I am hoping that Bill "Number Dummy" or some one knowledgable in the Y block truck with an automatic can help answer my question/problem. I restored a family 1962 Ford F250 292 automatic. The engine is fresh, .030 over, .010/.010 crank, micro polish on the crank, peened rods, full floating pins on the cast pistons, Clay Smith grind cam, #C265-O-B .440 lift, 224 degree duration @ .050, .018 valve lash, Lunati lifters (one of few U.S. made I could find), absolutely new heads, clean cores w/no cracks, hard seats, new guides, valves, springs, retainers and mild port. New distributor, vacuum advance, electronic ignition, new cap, rotor, wires and Autolite plugs, Autolite 2v carburetor, checked for vacuum leaks at intake, carb base and clear. Idle with nice lope at about 1,100 to 1,200 rpm, put into gear and it drops to 450-500 rpm and threatens to stall. It just does not like being in gear at an idle. Runs good otherwise when driven, no issues at increased rpm. Verified TDC and distributor in right position. Any suggestions, experience or ideas and direction is requested. Got me stumped and scratching my head. Thanks.

 

Just curious. Did you replace torque converter?

 

I second the torque converter. what does the cam call for on the stall amount. I know you can have your convertor rebuilt to up the stall. As far as I know nobody offers an aftermarket torque convertor for the cruise o. A small cam should be ok though. Hope you get it figured out.

 

On my 64 tbird (390/COM), there is a vacuum line to the transmission to modulate shifting. Not sure if it's possible, but does sound like you could have a vacuum leak somewhere in there. Easy to check by clamping off the hose and dropping it into drive.

~Steve

 

Wondering - base idle sounds pretty high, maybe necessary with mild cam and dizzy vacuum connected to manifold. This may cause trouble?

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FX Cruise-O-Matic aka small Cruise-O: 1961/64 F250/350 292 / 1962/64 F100 292 // 1958/67 Galaxie/LTD 352.

MX Cruise-O-Matic aka big Cruise-O: 1965/67 F100/350 352 // 1961/67 Galaxie/LTD/Mercury/Thunderbird 390.

 

The specs for the cam sound about borderline for use with an auto and stock converter. What does Clay Smith suggest regarding that?

The idle is way too high, indicating that there is a tuning problem. It is not a big cam and I would expect it to idle well at around 600rpm.

If Autolite carburetors are like Holley or Edelbrock, that idle speed and therefore throttle position means that the idle circuit is barely in play if it is at all which could be a significant reason why it barely idles in gear. Again, this points to a tuning problem.