I finally got the engine going yesterday. Lots of smoke from the new stuff in the exhaust and the fact that it's an older rebuilt that has sat for a few years is making it smoke a lot from the tail pipes. So much that my eyes burn. The twin Flowmaster 40s and 3" pipes rumble like I've never heard. The bad part was that the old variable speed controller on the radiator fan doesn't work anymore, it didn't turn on the radiator fan and it got so hot it blew the top radiator hose off. So, today I get to wire in a new thermostatic switch in and start it again. Gotta drive at speed for a couple of hours to bed the rings and all in.
I think I'm in love again.

 

That is great! I am interested in how the Flowmasters work for you. That might be a good upgrade for my truck in the future. Can you share photos sometime?

 

That's just plain great news!

 

Cambell56 - Super good show !!! Good news is always nice to hear.

fastmover - flowmasters has a good site with nice sound clips. They are pretty accurate. I just installed Flowmaster Delta Flow 50 on my Jeep. The 50's are a three chamber and a little quietier than the two chamber 40's. I think I'm going to replace my glass packs with the Delta 40's. The Delta version helps to reduce resonance inside the cab that the HD 40's leave alone. It's very cool and very well built. I didn't like Flowmasters until I installed them on the JEEP. I think they would sound hot on our trucks. In the past, I've seen them on hi power hot rods and they didn't sound right. I like Hooker Aerochamber for those. More gutteral sound imo. Flowmasters are deep but have a slight mellow tone that is easier to live with for everyday. My Bird that you heard has the Aero Chamber. Many compliments on that system.

my .02 - AJ

 

Great news! always good to hear that another old one is back on the road. Totally agree on the 40series Flowmasters, I strapped one on my 91' S-10 daily driver, makes that v-6 sound like an 8. People stop me all the time to ask if i have a small-block in it. Hope the 56 comes together for ya.

 

Flowmasters have a very unique sound...The single chamber flowmasters in conjunction with straight headers are awesome sounding. I am not sure if you can use them in Cali though.

 

Placermike - You must be talking about the 30 Series Delta Force Race Muffler. Min sound reduction for the track.

Flowmaster, Inc.

Most likely they would be quietier than my glass packs. I sound post up a sound bite of my system and we can compare. I haven't done that before so.... it might be cool.


I'm thinking 40 Series Delta Flow Mufflers for my truck when money allows. That series keep the reasonance down for a street truck. It's a lot quietier than my 26" glass packs are. But, those glass packs sure sound good now after a couple of weeks in the cure.

Flowmaster, Inc.

Nice stuff there .....

 

I'll be working on the fan switch again tonight. Have to stop by the parts shop and pick up some small gauge yellow wire to connect to the ignition switch.
The real challenge is to set the mixture, idle and timing. I don't know what to expect from the cam and compression ratio as I didn't build the engine. I'll get out the paper I got with it and post up the specs, maybe on the 351C forum. Hopefully, someone can give me an idea as to how smooth an idle I can expect. I remember setting my Dad's FE motor at something like 14 deg BTDC. This one is liking about 20 deg BTDC and still doesn't idle smooth. My guess is the Isky cam is a bit lumpy and the compression ratio is high enough to like premium gas. I'll let you all know.

 

Compression ratio and cam specs at .050 will give us a good place to start...regardless, I think 20* BTDC is way too much. Are you sure you're on #1 plug?

 

So, I remembered that I have a copy of "How to Rebuild Ford V8s" an old HPBooks book. Reading it this morning at work (did I say that?), I found that I really know next to nothing about these engines. I will spend a good amount of time to find that build sheet info and will probably end tearing down a bit of the engine to determine just what I have. At the very least I'll be looking at the casting numbers and such to see which block it is and verify that what the previous owner told me is true. I did have the oil pan off a few weeks ago and know it has two-bolt main caps so it isn't a Boss, HO, CJ or '71-'74 4V.

 

So running the engine again tonight I still can't get the fan to turn on with a new thermostatic switch. I need to go back through the wiring and make sure it's right. I did find out why it's running so rough. Three out of eight cylinders are only firing intermittently. That's why it's rough and smokes a lot. I'm going to recrimp things and try it again tomorrow. May have to get another set of plugs wires to eliminate that issue.

 

I'd pull the plugs now and replace'em, once you get the firing issues sorted out.

Did you ever get the build sheet on the engine, or are you just shooting from the hip?

There's a few ways to set up an "unknown" engine, pretty much revolves around a vacuum gauge...then going by "ear" after that...but best to sort out your know problems first, then get into tuning.

BTW, is this a hyd lifter engine, or roller lifter? If hydrualic flat tappets, make sure (even if it's running so-so) you get the proper 20-25 minutes of break in on it, varying RPM's accordingly...DON"T (did I jusy yeall that?) just keep firing it up for a few minutes and continue to troubleshoot the misfire...get the cam/lifters broken in, THEN (okay, I'm yelling again) work out your bugs.

With a few dead cyls, you'll have to keep an eye on cyl wash out from fuel...so be careful, smell the dipstick oil, if it smells like fuel, drain and change it...back way off if it's"making oil"...i/e the dipstick level is getting higher, means you have raw fuel in the crankcase....good makings for one of them WW2 cast iron bombs you used to see on Gilligans Island

Ya, I'm babbling a bit, but startup and breakin are about the most important time in your engines life...it can mean the difference between yanking it out the winter, or telling the grandkids what a great running engine you have.

 

I have the 50 series on my mustang. I love the sound. especially since it is my daily driver for right now, and at low RPM's if is rather quiet. Up untill about 2000 rpms, over that it sounds like a mustang should.

 

Turns out that the wires I made with the proper stripper and crimp tool were junk. I bought a premade set from NAPA and it now runs smoothly. After going to the Isky website I remembered that the cam duration is 250 and they call it their RV Cam. I still can't find the build info. I'm having "fun" with a Lokar throttle cable kit and have succeeded in wasting $45 to buy a new piece of their stainless cable housing as the only way I can buy it is in one of their kits. Frustrating how they make it sound so simple to cut to length. I had the first kit done and then in a fit of cleanliness in the garage I threw out the cable housing I had successfully cut a couple of months ago! Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!

 

New Lokar cable tip...
Use a tubing cutter to cut the cable to length. To leave a good unfrayed end turn the tubing cutter clockwise, looking at the end of the cable you want to keep. I had a flashback this morning and just tried it. Too bad the '70s didn't catch up with me yesterday instead of today. Ho-Hum.