Well, Dan mentioned a little about the junkyard visit, now here is my part of the story.

So, I got up at 0530 to get to Dan's place. After refueling the truck (20 gallong tank does not go far) and the driver I took off. Around Calistoga I saw a bunch of hot-air balloons launching. I then started up the hill, the long curvy windy will... in a 4700 lbs truck with manual drum brakes and manual steering. It felt like a wrestling match.

I got to Dan's house around 8:20. My intentions were to get the parts for switching to electronic ignition using the distributor that Dale gave me and then marking off parts on Dan's '72 bumpside that I want to buy after he cuts it apart for patch panels on my cab.

We went to the salvage yard looking for ignition parts, headers, air tanks, and other odds and ends. After complaining about my wresting match with my truck, Dan and I liberated a power steering assembly from a dentside. We also got a duraspark collar adaptor, efi coil, and a few other parts. I went scrounging for interior trim parts while Dan worked on remove the headers. After scrounging, I went back and helped Dan removing the headers and we went out to lunch. While loading the tanks into Dan's truck, I busted my shin on Mike's trailer hitch... DAMN that hurts! IT's Mike's Fault!

We made a stop at Napa for a ignition module and a few parts and then headed for Dan's to install the electronic ignition. Dan estimated it would take an hour...

Dan removed my old points distributor (actually it is a newly rebuilt one. I unbolted the coil right beside it and I didn't see the washer on the bolt. The next thing you hear is a clink.... clink, plunk. The black hole from the empty space from the distributor "sucked" the washer in. I heard it. Dan heard it. We looked at eachother and thought "Oh F$#&!" Dan and I speculated that it would end up in the bottom of the oil pan and be fine, but...

So we headed back to Napa Auto Parts to get oil, a filter, an oil pan gasket. By now it is 5:30 pm. We remove the drain the oil and remove the pan. I managed to drop only three bolts from the pan into the oil tub underneath it.

Dan's mom saved the day at that point by bringing home some great Chineese food. After dinner we went back at it. We put the pan back on and I installed a new filter, dumped in a zinc additive and the Rotella oil.

Dan started splicing and dicing wires all over to for the electronic ignition. While I understand the principles of the ignition, I am glad Dan was there for this. I would have been lost.

So, at 11:20pm we do initial start up and it works!!! Way to go DAN!

I start cleaning up and sorting out tools in the dark while Dan finished tidying up under the hood. At almost midnight I go to start up again and instantly the engine races and is hitting well north of 4000 rpm. I shut it off as quickly as I could. Let me tell you that a shrieking 390 can wake the dead at midnight. That gave me the adreneline rush I needed to get me home. Dan found the problem and fixed it.

On the way home I notice I need to get gas so I took 29 instead of Silverado trail. As I pull out in Calistoga the engine starts running really wierd. I pull over, but can't see much with the little flashlight. I start to get that scared feeling I had when my truck died in Elko in May.

I drive a couple of miles to a gas station. While I go bankrupt filling the tank I look under the hood again, checking each wire. I get more nervous by the second thinking about the phone call to my wife to come get me and then the call to Dan the next day. It is 1:15 am.

Finally I notice something on the passenger side of the engine and shine the flash light on it. The plug wire for the third plug is dangling there. I guess the truck was a 7 cylinder engine for a short time. I put that on, finished fueling, and said a little prayer and started it. It ran fine for the rest of the trip. I finally got into bed at 2:05 am, wiped out, sore, yet hopped up on all the caffeine.

I have a couple of questions. Dan was telling me about adjusting the timing for optimum performance. I thought I remembered it, but it slipped out of my tired brain around 12:15 am. If the engine is pinging, do I turn the dist. clockwise? The idle is around 1100 rpm now when it used to be around 700. Dan said I may need to adjust the gap on the plugs. I think he said to widen it to 45. Does that sound right?


This morning I realized we never got around to one of the main reasons I went there, to determine which parts I will need off the cab of his '72. Damn.

Here is some photos of the new ignition system. Dan, being a perfectionist, is not happy with the wiring job and he wants to redo it.

I want to thank Dale for giving me the distributor. I also want to thank Dan for all his help, guidance, and hard work in getting this working. He is a good guy.

 

On the gap, yes, open the plugs up to .045.

I've not looked at a Ford dizzy spinning for quite some time, but if you look at your firing order, then look at the plug wires on the cap, that will tell you the rotation of the rotor...to retard the timing, rotate the dizzy in the same direction of the firing order, to adavance the timing, rotate opposite.

Sounds like you need to retard the timing some, as evidenced by the higher idle and the pinging.


PS, I've knocked my shin on that same hitch a few times as well...hence the reason I never leave it on the truck anymore

 

Glad you made it home allright, I've been wondering all day...

If the engine is pinging, turn the distributor CCW (move the vacuum advance unit towards the driver's side) just a hair. If you do it with the engine idling the idle should drop a little. It's probably idling faster in part due to the hotter spark. When the timing is dialed in you'll need to readjust the idle screw on the carb. And get some decent wire looms for those plug wires, they look like spaghetti!

And I did think briefly about the cab parts you need, I think I've got a good enough picture in my head to be able to take off what you need, and when in doubt I'll just remove a bigger chunk than we need and we can trim off the excess.

 

I forgot to mention that I was up there on the one perfect day of the year. It was 70's mostly sunny and great. I guess the rest of the year will be either an oven or cold and rainy.

There was one tragic part of the day. While at the salvage yard, Dan showed me one of the worker's project car, a '65 or '66 Mustang. The guy had a Chevy 350 in it. The grille and radiator were missing so everytime I walked by I saw an orange engine sitting in the Mustang. To quote Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, "The horror... the horror."

Dan... My neighbor, the mechanic who put the engine in, was impressed with our (mostly your) work. I told him the story about the $40+ washer and he laughed and agreed that we did the right thing. He said heard me pull up at 2am this morning.

I will take pics of the body parts on the truck.

Thanks again for all your help and tell your mom thanks for the hospitality.

 

Sounds like you guys had a heck of a weekend!

Electronic Ignitions are nice too have on these Fords.

Dan - Your da man and I'm sure glad your in this Chapter. It makes it that much better to know that when we really get stuck you'll be there to help us out.

Peace, Out ....

 

Glad to see it got put to use. I could've sold it on ebay or Craigslist, but then I wouldnt get feedback on the results, nor would I have made a fellow FTE guy happy.

 

fastmover, sounds like you had a blast, minus the busted shin.

 

Even though we had to open up the bottom end of the engine which was not planned, I had a great time.

 

Someday I'll make it up to that part of the state for a visit, and lend a hand on
the project truck; or at least give moral support.