The Ford Barn

MotownMachine · 05-07-2026, 03:35 PM

UPDATE:

So I've tested some of your helpful suggestions and a problem still remains, although it is driving better than a couple weeks ago.

It seems to be getting plenty of fuel into the carb. I pulled the drain plug and got a healthy gush. I've tested the coil and got a healthy blue spark. A compression test proved even compression.

I took it for a couple loops around the neighborhood, and it is still falling in and out of good running. I got it to idle well and shift up into third without trouble on the level road. However, it will jump back into its old ways, suck air in and struggle to get back into second.

The one thing it will consistently do is struggle on hills. It does not stall or cough like it is lacking fuel, but it starts to chug like a steam engine. I live in a hilly town and prior to these problems it had no problem climbing a hill in second.

The one thing I have noticed that I do not know the right answer to is, how much play is allowed in the various distributor components? I noticed the rotor and cam have some play to them and the whole distributor itself has a little play despite the screw being tightened down.

05-07-2026, 03:35 PM	#21
MotownMachine Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: Western Maryland Posts: 29	Re: I'm Outta Touch, I'm Outta Time UPDATE: So I've tested some of your helpful suggestions and a problem still remains, although it is driving better than a couple weeks ago. It seems to be getting plenty of fuel into the carb. I pulled the drain plug and got a healthy gush. I've tested the coil and got a healthy blue spark. A compression test proved even compression. I took it for a couple loops around the neighborhood, and it is still falling in and out of good running. I got it to idle well and shift up into third without trouble on the level road. However, it will jump back into its old ways, suck air in and struggle to get back into second. The one thing it will consistently do is struggle on hills. It does not stall or cough like it is lacking fuel, but it starts to chug like a steam engine. I live in a hilly town and prior to these problems it had no problem climbing a hill in second. The one thing I have noticed that I do not know the right answer to is, how much play is allowed in the various distributor components? I noticed the rotor and cam have some play to them and the whole distributor itself has a little play despite the screw being tightened down.