Posts by billh_old

  • Days Between Cast Date and Assembly Date

    Quote from bobmannel

    I have found engines with intake manifolds cast the day before the engine was assembled. It just depends. Routinely they can be within three days. But, I have also seen almost a year between a block casting date and its assembly date. I believe this is rare. In this particular engine, the lower half of the thrust bearing was missing. Perhaps the engine was sidelined, then later released. Who knows? The engine got close to 100,000 miles, but I could move the crankshaft almost 1/8". Must have made one heck of a lot of noise!


    Anyway, I generally figure all the components will be within two months of the assembly date (two weeks to 3 days more common). Car scheduled date could be before or after the engine assembly date, but is generally before and within a week -- but not always.

    Bob

    I have the original block for my car with an assembly date of 4L16. I am looking for a set of heads. What do you think the time frame should be? I was thinking August thru October would work.

    Love your book, do you still have Roush's old 4 door HiPo Fairlane?

    Thanks

    Bill

  • C7fe cam info

    That's a lot of camshaft for an engine without headers. Since the whole point is moving air through the engine, anything you can do (Headers, big valves, ported heads) will help. A noted Ford engine builder once told me that it is almost impossible to screw up the flow characteristic of the small block Ford head, no matter what you do to it. (with the exception of grinding through the ports, of course.)

    As far as the carb goes, I would first run the engine with a vacuum gauge and note how much vacuum the engine has at an idle. This is affected a lot by the distributor and initial timing.

    The stock 715 has a power valve stamped 85, which means it opens at 8.5" vacuum. If the engine vacuum at an idle is lower than this, and with this cam it most likely is, the power valve will be either open or cycling open and closed. In any case, this will cause the fuel mixture to go rich with the tell-tale black smoke. I would try to get a power valve with at least one number lower than observed manifold vacuum. If the engine ides at 6” vacuum, get a valve stamped 45 (4.5) You want the power valve to be closed at idle, and off idle. It’s only supposed to open at low vacuum. (Wide open throttle) Use only Holley brand parts, be sure to replace the bowl and metering body gaskets with the Holley blue ones. The torque spec for the end bowl screws is 40 to 55 INCH lbs. Pay attention to these, if they aren’t tight enough you will get internal fuel leaks that mimic power valve problems.

    Good luck, hope this helps.

    Bill

  • Chrome Plating

    I have the original front bumper for my car and I would like to put it back on. It needs to be re-plated and I would like to have the air cleaner lid also re-plated. Anyone have a recommendation for a competent shop? I realize it's expensive but I would like to use the original parts.

    Thanks

    Bill

  • 289 "Shelby" Lettered Hi-Rise Intake ??

    Quote from s2ms

    quote:

    quote:

    I had a 67 350 years ago that was missing the intake.

    Wow, a '67 Shelby Mustang must have been pretty impressive back in 1657. Bet it's mighty rusty by now! :S


    Well, the roads were pretty lousy back then but at least one didn't have to worry about them being salted.


    As I remember it, the roads back then were the width of two horses standing side by side. (My kids have accused me of being from a time when you started cars with a crank!)

  • Hot starting problems

    When a Holley carburetor acquires an internal fuel leaks, the culprit is usually:

    1 Metering body gasket. Besides sealing the main circuit and keep air and fuel separated, this gasket had to seal the accelerator pump passage. The old cork ones were prone to leak and shrink. If you find some old ones of these, toss them, they should never be used.

    2 Power valve. This item is most often blamed and many times misdiagnosed. The diaphragm is wet with gas and it is assumed that the valve is faulty when the real problem is elsewhere. The old valves with the holes drilled in the side were prone to leaking. The window type are far better.

    3 Power valve gasket. I have seen them reused so many times that there is no way they can seal.

    4 The main body of the carburetor. The surfaces that the metering body seal against are cast. They depend on the gasket to seal.

    In the main body of the carburetor there is a pocket that the power valve fits into. This pocket is exposed to engine vacuum so the power valve can function. There is a lot of fuel close by. If the metering body gasket leaks, fuel is sucked into the engine from around the main circuit. The accelerator pump passage is also sealed by this gasket. Any leaks will cause the mixture to go rich, leak fuel into the engine and make the car run like doggy do-do.


    The cure:

    1 Draw-file the metering body surfaces on the main body. It is amazing how much work is required to get everything flat. Pay close attention to the area around the accelerator pump passage.

    2 Use only genuine Holley parts. Use the blue gaskets and power valves.

    3 Most importantly; The torque specifications for the metering body screws are 40 to 55 INCH pounds. After you have tightened a couple of these with at torque wrench, you will have a feel for how tight this really is.

    The quickest way to tell if you have an internal fuel leak (on a standard 4150 – 4160 without reverse idle mixture screws) is to close the idle mixture screws. If the engine continues to run, you have a leak.

    All of the above is based on the float levels being set properly. The float levels time the main circuit tip-in and should never be ignored.

  • S1MS intake - pics

    Another thing, I would like to see that manifold go to someone who actually needs it for a car as opposed to someone who is going to turn it for a huge profit. I don't need it since my car has the correct small letter intake. An early dated carb would be a different story. :D

  • S1MS intake - pics

    My two cents:

    Very few 289 Cobras had the 715 and small letter Cobra intake. (I think the real number is under 5). THe earliest version of the 3259 is dated November 1965) All of the cars built in California for street use had to have a PCV system, the small letter Cobra intake had a pcv fitting on the back of the intake. An intake that does not have the PCV fitting was intended for the R-Models. Unmolested, these intake manifolds bring 1 to 2K.