multiple times I set it with a digital dial timing light. The lower pulley has 4 grooves on it and the a single groove about a quarter way around. I will get some pictures when I get back to his place tomorrow. This is a picture from when we were putting it in not recently.
 

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ck your float level, sounds like you may be running out of fuel. also check the ground wire inside the dist. when the advance plate moves, it could possibly be loosing it ground. just a thought. hard to tell with out being there.
 
Thanks, I already checked the grounds and wires in distributor. Im leaning towards fuel also. My dad knew these cars well but he just turned 79 and he has lost alot of his memory on this car stuff. He can tell me where he was June 10th 1953 at 10 pm though lol. But this all started when he burnt a set of points. I think he forgot to turn off ignition. Prior to this the car ran fine except an off idle stumble and would climb temperature but he forgot to take a cardboard out from from of radiatior before putting cover on . So we never overheated it but couldnt figure out why temp was creeping. So we left it over winter after i got points and condensor put in it we just started it and I hadnt driven it up hill or a load.

Then this year he got this diagnosis and I tried to figure out what was going on I went over and saw rad was covered fixed the temp issue obviously. So the only issue concerning me was carb had a stumble off idle, (he lives on a hill with a curb and traffic flies around his driveway I actually got ran over getting off the school bus there at 13 and was medi vac to shock trauma and was on life support etc.) I was afraid it would stumble and he would get hit pulling out so I ordered a kit and redone it per the kit instructions the carb starts and idles fine and revs good, I got it at speedway thinking it would be a good kit but soon found it was lacking in the high end stuff that Im used to with newer holleys.

I appreciate everyone here for the input. This seems like a great place, I tried to search forums for couple weeks prior to posting to look for a similar problem but didnt have luck. So I figured I'd post. I was a little worried because on some forums the new guys get eaten alive by people lol. I lost my mentor 2 years back who learnt me Model T stuff and flathead rebuilds but never got to the distributor and carb lessons, so this will be nice to get to know you guys and gals I assume gals are on here as well over the years.
 
Sounds like it could be the accelerator pump in the carb. Look down the carb while pushing the throttle to see if you get a good shot out of the 2 pump nozzles.
 
Since it´s a 8BA/59AB hybrid start by checking the basics...do the vacuum line from the distributor go to the carburetor and not to the manifold ?
Is the diapragm in the distributor working as it should or is it broken ?
After that set/check ignition timing...when above is done you can start working on the fuel part...
If the ignition was left on frying the points the coil may have been damaged to...
 
Any of you guys have an advance diaphragm go?? I have and the engine runs fine but the tell tale clue is it will be an astronomical pig on fuel. Don't forget if you are totally floored with the engine flat out on a full load up a hill how high is your engine vacuum? Half the square root of bugger all and watching your vacuum wipers die if you don't have a dual vacuum/fuel pump indicates this! Throw that out and my father used to have a 59 Ford Galaxie that if you accelerated it would start bucking and losing power. He was convinced it was the carburetor which many blame. I did a quick swap of the carburetor to make him happy and it didn't help. When all was said and done I discovered that when the distributor plate would rotate for advance the points would slightly shift and start misfiring. Another gremlin that the others mentioned is the ground but of course there is also the wire from the coil primary terminal to the points as well that can be defective. How many of us had crap in the tank that would let the engine run fine at idle or cruising but under load where more fuel was required would leave the engine gasping after a bit. As for the 59 Ford I got my father to put it in drive with his foot hard on the brake and open the throttle while I had a timing light on it and during the severe stumbling my timing light started flashing all haywire indicating an intermittent ignition problem leading me to look at the ground, coil primary wire terminal to ignition points wire and of course ignition points. Even a bad condenser will lead you down the wrong path. I had an LTD that left me on the side of the road. I had gas, spark and after 5 or less minutes the engine would die. The only way I discovered that problem was even though I had spark and fuel I noticed excessive arching at the points while cranking the engine over on the starter with the distributor cap off! It was off because I suspected a bad cap or rotor. Yes the fried coil from the key being left on is also a great suggestion or even a defective coil in general. Ignition missing on acceleration is common when there is a bad ignition wire.
 
The carb and distributor need to be the correct type to work together. If you didn't know, that distributor is off the 8BA type of engine, 48/49 up to 53/54. The carb should have a port on the side for the vac advance tube, and a special valve in the base part. It would be worth attaching a tube to the vac can on the carb and sucking on it to check it is working. that is all that distributor has, there is no mechanical advance.

Best wishes to you and your dad.

Mart.
 
When the stumble, coughing, erratic operation, begins try adding some choke and see if the engine responds favorably.
 
It appears that there is an adjustable pressure regulator between the carb and the fuel pump. Remove the adjustable regulator. It is not needed and I have had a couple of those type give the same symptoms you are experiencing.
 
56markII said:
Any of you guys have an advance diaphragm go?? I have and the engine runs fine but the tell tale clue is it will be an astronomical pig on fuel. Don't forget if you are totally floored with the engine flat out on a full load up a hill how high is your engine vacuum? Half the square root of bugger all and watching your vacuum wipers die if you don't have a dual vacuum/fuel pump indicates this! Throw that out and my father used to have a 59 Ford Galaxie that if you accelerated it would start bucking and losing power. He was convinced it was the carburetor which many blame. I did a quick swap of the carburetor to make him happy and it didn't help. When all was said and done I discovered that when the distributor plate would rotate for advance the points would slightly shift and start misfiring. Another gremlin that the others mentioned is the ground but of course there is also the wire from the coil primary terminal to the points as well that can be defective. How many of us had crap in the tank that would let the engine run fine at idle or cruising but under load where more fuel was required would leave the engine gasping after a bit. As for the 59 Ford I got my father to put it in drive with his foot hard on the brake and open the throttle while I had a timing light on it and during the severe stumbling my timing light started flashing all haywire indicating an intermittent ignition problem leading me to look at the ground, coil primary wire terminal to ignition points wire and of course ignition points. Even a bad condenser will lead you down the wrong path. I had an LTD that left me on the side of the road. I had gas, spark and after 5 or less minutes the engine would die. The only way I discovered that problem was even though I had spark and fuel I noticed excessive arching at the points while cranking the engine over on the starter with the distributor cap off! It was off because I suspected a bad cap or rotor. Yes the fried coil from the key being left on is also a great suggestion or even a defective coil in general. Ignition missing on acceleration is common when there is a bad ignition wire.
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A clue is that the problem started after leaving the key on and frying the points. I would definitely try a new coil, the old one would have gotten real hot when the key was left on with the points closed.
 
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