Ooopppsss I am reposting this from the Street forum, I think it is better here 😅


Hi all you Y-block lovers! I'm new to this forum from Athens, Greece with my '54 Mercury Monterey driver. It has the original 239 with low mileage, manual with Overdrive, 6volt positive ground, the 2140 Teapot and, the ' temperamental' Load-O-Matic..

Before learning that need a SUN machine, way back I tried to adjust the spring weights and really messed it up. I found one in England but it came back and still is no good. I've always had problems and lately it misfires especially in the mid RPM range.


Here are my novice questions for your kind expert consideration:

1. Is there a way I can manually tune the springs without the SUN machine?

2. Are there reliable Load-O-Matic tuners in the states I can send it for proper tuning?my Load-O-Matic for tuning or I just forget about them?
3. Should I simply forget about it and go for a point unit with centrifugal weights like the ones used in the later Y-Block engines? And frankly I would like to keep it as buy now. I ( I can easily do Ted 's vacuum Teapot conversion I read about in this forum) know it quite well
4.
5. I am also open foran HEI distributor that looks like my original and can fit with the shaft length and tang coupling to the oil pump. However there is a question with the wiring of my overdrive's kick down switch wiring on the coil, because I tried the Pertronix unit it way back and it did not work.

That's it, thank you all in advance
Aris

Don’t know about the 2140, but the weak vacuum signal with the Holley 4000 not only needs a SUN machine for precise adjustment, but one with the tall manometer accessory (not many have that).  I adjusted the springs in my Loadomatic for a more aggressive curve, but also have an old aftermarket advance limiter part. Better acceleration performance, but crappy gas millage, since the limiter won’t allow the very high advance level needed for cruising economy. A centrifugal distributor and carb mod would be a much simpler solution. Or, if you have the time to waste. you could just trust to ‘trial & error’, and play with the springs until things improve (?).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the reply, can you suggest which centrifugal distributor I should look for?

If it is a 54 MERC, it should have the 256CI ENGINE (CLV).

Did it receive a FORD 239CI (DIF) swap at some point?

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Some basic questions first before getting into some actual fixes.

As Kultulz brings up, is this a 239 or is it a 256 engine?

Are you using a timing light to verify the actual ignition timing and at the same time using that same timing light to watch the timing mark move up and down as the engine rpm is moved up and down?

Does the engine have a solid front lower pulley for the generator/water pump belt or does it have a rubber mounted damper?  If a rubber mounted damper, has the zero or ‘TDC’ timing mark on the damper been checked to verify that it does indeed reside at TDC?

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Can the OP two posts be combined to cause less confusion?

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Thanks for the prompt response guys!

Frankly I don't know if I have the 239 or the 256, I only assumed that In 1954 they only came with the 239.

The car came here some 35 years ago from the US and it showed only 6,000 miles on it and I strongly believe it was correct because besides the outer paint, every single detail on that car seemed to be brand new!

The plate shows SN 54SL22371M, STYLE BR73C and body spec. 04-460-22M-590 without an engine number on it or anywhere else stamped on the engine that I can see.
Maybe it is elsewhere?

Ted yes, for timing I use a timing light and yes the mark moves when I rev it

It has a solid pulley for generator and water pump and in front of it has also one more double pulley for the power steering belt. Sorry I Don't understand what you mean by rubber damper, the picture should explain what I have.

Now the Zero on the timing must be ok because I've added 35.000 on and it was running ok. My misfiring problems, (recently most prominent in the mid pms) started when I messed up myself with the distributor springs. I sent it to a guy with a SUN machine in England, but apparently it was not done properly. Then again The Loadomatic has gone in and out many times so I don't know.

I have added also some more pictures of the engie

Judging from the pictures, the engine looks like a 256 not a 239.

Changing to a centrifugal advance distributor, whether '57 and up Ford or aftermarket, will require changing the oil pump to hex drive and using the hex drive shaft.  Worth the effort in my opinion. 

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

That is a 256CI 4V particular to 1954 MERC -

http://www.coolcarsimport.fr/decodeur-de-vin-mercury-50-57/

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