duraspark vacume advance

[iceman]

I have a stock 144 that i adapted a duraspark distributor to. I am running power brakes off of the manifold vac. port through the 2 stage fuel pump. also i am running wipers off of the same tap. I plugged the old vac. tap on the carb. and am drawing my dist. vac off of the vac. tap at the bottom of the carb. I rebuilt the carb in the same proccess. I have not set the timing yet except by ear. when i blip the throttle the engin hesitates just like the accelerator pump does not work.
Here is my questions; 1. did i tap my vac for the distributor from the right spot? 2. do I set initial timing with or without the vac line hooked up? 3. what do you guys reccommend for initial timing?
Thanks in advance for any opinions/ advice anyone can give me

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy back Iceman:

What Carb are you using on this engine? Typically, the DS II distributor vacuum advance is designed for use with a ported vacuum source, which is located higher on the carb. I am not aware of a stock carb on a 144 designed with a ported vacuum advance source. All 144 Holley carbs that I can think of were designed with a SCV.

No, set the initial advance with the vacuum line disconnected and plugged. From the description it is likely that you need more initial advance than you got by setting it by ear, but, if you're using a manifold vacuum source for vacuum advance you will likely need less initial advance for fear of having too much advance at cruising speeds. The DS II vacuum advance is designed for little or no advance at idle and high vacuum cruise, which leaves room for more initial advance at those conditions.

What trans are you using? manual or auto? With a manual trans, look for 6 to 10 degrees of initial. With an auto trans, 8 to 12 should get you in the ballpark. The range is to take into account for the elevation where you are, engine condition, and climate. When you check the initial advance please note the timing as it is, as a baseline. What do the spark plugs look like?

What did you do to adapt the DS II to your 144 engine? Please share.

Adios, David

 

[iceman]

my engine had the vac. only distributor I am assuming it drew off of the SCV. I believe that the carb is a holley I don't remember what kit I bought but I remember it wasn't the carb called for in the parts house ie. it called for a holley and I had an autolite or vica versa. It is smaller than the 170 carb. Can I assume the duraspark will work with the vac. off of the carb base the way you said?
In order to install a duraspark all I did was remove the pan buy a late model oil pump and drive shaft then ream the hole in the block with an expansion reamer to the later model year size. I have good oil pressure and no strange noises. I had to make the change as I put in a MII crossmember and needed a rear sump oil pan. the hardest part ws I needed to move the dipstick as the original won't work with a rear pan. what I did was bought the longest dip stick I could find drill a hole in a block of steel cut the block on a diagonal and attacg it to the block with PC-7 and a screw at a spot with suitable clearance fron the crank. then I filled the oil to 4 quarts and cut the dipstick down until I got a good spot then crimped the dip stick to put a mark in it. then I added another quart of oil and crimped the stick again for full.
I am running a t-5 out of a 2.3 l. mustang and a cable clutch. the clutch is the last hurdle I am working on the right ratio.
If I had to do it over again I would not use the cable set up as the clutch pressure is less than the power brake effort.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Back:

Q- "Can I assume the duraspark will work with the vac. off of the carb base the way you said?"
A- yes. But do it with caution. Take a look at your spark plugs after an extended cruise at highway speeds for signs of high heat; glazing or peppering. If you see these symptoms, reduce total advance, by reducing the initial advance setting (easiest), the amount of vacuum advance, or the amount of centrifugal advance, or a combination of all. This isn't as much of a problem at idle, another high vacuum condition, because only the vacuum advance is kicked in. But at highway cruise speeds at near 3,000 rpm, both vacuum and mechanical, as well as initial advance are all present.

Glazing is a shiny coating on the ceramic part of the plug tip. Peppering is tiny pepper like black flakes appear on the ceramic part of the spark plug tip. both are indications of high heat in the combustion chamber.

Did you check you current initial advance setting yet? That's the place to start.

Thanks for your description of how you went about adapting the DS II to your early 144 engine.

What is the year of your engine? The stock OEM carbs were. 1960 - Holley #1904, 1961 - Holley #1908, (The '60 & '61 carbs were the highly desirable glass bowled type) 1962 - Holley #1909. For the '63 & '64 144s the stock carb was an Autolite 1100.

Adios, David

 

[iceman]

my car is a low mileage (76000) 1961. The carb I found out was holley 1909 Which surprised me at the time. The car when I bought it had gone through a string of owners but was very clean original and well cared for car. This led me to assume that the carb would be original or a rebuilt original it even had the tin toe tag on the carb yet. in order to rebuild it I looked at a lot of pictures from various years at the autozone, advanced and rock auto web sites until i got the right kit.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Back Iceman:

The Holley #1909 carb is a rather rare piece in that it was only used in 1962 on 144 and 170 engines. It also saw use on some AMC engines. The Holley #1904 & 1908 were cfm rated @ 130 and 150 respectively. The #1909 was rated at 125 and 150. All were fitted with a Spark control Valve for the Load-O-Matic (L-o-M) distributors.

If you are interested is searching for an appropriate carb without SCV, but with a ported vacuum source which would be compatible with your new ignition, I suggest an Autolite 1100 from a 1968 or 1969 200. These carbs were down-sized From 185 to 156 cfm and the SCV replaced with a ported vacuum source. The increase of 30 cfm over the #1909 will give a noticeable increase in power, but should not hurt MPG if driven conservatively. Linkage should be a close match to what you have.

Any news on the initial advance setting?

Adios, David

 

[iceman]

Sorry I took so long to get back. No I did not try to time the engine yet. I found out my timing light was bad and did not get to harbor freight yet to replace it. I am hoping to do that this weekend. A couple of questions 1) is it ok that I plugged the SCV and 2) If I went to the Autolite 1100 do I need the smaller cfm or wont it matter? Thanks for your interest and support

 

[iceman]

Sorry I reread your posting after writing my reply. I understand that the carb you recommended is the smaller size and that it will have the proper advance circut for my app. Years ago when I bought the car the guy threw in ta 170 head and recommended installing it on the motor as it would increase power. I was happy with what I had and was building the car for economy so at some point I think i scrapped it. I did save the carb and i did notice it was larger and I believe the hole in the manifold was larger on the 170 too. When i get a chance I will go dig out the carb and get the model # off of it. that maybe the one I need. Also I always hated buying rebuilt carbs in the past as the reason to trade your carb in instead of rebuilding it was it was shot. I was wondering do you have any experience with 1100 rebuilts?

 

[CZLN6]

HOWDY BACK

1) "is it ok that I plugged the SCV and?"
A- Yes, You could plug the scv and use a manifold vacuum source as we've previously discussed.


2) If I went to the Autolite 1100 do I need the smaller cfm or wont it matter?
A- The '68 & '69 1100 on 200 engines in those years had a down sized carb as compared to earlier 200 1100s. At 156 cfm it will be about ideal for your situation. It will be slightly larger flow that a stock #1909 Holley.


Q- I was wondering do you have any experience with 1100 rebuilts?
A- Yes, but none that I've ever purchased. I've worked on rebuilt carbs that others have purchased as a quick and easy solution, that did not work as planned. Some were missing parts such as gaskets and check balls, one had mismatched parts. All were in various shades of dirty. and some had stripped threads. Mind you, I've only seen problem rebuilt carbs. I'm sure that many worked as planned. We typically buy good cores and rebuild them ourselves. A kit is about $25.00 and the rebuild process is pretty easy on Autolites of this period. Make sure you start with a good core; no stripped threads, no missing parts, and tight throttle shaft.

Check out the 170 carb, but likely it will be the SCV type too. It may not be what you want, but it will be tradeable to get what you want.

Adios, David

 

[bmbm40]

I like what you are doing with your 144, DSII and a t5, a first as far as I know. It should enhance the driving experience with the t5 ratios and the DS should add some power. I always liked the column shift but the three speed trans was just barely adequate in my opinion. With a five speed you will always have the gear you need.

 

[iceman]

update. I got to harbor frieght and bought a timing light the other night. I set the timing to 10 btc. and the throttle responce is great. I did not get to take it around the block yet because of the rain (I don't have wipers on the car yet) and I've been working 12 hour days. I am sure though that this fixed my problems. Now all I need to do is to find time to finish up some other little kinks and I'll finally see it on the road again after 12 yrs of farting around. There is only about 16 hours of work needed but I have a lot of priority jobs in front of the Falcon. Thanks for your help. I do think I am going to watch for a 68, 69 carb though especially after reading AK Miller's article on his experiences with the mustang six. I am starting to think that more hp might not be counter to more MPG. Thanks again for your help.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Iceman:

Sounds good. I disremember where you are, but rain without wipers is not a good combo. I've been using RainX regularly, even with working wipers.

Did you ever find the carb that came with the 170 head? Now that you've got the distributor in the ball park, it's time to whip out the vacuum gauge to set the low speed air screw on the carb to highest vacuum possible. That will also help mileage and power. Keep us posted on your progress.

Adios, David