Need help 144 tune and questions

falcon_master

Well-known member
Hey everyone long time since last post. Been quite busy. Hoping to get back to my old bird sometime soon. But I heard some stuff that’s really got me creeped out. I absolutely love my old bird (my dodge friend calls it a piece of shit and it can’t do off-road I disagree well found out later). But I heard in a crash I will probably get impaled by the steering column and the fuel tank has a bad chance of rupturing in the rear and igniting, these are big concerns to me, while I don’t expect it to be super safe I don’t want to be a human kabob on a steering column from a crash or to be char broiled from a rear end collision. Any advice on how safe these birds are. Thanks. Now to the real topic my 144 is kinda being a picky girl right now. She runs great at startup and idle but really lugs and hesitates once you get past like 1/4 throttle range or when you hammer it while in 3rd gear, it just grunts a lot but doesn’t really move the car much faster and kinda starts coughing any ideas? And how capable are these on un paved roads, cars beat up already I want to try some light duty trails with it way I see it its a very light vehicle with good torque and low gears and decent ground clearance, people used to go to campsites in these things why can’t I off-road it a bit. Thanks guys
Jarod
 
Howdy Jarod;

Welcome back. Safety first. Your are right. The steering shaft is dangerous. I considered changing to a '67 and later shaft but got side tracked and never did it. I did buy and install a deep dish steering wheel which will collapse and cushion the shaft a little. I also redid the front brakes including the flex hose and installed a three point seat/shoulder belt. The other thing I remind myself to do is to stay back in traffic situations. The bottom line is that if you are in a head on collision you are in trouble- as you would be in most vehicles.

On off-roading, 1st thing is tires and wheels. Taller and thinner, but with a heavier casing. I couldn't tell from the photo what wheels you currently have. After that would be suspension with increased lift with shocks to match.

At the least I'd protect the bottom of the engine with a belly bar- standard on SWs and Rancheros. Both the engine pan and steering cross links are vulnerable.

On the power ignition and carb upgrades are easy and rewarding. I'm assuming that you have the stock Load-o-Matic ignition and 1100 Autolite. 1st make sure that your initial advance is 5 degrees more than stock setting. Another 1st is to make sure that your linkage is tight. Does pressing the foot feed to the floor equal wide open throttle at the carb. If not a simple adjustment will be miraculous.

If you are still running the stock carb and distributor you have several options. Upgrading to an Autolite 1100 from a 170 engine will increase cfm from 130 to 156. It will be compatible with your distributor and a direct bolt-on.

That should get you started. In the meantime, let us know what you are working with, engine wise.

Adios, David
 
Thanks for the reply, (pardon my language in the first post frustrated lol I’m sorry). I am getting three point seatbelts for the car it has all new brake components, hoses,shoes,hardware drums were turned and new dual resivour MC. And I’m not planning on dedicating this bird to off road but just curious as to what I can do, I’m just tired of getting crap from everyone on how useless and unsafe it is, I’m also looking into late 70s early 80s ford trucks for better safety and usability but they have much lower MPG and I like my 6 cyl. I just don’t want to be scared I have 3 time the chance of dying than I do in a pickup or something because ford was cheap. I don’t have 1k to sink into just safety upgrades either. Idk. Defensive driving is always a good tactic. Just your guys opinion is this girl worth my time or is it not safe enough. Thanks. Even if I do get a pickup I would still keep this bird. I love the smoothness and fuel economy of it. Just need to know it’s not an absolute death trap to drive as for the engine I have the stock 144 with great compression all cylinders lowest being 135 and the stock carb and dizzy. It has a pertronix ignitor on it and new plug wires and coil and plugs. Carb was rebuilt new SCV and basic tune up on it.
 
"...it’s not an absolute death trap..."
How long were they manufactured/on the roads? A long time
How many died in them? Statistically (& in gross numbers) not many.

R new cars safer? Yes.
These guys just wanna 'get it over U" as most block heads do ("Mine's -better, bigger, faster- than yours. U suck") forget it. Do the upgrades/mods U want. Move forward. U will know for ur own self what's real & what's bluster.
"...getting crap from everyone..." better get used to it, it seems to never end (I C it world wide, still become the brunt of it myself, no biggie).

"...Defensive driving is always a good tactic...." That is a mouth full. There is an unbelievably long list of pointers here. Most of those for safety R also good 4 MPGs. Laugh in their faces w/the reality of ur benefit here. Some of them will die (thru disregard of this) even in their "better cars".

"...Even if I do get a pickup I would still keep..."
I like the idea of the truck to swap off with. Depending on specific personal factors - Y not 4WD?
This is how I go along. (No wonder I like the idea). The bronk for back up DD & "wrk" (on & off rd) and another econo box for more full X DD.
Wish I'd found a '73/7 F250 short bd step side (back at the time). I'd make sure it had the 300/4.9 and either the NP435 or AOD again, depending..."the diesel that's a gasser".
 
I mean these arent the safest cars but I drive around and don't worry about it in my 65 Ranchero, but i guess you have a fear of death lol. Im still driving on the single res MC. I will be going to a dual res, power brake, V8 disks in the front eventually but i gotta have money. I just redid the whole entire brake system 2 years ago and need a little more mileage out of it to justify redoing it.

On your power thing, you realize you have the weakest OHV L6 Ford made, right? It wont be a powerhouse but it'll get you down the road. A couple of ways to increase power would be to up the timing a hair, to at least 5 higher than stock, so about 11-12 BTDC. Then look at the carb, you might've rebuilt it properly, but it doesn't flow well and aint made to make you power. Try looking for a 170 1100 and just take the gaskets out of yours and slap it in the 170 one. I did that with a Holley 1904 once since the original one had a warped/cracked bowl, no issues on the slightly used gaskets. You can also look into getting a larger later head for your car which will up flow, MPG, and power.

I constantly get crap from my family and friends about how fuel inefficient, unsafe, "slow", and problematic the Ranch is. But i also remember that my car will be worth more than all of theirs in 10 years and will probably never die. I like my 20mpg and being able to fix almost anything on the car with a small 9 piece socket set and wrench set. I like how i can literally replace anything in no time at all compared to their new crap.

Good luck
Ryan
 

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Spear of Death steering column is on the side of a myth.

Drum brakes work, and have stopped millions and millions of cars and trucks.

Just as points and condenser ignition has started millions and millions and millions of motors. When you throw in lawn mowers, and every other points ignition small motors, mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, chainsaws, weed eaters, etc. Sure new ones are electronic ignition now, but millions before were points.

When someone tells me to "put a V8 in it", give me $20k and you can put what ever the H-E-L-L you want to in it, but MY car has a straight 6.

Fuel inefficient? Hardly. I've hit 26 MPG on the highway. Ask me about a 4-banger '96 ranger that gets 18MPG.

Everyone leaves a stop light at 5000 r.p.m. right?

For the cost of a ECU of many new cars, we can rebuild our entire engines.

I've gone 'wireless' on my engine bay, I have 5 electrical wires to the engine. Starter cable, one-wire alternator, temp sensor, distributor, tachometer, mechanical oil pressure. Voltage regulator eliminated, starter solenoid under the dash, headlight wiring run inside fenders, battery tucked under bed panel, battery tray stamping removed from fender apron. Try removing one wire from a new car.

WOW you can change the color of the dash lighting? Nifty........not.

Oh, you payed $50k for that, and you might own it in 5 years if you don't miss a payment? And that $50k thing will be worth how much in 5 years? And in 50 years NO ONE will be rebuilding it, or remember it was even ever made.
 
Hi, check your Pertonix Ignitor. I believe they need 12 volts to work to the full potential. I also feel you should use their Blaster coil. The ignition parts work better together.
You should open up the gap of the spark plugs to @ .040 or .045 with electronic ignition. I like original style Motorcraft spark plugs, not modern platinum or anything like that.
As mentioned, advance the timing and make sure the gas pedal opens the throttle all the way.
And make sure the choke is open all the way when the engine is warmed up. The choke should be held open, not flopping around.
post if it gets better or not. Good luck
 
Thanks for the replies everybody I appreciate it. I do feel more comfortable about it now. To me I love this thing because it unique, simple and reliable. To me 19-20 mpg in the city with a 144 is awesome as most of my friends and neighbors v8s only get 10-14 max and aren’t always reliable. I guess you all are right I just got a bit freaked out is all lol. But yeah. I’m still looking into like a sixth gen ford pickup or 70s or 80s cheap dodge or ford truck with a manual transmission so I can have both worlds. A fuel efficient i6 small easy to drive car or the more powerful less efficient but more safe pickup truck when I want, if I end up finding a 6 cyl truck that’s cool but so far I haven’t seen any in my price range. But no matter what I will still keep working on my bird not giving up. Thanks everyone.
 
Just to recap, you stomp on the throttle your cars makes some noise but doesn't seem to accelerate or go anywhere? Are the RPM raising like normal, are they steady? Correctly tuning your carb and double checking all your varibles, timing, thermostat, spark plug gap & condition, spark intensity, full voltage to coil & pertronix, linkage adjustment, fuel pressure and flow, valve lash, compression. All of these and even some others that are hard to test all play a role in how the engine performs, making sure that all are within spec is important and can make a huge difference to not only performance but also driveability of the vehicle. By far the most tricky is carb tuning, with a good vacuum gauge and some patience you can get your idle setup just perfect between the idle adjustment screws and the throttle stop. The hard part is tuning the carb for down the road driving, the old school way is to check plugs, which will get you close but isnt exact. The "proper" way to do it is to run an Air/Fuel ratio gauge. This will give you a precise number to tell you if your running rich or lean and allow you to see the system even as you drive down the road. Its the cheat for carb tuning. After getting all that optimized i think most would be surprised at the power these engines make, given what they are, a nearly 60 year old design engine.
 
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