When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have devoloped a stumble on idle after my 69 sat for a few weeks while I put new rear leafs in. I Did the basic checks, She ran great when I had parked it. Timings good, carb and intake are new, and tuned in pretty well ( I think) I am still running old style points and condenser. I thought id wait a little while on the MSD stuff. If I give it just the slightest bit of pedal she evens right out. Actually it will run smooth but every 2 or 3 seconds it will "stumble" just for what seems like a revolution or two. I have not yet hooked up a vacuum gauge yet, any ideas?
Ditch the points and condenser! Those things are bad news. What I would try first is to scuff the points a little with some abrasive paper, like 150 grit wet dry and use it dry. See if that makes it go away. It could be a little corrosion on the points doing that to you.
As for MSD box I am not a fan for the street. If you are primarily going to go dragging or mud bogging and you will run above 3500 RPMs they are awesome. If you spend a lot of time below 3500 you will need to ditch the stock type coil and go with a big coil mounted on the fender somewhere and that will help.
I've use MSD boxes for a long while now and I can tell you that on the street with the old style oil filled coil, even if it's a MSD blaster, mounted on the engine, the coil can overheat and shut down and your Bronco will just die.
On my Bronco I got a Pertronix Ignitor and I can tell you that is a very reliable unit. I have them on almosy all the old things I have that have points and they are well worth the money. Crane has a new unitl like the Pertronix, but with a rev limiter. I have not used one but it looks like a good unit, but it is not as simple as pertonix.
I don't like aftermarket distributors at all. Some of them have an electronic eye that can brun out, or the cap and rotor are special items.
This is why I like a stock distributor with Pertronix: If you even get out in the middle of nowhere and your distributor cap cracks, or rotor tip falls off or your pertronix burns up, you can always find a parts store that will have a cap, rotor, points and condensor to get you out of a jam. With aftermarket distributors you are not going anywhere!
Get it warmed up and readjust idle mixture- I'll bet your just a little lean. also check for vacuum leaks. If its and ignition problem it will usually be present at all engine speeds and get worse with extra load on the engine. If its just at idle I'd look to vacuum leaks and minor carb adjustments first.
My stumbling idle is coming from an intake leak I believe. I have oil coming out the front and the bad idle came after I did the intake/carb swap. I am going to redo the intake manifold and see what happens. When I was adjusting the idle air mixture, I had my vacuum gauge attatched to the carb. I was told the other day that I should attatch the vacuum gauge directly to the manifold. I need to tap a "port" then because the performer manifold doesnt have one. Do auto parts stores have something like this on hand, in a kit? or how does a guy go about it?
That information about where you attach the vacuum guage is not correct. You cannot use the timed spark port on the carb where the vacuum advance is (should be) plugged into. You need to use one of the other ports on the carb that carry full manifold vacuum.
There should be two threaded holes in the back of that manifold if it was made in the last five years. Look to the rear of the manifold on the intake runners there and see if you can find a female hex drive plug.
My advice is to throw those cork things they give you with the manifold gaskets right in the trash and run a nice 3/16" bead of form-a-gasket in its place across the front and rear of the block. Then use either hylomar of form-a-gasket in a dab pattern that looks like a tig weld about 1/16" or less around the water passages on the front and rear of the heads and on the gaskets themselves on the side that faces the intake manifold.
Let the stuff cure overnight and then fire the engine over.