The Ford Barn - View Single Post

ford38v8 · 09-28-2020, 12:22 AM

Aha. Rubber fuel line that you cut. Here's a good place to start (continue) making improvements that may also fix the problem. I'm sure you must have heard that ethanol destroys rubber parts on old cars. Even new rubber will soften to mush from alcohol, the corn fuel we get in most places now. Go to your V8 Times, find an ad by Shewman, and buy his flex hose, the one without the valve. It won't deteriorate and won't collapse with the new fuel.

With your '47, you will have a glass sediment bowl on your fuel pump, into which you can install a ceramic filter. Visibility is good, you can see not only sediment, but you can see bubbles if any, which will indicate sucking air at one or more connections. If bubbles appear, start the search at the glass bowl gasket itself, which should be cork. I soak mine in motor oil before installation, and tighten gently, as it will deform if over tight. Symptoms caused by air bubbles is a lack of flow to the carb, which will show up as intermittent starving under load, the fuel bowl running near empty much of the time. This will never show up simply idling in the garage, nor will it get hot enough to fail, especially if sitting there with the hood open.

Your '47 will not have a resistor under the dash, but should have one mounted at the coil itself. A static test with points open should read battery voltage, and when closed, will drop about 2 volts. If you have no resistor, the coil will overheat and may fail, producing less and less secondary voltage until the engine stalls at a stop light. Once cooled down, the coil will return to service. If this is happening, you may get your coil rebuilt once again, and the name you want is Skip Haney in Punto Gordo Florida. Skip can also provide you with a new condenser, and can also rebuild your distributor if points are damaged by faulty condenser.

About draining the tank, I meant flush the tank, by whatever means you can, to wash sediment that otherwise would not drain with the fuel.

Once again, do these corrections in a priority indicated by your testing for a definitive diagnosis.

09-28-2020, 12:22 AM	#16
ford38v8 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 6,641	Re: hunting a ghost problem in my '47 Aha. Rubber fuel line that you cut. Here's a good place to start (continue) making improvements that may also fix the problem. I'm sure you must have heard that ethanol destroys rubber parts on old cars. Even new rubber will soften to mush from alcohol, the corn fuel we get in most places now. Go to your V8 Times, find an ad by Shewman, and buy his flex hose, the one without the valve. It won't deteriorate and won't collapse with the new fuel. With your '47, you will have a glass sediment bowl on your fuel pump, into which you can install a ceramic filter. Visibility is good, you can see not only sediment, but you can see bubbles if any, which will indicate sucking air at one or more connections. If bubbles appear, start the search at the glass bowl gasket itself, which should be cork. I soak mine in motor oil before installation, and tighten gently, as it will deform if over tight. Symptoms caused by air bubbles is a lack of flow to the carb, which will show up as intermittent starving under load, the fuel bowl running near empty much of the time. This will never show up simply idling in the garage, nor will it get hot enough to fail, especially if sitting there with the hood open. Your '47 will not have a resistor under the dash, but should have one mounted at the coil itself. A static test with points open should read battery voltage, and when closed, will drop about 2 volts. If you have no resistor, the coil will overheat and may fail, producing less and less secondary voltage until the engine stalls at a stop light. Once cooled down, the coil will return to service. If this is happening, you may get your coil rebuilt once again, and the name you want is Skip Haney in Punto Gordo Florida. Skip can also provide you with a new condenser, and can also rebuild your distributor if points are damaged by faulty condenser. About draining the tank, I meant flush the tank, by whatever means you can, to wash sediment that otherwise would not drain with the fuel. Once again, do these corrections in a priority indicated by your testing for a definitive diagnosis. __________________ Alan Last edited by ford38v8; 09-28-2020 at 12:27 AM.