'36 phaeton doesn't run smoothly

[Simon]

Hello
My name is Simon and I live in Switzerland. My father and I just bought a '36 phaeton. The seller told us, the engine is bad. 2 cylinders were dead.

But we checked that. all cylinders have compression.
the engine runs. but not that smooth i would like.

I don't have any experience with flatheads. so maybe some of my questions sounds a bit stupid

we allready changed the ignition wires. the sparkplugs looks good. we also checked the sparks. everythink looks good.
we also checked the vacuum. my father found something with values.
well. it should be 17 to 21 inches. we got 0.6bar (17.7 inches)

the engine runs not that bad in neutral. but with higher rpm, you can feel the vibrations. i think there are one or two cylinders missing.

i would be happy for some hints and tips, what we could check.

thanks a lot.

[deuce lover]

You might try contacting a V8 Ford Club member.There are 3 en Swiss.Click on my name and Send me an email and I will give you their contact information.

[corvette8n]

Make sure you have a good coil, also check or replace the Condensor. I also have a heavy flat ground wire from the engine block to the frame, make sure all your connection are clean and tight.

[Mike in AZ]

Welcome to the 'Barn....got pics of your phaeton??....we love pics....lol....hopefully we can help you sort out your problem....what values did you get for compression thru the cylinders?....how much time/how many miles have you put on the car??....Mike

[G.M.]

Check and see if you have a nice sharp blue spark from ALL plug wires
to a head nut, not to the spark plug. If you have good spark it could be a
plug I have seen lots of them that don't fire with compression on them.
You could also have a few sticking valves. I use Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas
and drizzle some down the carb while the engine is running. I have to put
some in every tank of fuel. after a tank without it they start sticking again.
G.M.

[MGG]

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Originally Posted by G.M.

Check and see if you have a nice sharp blue spark from ALL plug wires
to a head nut, not to the spark plug. If you have good spark it could be a
plug I have seen lots of them that don't fire with compression on them.
You could also have a few sticking valves. I use Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas
and drizzle some down the carb while the engine is running. I have to put
some in every tank of fuel. after a tank without it they start sticking again.
G.M.

Do you use any particular measured amount of MMO per gallon of fuel?

[moefuzz]

Could be sticky valves/lifters
but then again it could be a lot of things...


How old is the engine?

If it is older...
No harm would be done by pulling
the intake manifold off and looking to see how much
gunk is in the intake valley.

Maybe it's clean, maybe it's full of carbon and the valves are sticky?

??

Maybe it's as simple as getting the points set properly...
This can be tricky if you are not familiar with the intricacy of Ford Distributors/points.

[Willit Stop]

I believe the ratio is 4 ounces of MMO to 10 gallons of gas.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Mike in AZ

what values did you get for compression thru the cylinders?....how much time/how many miles have you put on the car??....Mike

i don't have the data here. i don't really thrust the tool we got for the compression test, because we tested 3 times (first time cold) and we got different values. but i think all of the cylinders got about 5 or 6 bar (72 - 87 psi)

we didn't drive the car yet. but we want to drive it soon, change oil and see what happens.

Originally Posted by G.M.

Check and see if you have a nice sharp blue spark from ALL plug wires
to a head nut, not to the spark plug. If you have good spark it could be a
plug I have seen lots of them that don't fire with compression on them.

ok. the next time i will check it again, i think we got some new plugs. maybe its good to change them.

Originally Posted by moefuzz

How old is the engine?

well, i would say 80 years old
no, seriously. i don't know anything about the history. but it looks like, the car won a car show in the 80s
i think, the car came to switzerland in the early 90s.

[G.M.]

Originally Posted by MGG

Do you use any particular measured amount of MMO per gallon of fuel?

I use about pint per tank of fuel. I like to run down below a 1/4 tank, put a
pint in and drive it 20 or 30 miles then fill up. This way everything up top
gets a good lube job. I have nice duals on my 39 convertible. If I didn't put
MMO in the last tank of fuel when I start it you can hear the sound of the
pipes. They boom, boom, bip, boom, boom, bip. The bip being a miss from
a sticky valve. I then drizzle a little down the carb while running, put a pint
in the tank drive 20 or 30 miles, come back and it just sits there with a
steady boom, boom, boom. If any of you ever talk to Skip or you can call
him he has heard it before and after MMO a number of times. I can also
detect a stuck valve which you may feel a little miss at 40 or so MPH this
is definite when in high gear slow down to about 8 MPH and slowly step on
the gas and you get a little bucking. After MMO it pulls out with no bucking.
G.M.