how do i get more power from my 200ci?

[random hero]

i own a 200ci and the power in it is sad...very sad, i want to get more power from it for a fairly low price, i was thinking a cam, anything else that is around 100 or so dollars that will increase it's performance noticeably?

 

[fordconvert]

Do you have some sort of electronic ignition?

Recurve on the dizzy?
Carb properly set up and tuned?

$100 is olny good for a major tune up.

 

[JackFish]

For around $2 or $3 you can get a set of replacement distributor springs.
Replacing the heavier of the two springs in my dizzy seemed to allow the engine to rev up much easier.
Not sure which carb you have but you might be able to tweak it a bit as well.
Another thing you can do is advance the timing to 10° or 12°.

 

[Crosley]

Turbo.

:checks:

 

[gtm1086]

Well a little more information is needed. What year are you working with and what type of car.

$100 bucks doesn't go very far. A good tune up will help. Other things to consider. If you don't have electronic ignition you may want to update to a Dura Spark two unit. You can get most of the parts from a junk yard for under $100.00. You may also want to look at updating the carburator to either a larger one barrel or a two barrel holley or webber. You can also add a header or a cam but they are more than $100

Check out clasic inlines for parts ideas http://199.237.200.141/

You may also want to purchase a great hand book http://199.237.200.141/proddetail.asp?prod=FSP-200-FSH

 

[Mercury Mike]

jackfish, where do I get replacement distributor springs?

 

[Bort62]

jackfish, where do I get replacement distributor springs?

summit.

 

[Mercury Mike]

do you know the part #?

 

[Anonymous]

If you just pull one distributor spring (try pulling each one to see which works best for you) and then set the timing so it's total at 3000 RPM is about 34 degrees, that will get you really close.

You can get a Duraspark distributor from any 1975 or later 200 in the wrecking yard for a lot less that $100. I'm thinking about $20 for the ditributor, harness, six wires, and "box". It has so much more spark than points, its not funny.

Also, see if you can scrounge a mid-70's carb from a 300 cube pick-up engine. That should help a bit, too.

 

[Anonymous]

While youre at the junkyard scrounging parts, pick up a couple of aircleaners that have the same snorkles and fab yourself a cold air kit.

You should be able to pick up all the parts and a new K&N filter for around $60.00

Later,

Doug

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Back Random Hero and All:

It is, at best, a shot in the dark to try to give you advice without more complete information on what you are working with. Some of the general advices may or may not be of use to you. For example, if you have a Load-O-Matic distributor, changing advance return springs will not help performance and may actually hurt the balance between carb, vacuum load and ignition advance. If you have a '68 or later ignition system, the vacuum return springs are located under the advance/stator plate, making this a more difficult job.

So, please, how about some information about what you are working with. Info such as year? trans type? any modifications? State of tune and condition of engine? How mechanically inclined are you? Help available? Tools available?

$100 is somewhat limiting, but it is surprizing what a good performance tune up and carb rebuild can do. Once you've achieved that consider-

*Converting to an electronic ignition of some kind. Cheapest may be a junkyard Duraspark II system from a '75 and later donor FoMoCo vehicle. Be sure to get all the parts of the system; distributor, module, coil, plug wires and harness. Easiest may be a PetroniX Ignitor. This is especially true if you have a Load-O-Matic distributor and the corresponding Spark Control Valve in the carb.

*Under all circumstances open the spark plug gap from stock OEM specs of .035" to .040", and increase the initial advance by an additional 5 degrees over stock specs.

Hope to hear from you will more info on your ride.

Adios, David

 

[random hero]

Howdy Back Random Hero and All:

It is, at best, a shot in the dark to try to give you advice without more complete information on what you are working with. Some of the general advices may or may not be of use to you. For example, if you have a Load-O-Matic distributor, changing advance return springs will not help performance and may actually hurt the balance between carb, vacuum load and ignition advance. If you have a '68 or later ignition system, the vacuum return springs are located under the advance/stator plate, making this a more difficult job.

So, please, how about some information about what you are working with. Info such as year? trans type? any modifications? State of tune and condition of engine? How mechanically inclined are you? Help available? Tools available?

$100 is somewhat limiting, but it is surprizing what a good performance tune up and carb rebuild can do. Once you've achieved that consider-

*Converting to an electronic ignition of some kind. Cheapest may be a junkyard Duraspark II system from a '75 and later donor FoMoCo vehicle. Be sure to get all the parts of the system; distributor, module, coil, plug wires and harness. Easiest may be a PetroniX Ignitor. This is especially true if you have a Load-O-Matic distributor and the corresponding Spark Control Valve in the carb.

*Under all circumstances open the spark plug gap from stock OEM specs of .035" to .040", and increase the initial advance by an additional 5 degrees over stock specs.

Hope to hear from you will more info on your ride.

Adios, David

wow...sorry about that, i completely forgot to put what car...it's a 1972 ford maverick, it has 81k...possibly 181k or even 281k..(odometer only goes up to 99,999) the carb definetly needs to be tuned/rebuilt, maybe a new one. it's all stock. the plugs are disgusting(the engine is running rich). what about the exhaust...would a hole hinder performance?

 

[fordconvert]

If you can/ want to do the work yourself pick up a real ford shop manual (not one of the haynes 1950-1999 all fords with round wheels books). Get a carb rebuild kit $15-40 depending on model. Do a complete 'tune up' and see where you stand. A well tuned stock 6 has plenty of power to get around town. You aint gonna be doing burnouts and you aint going to be doing much passing on the hiway at 70mph, but for normal around town driving they are pretty good, better than the average 4 banger cars most people drive. The only decision you sort of have to make now before you do the tune up is if you are going to upgrade to a DS2 because the wires, cap, and rotor are differnt unless you use the '74 cap then the wires are the same. There are topics at the top of this fourm about DSII upgrades you should read that tell you what is involved.

I would rebuild the carb first and throw in some new plugs and see how she runs, who knows you may be looking at a total rebuild.

As for the exhaust leak question on the 200's I would think that the only way you would loose power is if you had nothing after the exhaust manifold otherwise it shouldnt hurt much to have a few leaks here and there, a restriction on the other hand would be a big problem, bent pipe, critter nest, ect.....

Also if the car has been sitting for a while get it running decent and drive it, keep an eye on the oil and such. I just bought a 78 caddy that had been sitting for 11 years, when I first got it on the road (carb rebuild and complete brake job) it had no power (425cuin/7.0 L) so I began thinking of all the things I could do to get mor eout of it.... well after about 500 miles and 4 oil changes (and counting) the thing has decent power and runs well.
I guess it just took time to get some of the goo out and the rings reseated and such.

Also make sure your brakes and steering are in top condition before you worry about the engine.... no point in going fast if you cant stop or steer!!! Brake parts are CHEAP for those cars so dont take chances on stuff like the rubber lines.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Back All:

Thanks for narrowing the hunt, Random Hero. With a '72 you have a good point distributor with both vacuum and centrifugal advance. Either of the distributor upgrade options I listed earlier will work just fine for you. Under any circumstances you should start with a basic electrical tune-up, unless you plan to upgrade to a DSII ignition system. The cheap way is to scrounge the local junk yard/recycler. Look for a donor that has been rearended. If you can, disassemble the parts yourself. Leave the electrical harness intact. Take the sparkplugs while your at it. Once out, take it all home and clean it thoroughly. Check the distributor shaft for tightness. I'd be suspect of any side-to-side wobble. I've never paid more than $40 for the whole shebang. That will include the whole distributor, module, coil, harness, plug wires and plugs.

Be sure to check the vacuum hose from the carb to the outer nipple on the vacuum canister for no leaks.

If your Maverick is a auto trans the carb may be good for a rebuild with that many miles on it. If it's a stick, check out the throttle shaft for excessive wear before deciding to rebuild. In either case your stock Carter YF is a good, easily rebuilt and tuned carb. They are good for about 5,000 miles before the accelerator pump function begins to show wear. That's assuming good clean filters and an annual spray down with carb cleaner. If the car has sat for a long period a rebuild is more than likely needed. A YF from a 300 six has slightly more cfm than your 200s. 185 cfm for the 200 and IIRC the 300 YF is rated at 195 cfm for a pretty easy straight forward bolt-on.

I will repeat fordconvert's advice to buy a shop manual for your vehicle. They run about $50 and should be your 1st do-it-yourself step to basic maintainance and performance.

While an exhaust leak may not hurt performance it will be bad for your health. If you need to redo the exhaust it is an excellent time to upgrade the exhaust system to a 2" pipe and a turbo type muffler. This is best done by a shop and typically costs about $140 in my locale. A 2" system will be a good foundation for whatever else you plan to do in the future.

The other side of increasing performance is lightening your load. Don't carry around anything you don't really need.

Keep us updated you your progress.

Adios, David

 

[fordconvert]

Good point about the health issues on the leaky exhaust, especially if you are in a climate where you are not running with the windows down all the time. Im not sure about the Mav's but for the Stang's I was able to get a complete system manifold-tailpipe for around $350. I spend 2 weeks trying to patch up the old system and thought about something custom but at the time I had not driven the car more than around the block and didnt know what else I was in for so I went with the cheap easy bolt in stock stuff, Im sure it will rot out in a few years but by that time I will have the other stuff done or will have moved on to another car. My stang had been sitting for only 3 years and the reason the guy quit driving the car was, 'motor was blown or something cuz it dont run for crap' After I got it home first thing I did was got a carb rebuild kit, new plugs,and the portable fuel tank out of my boat. After getting it to run and off the trailer I found that the exhaust manifold had cracked in the middle near the choke tube. The crack caused extra air to get in the rich exhaust stream and made things real hot and ate the stove thing for the choke out so the choke was sucking exhaust, this really screwed up the choke to the point it was always on which was trashing the plugs in fairly short order and making the car run like total crap. Im supprised it ran at all. After working step by step on the basics like BRAKES I got it on the road and just like the Cadillac after 500 miles or so and a few tanks of gas she is running pretty good.

 

[LaGrasta]

For that little, the best you can do is be sure what you have is running in top order. Forget about any upgrades as you won't have enough money to do any.
Spend some on the book, http://falconperformance.sundog.net/. This will help ensure what you have is running in top order as well as give you future direction.
Spend the rest on tuneup parts. When you finally get some more money, upgrade the ignition to electronic, it's easy, cost just over $100 (JCWhitney for Pertronix) and will absolutely make you smile when you hit the key after your intall. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[random hero]

wow the info you guys have given me is fantastic, i could not have asked for more, as for the brakes, they work great even for non-power, the steering is non-power also and works decent(a little play in the steeing wheel but nothing to bad...my 2000 silverado is a bit better and thats with power steering)