I have started a new thread on this subject, I don't feel it really relates to intake gaskets anymore. I pulled everything off the front to check the timing gears and mark alignment. Left the dis in so I could see if it was out 180 or not after full rotation. My mech bud showed up tonight to give his much experienced opinion. I rotated around until marks aligned, both valves were indeed closed, uing my trusty dowel, the piston was up. Lifted dis cap off, holy crap, it was pointing right at #1. I thought it was going to be pointing at #2 or #6. Now tomorrow I'm going to purchase a compression tester, and go over each cylinder. That is what he and some of you guys recommended, maybe get a lead as to my problem. She has a new ignition mod, new dissy, new plugs, new coil and wires, I double checked the wires before, none were crossed. I had soldered in some replacement engine electrical wire that connects the dissy previous, he said if I had been wrong it never would have started at all so that has been ruled out, I felt confident of that repair though to be honest. The carb is new out of the box Holley, may need fine tuning, but good enough for basic running purposes. I think the intake is finally sealed. I ask this, if after reassembly, before I turn the dissy to bring timing into "proper" adjustment, should it be missing bad enough to stall?? It acts as though I have a wire crossed or unhooked when idling, but none are. I didn't think if timing was out a couple degrees it would idle that terrible, rough yes, but rough enough to cut out and backfire through carb? How can I check the ignition itself? What else can I check, my help won't be back till Tuesday, I want to cross of as many things of the "maybe list" as possible. If we cannot figure it out, it's getting towed to his personal shop for in depth analysis. Sorry for length, you guys have helped greatly, lets figure this one out. Thanks for your thoughts, Blair



P.S. - He thinks valve related problem, I can't remember exactly what he said.

 

Sounds like you've covered all the bases. Still sounds to me like timing or, as a possibility, really bad carburetor. Cam, timing assembly, valve train, distributor could be suspects. You've eliminated the timing assembly, hopefully the new carb will solve the problem.

 

Just turn the dizzy clockwise about 1/8" before starting. This will give you a little advance.
Once you get it to where it will half way run again. Remove the valvecovers and start it. Make sure that all of the rockerarms are moving about the same amount. You could have a couple of flat lobes on the cam or a stuck valve.
Also, pull all of the plugs back out and see if any one looks different than the rest. This will give you a cylinder to start looking at.
Let me know what you find,
Jimmy

 

Sounds to me you still have your dist. off one tooth. It's very easy on a Ford to get it one tooth off and run, although it runs poorly. And yes you can get the rotor and #1 to line up when its one tooth off...you just need to have turned the dist. further for that to happen. I didn't see your first post so I'm not really sure if you actually pulled the dist. out, if you did that's probably what happened. Deen

 

First I must say, gotta love the help you get here when there's a problem. O.K., I have all the plugs out, easier to rotate the motor for me. All the plugs are fairly new, and all appear the same. Electrodes are good, slightly dirty. Yessir, I have had the dis pulled several times as of late, but when we lined up the marks she was pointing right at #1. So you mean I could still be off a tooth? Thats cool if thats all it is. Is my understanding correct, that if off only one tooth, I can correctly adjust timing back thru the rotation of the dissy? So if I have enough space to actually turn it, I can just spin it on around until it comes into time? Right now, I think I may run into the thero housing just to get it close to 10BTDC, thats where she was before doing the intake and stuff. I picked up a compression gauge tester this morning, going to do that shortly if the rain lets up. Many thanks fellas, Blair



P.S. > Still pondering if I have a valve stuck. Have to do the comp test and give her a run. Damn rain.

 

It's raining here too.
where are you. I am in N.J.
Yes if the dis off a tooth, just turn it to aline for number one.
But use a timing light to get the correct time.
Check the rockers you my have one push rod that slipped out of place. Ed

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-Nov-02 AT 00:00 AM (EST)]If you could only get 10btdc, then what you need to do is, remove the dizzy hold down. Slowly raise the dizzy about 1" or so. Hold the dizzy base and turn the rotorshaft clockwise a little bit, then drop the dizzy back down into the block. If it doesn't go all of the way back down, bump the motor over a tad and it should drop on in. Sometimes you have to do this to get the oilpump shaft lined back up. You should be able to get 20 or more degrees advance before hitting anything. If it was acting stupid at 10 degrees, then I think you have another problem. 12btdc is recommended, so 2 degrees wouldn't make it backfire.
Does it backfire while idling or when you try to rev it up?
Jimmy

 

Exactly which holley carb is on it?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-Nov-02 AT 04:03 PM (EST)]Jimmy, she only backfired once, although it was huge, did it at idle. I never really got a chance to get it "in time", I was trying to double-check for vacuum leaks along the manifold when it happened. And it seemed to idle so bad, I figured I must have been off a tooth, never actually took the time to get the gun out and try and time it, figured it must be off down in the gears or something. As for now, the gears are lined up, still haven't done anything, its pouring rain here in Virginia. Lvmoose, I have a Holley 4150 4v, 750 cfm, elec choke, vac sec., new out of the box. Hopefully it won't need much adjust once the truck is running. As for the gameplan, going to get the gasket set tomorrow, run a compression test tomorrow, trying to eliminate a sticky valve situation through the test, bolt her up and go from there. Guess I'll try backing the dis a tooth, and see what's happening when I bring her into 10-12 BTDC. Will post results tomorrow night of comp test, unless it quits raining. Thanks for your thoughts guys, Blair

 

Good luck, the 460 is a helluva engine. I'd hate for you to get too discouraged and put a C%@*y motor in it or something. HE HE
I hope you get it figured out soon, I'm curious to see what you find.
Keep me informed,
Jimmy

 

Fellas, have 1st round compression test readings for your opinion. I know you can't tell much from just one go around, but want to post them anyway, I am going to do round two with a slight bit of oil in the cylinders tomorrow night, assuming I don't take all evening to get my new Galaxie home.

Cylinder # -- PSI reading

#1 - 120
#2 - 130
#3 - 115
#4 - 120
#5 - 115
#6 - 100 < problem??
#7 - 110
#8 - 110



Does the readings on #6-#8 indicate a possible head gasket problem? No smoke, no leaks, but maybe lurking?

Or should I be looking at valves seals &/or guides?

What readings would indicate "healthy" on a stock motor?

Thanks guys, Blair

 

Are you checking it with the carb wide open?

 

The throtte plates were shut, I didn't notice that part on the directions until I was done. Will that make a difference? Still haven't done a second round yet, raining again. Later, Blair

 

I still wouldnt discount having a bad carb.I have seen rebuilds that didnt "take" and have also seen new out of the box Holly's that just wouldnt adjust out, and now if you have had a sevier backfire you might now have a blown power valve. And once you have checked everything and try to start it and make it run you will now have a new problem with the blown power valve.I would if you can find someone that has a good carb that they are actually running and swap it over to see if it makes yours run any better.Just my .02 worth

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-Nov-02 AT 12:51&nbsp;PM (EST)]Just a note, all new Holley's have blowout protection. If it is new, then the power valve should be ok. You could have and extremely lean condition causing these problems too.
Did you notice any black smoke out of the pipes when it was running? Did it backfire out of the carb or the exhaust?

By the way, your compression readings should be higher with the plates open due to more air being compressed in the cylinders.
The readings that you have do not show enough of a difference between the cylinders to indicate any major failures.I.E. burnt valve, cracked piston etc.
Jimmy