1963 170 hesitation issues

I cannot attest that the block is a 63. I was told it was original to the vehicle but that could be misinformation. I do not have a road draft tube. The SCV was replaced when I rebuilt the carburetor. I guess it is a possibility that it was bad from the start. Sounds like to move any further I need to find me a dwell meter.....
 
The block number is on the passenger side of the block, just below the exhaust manifold.

'63 block # will start with C3. C4 for '64, C5 for '65, and so on. Same for the head casting #.

D first is 70's, E is 80's.

Looks like you have a later exhaust manifold with that crimped over emissions pipe.

I have no idea if there are differences in the Autolite 1100 carbs for road draft vs. PVC setups.

Don't know if this may be an issue caused by the power vent rod being removed from your carb with the hole for it plugged.
 
"...The SCV was replaced when I rebuilt the carburetor...."
& the dizzy still LOM?
 
Ok the SCV was replaced. Do you know at what RPM the idle is set at? If not that's another good reason for finding a Tach / Dwell meter. Good luck (y) :nod:

Chad yes his 170 still has a Load O Matic distrib. it's shown clearly in the OP's pictures posted above! :nod:
 
bubba22349":1adi5f0n said:
Ok the SCV was replaced. Do you know at what RPM the idle is set at? If not that's another good reason for finding a Tach / Dwell meter. Good luck (y) :nod:

Chad yes his 170 still has a Load O Matic distrib. it's shown clearly in the OP's pictures posted above! :nod:

I don't have a tach, I'm going to guess that I'm close though. I did set the idle in drive with the e-brake on. I was really close with the timing by ear so I'm going to say I'm probably pretty close with the idle. Not that I won't check it when I get there, just thinking out loud.

As far as that exhaust manifold goes it does not look original to the engine. I can tell you that I have a block that only has the three freeze plugs so I know it's a four main bearing block. I thought about upgrading in the future to a newer 200 block so I could upgrade the distributor. But that has no affect on today. Next step is tracking down that tach/dwell meter....
 
Finally got the dwell set, went through all of the suggested tuneup instructions in order as talked about. In the end the dwell made a huge difference and I was able to time the engine near factory specs without it dying but it still wasn't correct. I was able to observe the timing advance from around 16 to near 30 though, that just lets me know the diaphragm wasn't bad out of the box. In the end I had to hook the vacuum gauge back up and advance it to where it was previously. I still need to purchase a T to hook the vacuum gauge inline with the PCV valve and purchase a new PCV. I will probably do that this weekend. Things have been cold here so working on the car after dark has not been something I've been wanting to do. I guess with my experience with a points ignition shows through. I didn't think setting the dwell would have such an affect. Points ended up gapped at .023 in order to get the correct dwell. Initial timing is set near 25-30* still. Not sure what pinging or detonation sounds like but with the timing set there she pulls strong when the RPM's jump up but from a stop slow acceleration still has hesitation. I've read about plugs being too cold or hot, how would I assess whether that could be a contributing factor? Thinking about pulling the carb back apart and seeing if I missed something also. I was pretty thorough when I rebuilt it though. I'll start with the PCV and go from there.....
 
You won't get an accurate vacuum reading tee-d into the PCV line, as air is being pulled from the valve cover, that will be like a leak in the line.
 
manafold vacuum, plez
 
chad":34a7y6w9 said:
manafold vacuum, plez

I have been unplugging the the PcV and attaching the vacuum gauge at that point. I thought someone said I needed to read vacuum with it attached though. Only other line attached to manifold vacuum is the actuator for the transmission. I'm getting steady vacuum readings when detaching the PCV, is that not accurate with the PCV disconnected? Just curious the best way to go about this without having to install a permanent T in the hard line to the actuator.... :unsure: :unsure:
 
:shock: Well if you disconnect anything that changes the vacuum signal going to the carb to do any of your tuning settings on the carb then as soon as you hook them back up again these tune up settings will be wrong or not optimal. Everything needs to be hooked up just as when the car is operated on the street, air cleaner, PCV, etc. also check that you don't have any other vacuum leaks causing you troubles in your tuning, they can be from, excessively worn carb base plate hole around the throttle shaft, loose or cracked hoses / lines, gaskets, carb mounting bolts / nuts, and fittings going into the intake. Glad you have made some progress keep up the good work. Hope you get the rest figured out, best of luck :nod: Edited
 
Creechn32":148o5075 said:
chad":148o5075 said:
manafold vacuum, plez

I have been unplugging the the PcV and attaching the vacuum gauge at that point. I thought someone said I needed to read vacuum with it attached though. Only other line attached to manifold vacuum is the actuator for the transmission. I'm getting steady vacuum readings when detaching the PCV, is that not accurate with the PCV disconnected? Just curious the best way to go about this without having to install a permanent T in the hard line to the actuator.... :unsure: :unsure:
You should check it with the PCV on. I personally don't but you should. I tune to how it runs without, then I richen it depending on what it likes. I use my ear once I hook up the PCV, but that's b/c I don't want to buy another fitting for it lol. If you don't want to buy another, try that.

Your PCV may be toast too. They ain't expensive but I never found one at NAPA that didn't make the car run weird. I went on eBay and got a NOS one and I haven't had issues since.
 
yes, PVC valve is application specific
(or the tunable expensive 1 crbobcat came up w/)
 
chad":2d44nkz4 said:
yes, PVC valve is application specific
(or the tunable expensive 1 crbobcat came up w/)

So, I had the chance yesterday to replace the PCV valve and run a vacuum test with a T-fitting inline with PCV valve. I saw no fluctuation but just maybe 1/2 in drop in vacuum which would be expected as the engine is drawing vacuum through the valve. Everything still looked steady. I have not test drove yet but suspect nothing has really changed because the engine reacted the same with both PCV valves and the vacuum gauge hooked up. I am going to take for a drive around the block and see where everything stands and if it's the same there is something I'm going to recheck. When I lashed the valves I never looked down into the lifters to verify if it was a hydraulic or solid lifter cam. It does have adjustable rocker arms so I "assumed" it was solid. With that being said I should have verified as whoever rebuilt the engine could have installed a hydraulic cam instead of solid lifter. Just where I'm at right now. I'll report back when I know more. Thanks again for y'all's time and your assistance with this engine. Learning as I go and falling in love with these sixes at the same time....
 
Ford went hydraulic lifter in '63, WITH adjustable rockers.

Bronco and Econoline 170 and maybe 200 stayed solid lifter into the '70's.
 
1 or 2 yrs only - 200 in bronk: '72/3 or4
 
Alright guys, feel a little like I've been wasting time, but then again what better do I have to be doing this time of year. Sure enough, I peered down into the lifter holes and noticed the little wire pieces that are visible on the hydraulic lifters. After readjusting the valves I noticed I was having a difficult time getting #1's pushrods to fully tighten. As I would adjust them and move to the next valve in sequence they would loosen to the point of spinning again. I tightened a couple times and noticed I was virtually bottomed out on the adjuster nut on the rocker arm. I'm wondering if this means I have some worn out lifters. If this is the case I am contemplating a whole new cam swap or swap to a 200 engine and go from there. There are some options but at this point I'm curious what y'all might think about the valve train....
 
Creechn32":3v09nfsl said:
Alright guys, feel a little like I've been wasting time, but then again what better do I have to be doing this time of year. Sure enough, I peered down into the lifter holes and noticed the little wire pieces that are visible on the hydraulic lifters. After readjusting the valves I noticed I was having a difficult time getting #1's pushrods to fully tighten. As I would adjust them and move to the next valve in sequence they would loosen to the point of spinning again. I tightened a couple times and noticed I was virtually bottomed out on the adjuster nut on the rocker arm. I'm wondering if this means I have some worn out lifters. If this is the case I am contemplating a whole new cam swap or swap to a 200 engine and go from there. There are some options but at this point I'm curious what y'all might think about the valve train....

Well yes if you keep on tightening the adjuster you will bottom out the piston in the hydraulic lifter, there probably isn't anything wrong with the lifters or cam. When the engine isn't running there isn't any oil pressure to keep the lifters piston from bottoming out and loosening the push rod as you keep tightening the adjuster and bleeding out or pushing out the oil. With the lifters piston bottomed out (the piston travel is .120 to .150 this isn't very much) then when you do try to start the engine the oil pressure comes back it will be holding open a valve or valves slightly off the valve seats bleeding off compession at that point if the engine can even run it won't be running very good. Check the above tech section (at the top of the page) for the correct way to adjust the valves it takes a very light touch to feel when the adjustmet is right, and it also should have been your very first step in the process before trying to do any other tuning. Good luck (y) :nod: Edited
 
I understand it's like starting over again. I read the tech article and it's what I used to adjust the valves. My touch has not always been the lightest so it is a possibility that I was trying too hard. The engine was warmed up to operating temperature when I adjusted the valves. I will return to the list y'all provided me and see about adjustments that might need to be made again....
 
I am curious if it is possible to adjust these rockers with the engine running. As I did for solid lifters? Even though they were hydraulic. Can I back the adjuster off until the rocker begins to tick, tighten slowly until tick disappears, and tighten an additional 1/4-1/2 turn. Is this proper for this inline six?
 
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