Well, heres the deal. We have a '66 Tbird with a 390. It has a hard time starting, will sometimes stall when put into gear(right after starting), the engine seems to shake alot at idle but shaking stops when the throttle is increased and diesels after its been runnin for a while. There is a different carb than what the manual describes how to adjust, so we're clueless there(I say just start turnin things ) and when we(my father and I) ck the timing, its realy advanced but when we disconnect the vac adv, its normal, where the timing was orig set(I guess thats what its supposed to do). I think that the carb isnt for this car and that might be causing some of the probs. Maybe Im wrong.Any ideas on what is causing all these probs and/or how to fix 'em? Its a realy nice car and we'd like to get the engine runnin right.

 

I'd start by getting a timing light. Hook it up as per the instructions. You want an inductive pickup one without the dial thing on the back. This will typically be the $20 special.

You set the timing with the vacuum advance line pulled from the distributor and plugged. A golf tee works good to plug it. Smear some wheel bearing grease on it so you can pull it back out when you're done.

To set timing, loosen the distributor hold down on the intake manifold. Start the engine, and set the timing at 10 degrees BTDC, or before top dead center.

Tighten down the distributor hold down bolt again, taking care not to bump the distributor when you do. Then pull the golf tee out of the vacuum line and plug it back in.

Something else you can do for dieseling is lowering the idle. There should be a stop screw by the main carburetor body, by the linkage. Turn it out to lower the idle. You want it at 600rpm in gear, 800rpm in park.

Is it a 4 barrel carb? Does it look like a Holley? If it's a Holley I can help you tune it.

 

Sorry, didnt know dad did all that during the inital adjustments. I dont know what kind of carb it is, but I know its not a holley. It is a 4 barrel. Im not sure about lowering the idle, cause it stalls as it is when being put into gear. The shaking makes us think its missing. It just shhhhhaaaakkkeeeeessss side to side quite bad at idle. Gonna ck all the ignition stuff. We have the pertronix ignition thingy, it replaces the pts and condensers, could that need tuning?? Theres just so many things wrong with the poor bird.

 

If you're not confident in the ignition, then definately go over it. New plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, and plugs.

Maybe the idle mixture is out of adjustment? Since it's not a holley I cant really help you there, maybe someone else? I do know that the Autolite carbs (guessing that's what it has) are notorious for blowing power valves.

If it were me, I'd order a new Holley 600cfm vacuum secondary carb, since you said you dont have the original carb for the car. But try the ignition stuff first.

 

AND if you have the spark plugs out it would be a good time to check compression
on the old bird .Sounds like maybe you have a older motorcraft 4bbl. carb . THEY werent too hard to overhaul . Had a 64 Galaxie wagon with a 352 4bbl. for a while.

 

Its proably a autolite. If you want a little more power why not just pay 240 bucks and get a nice holley vac sec 600cfm? Your problems will most likeley be solved.

 

Well, we put new plugs, wires, cap/rotor in addition to the pertronix thingy. Im wonderin bout the timin gear, couse they used a nylon cam gear to cut down on the noise. When they wear down the timin changes, could this poss be the problem? It has very low miles so I cant see how it could wear out that fast, but never the less...
What is a power valve and where is it on the carb(im more of an EFI guy myself). I can see no identification tags on the carb, only a sticker that says Quality Remanufactured. It looks like the ones iin the book, but dad says its not. Ill read the book myself and look at it. Was autolite a typical remanuf maker??

 

Are you sure you have the firing order right? That's something that can make it shake like crazy and depending which cylinders are off it may not seem like it's missing.

 

yea if theres a couple of plug wires not on the right spark plug it will run or
even start like crap .