Hey guys.

First of all thanks to all that helped with your suggestions. I had the 57 bird, 312 with Fordomatic that had the strong exhaust fumes and hesitation on acceleration in my new Holley 4160 carb. I advanced the timing as you had suggested by turning the distributor clockwise until the performance improved. By trial and error, too much advance I experienced hard start condition when hot and pinging on acceleration. I backed it off a tiny bit, easy start in hot condition and will ping moderately only under abnormal pedal to the mat or if I am going up a steep hill. I am experiencing incredible gas mileage (about 270 miles to a tank full) approx 16 miles to a Canadian gallon. Is this possible? No more chugging when pulling away from a light. Nice smooth clean acceleration. The car is running so well I think that by advancing the timing I am doing damage to the engine. It just seems too good to true.

Any comments?

Thanks again

I'd back it off a little more so it doesn't ping at all. Other than that, it shouldn't hurt the engine.


Lawrenceville, GA

Actually I tried backing it off a bit but I get the little flat spot hesitation. It seems the adjustment is so fine. I am talking about a 1/16" rotation.

Hello Nat! Glad to hear you are making progress.What you might do now that you are driving it is to have a look at the plugs.Are they moderate tan color or does the white porcelin look overheated?Have a look and let us know what you find with the plugs.Will also tell a little about if the carb is running lean which will also cause pinging sound.

  

If I remember right the canadian gallon is the Imperial gallon or 5 quarts instead of a US 4 quart gallon.  If this is right I hate to rain on your parade (especially if you have the top off the bird) but you are only getting about 13 miles/Gal US which is not too good.  On the highway at reasonable speed you could expect maybe 16 to 20 MPG american or 20 to 25 Imperial gallon with everything in good tune.  As others have suggested check plug colour.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

Doug: You might be in the ball park with your mileage estimate? I'm not sure, however, to clarify, an Imperial Gal is still 4 Quarts, not 5. The difference is that a U.S. Gal is 128 oz. vs 160 oz Imperial, or a U.S. qt is 32 oz vs 40 oz Imperial..And a Litre is in between at about 35.6 oz.

Paul

If Canada uses imperial gallons then I think the calculation is 1 US gallon=0.83 Imp gallons. This does therefore equate to about 13 mpg. And unfortunately not that great.

Richard

Chelmsford, UK

My philosophy for about 50 years is, if you like the car, and like the way it runs, don't even check gas mileage.  In many cases these cars are driven so few miles a year that mileage is of little consequence.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I agree Hoosier. Unfortunately the car was powerless, and chugged pulling away from a light. It also had a bad flat spot on acceleration. My plugs were always black and sooty and large carbon deposits on the driveway. The original 4150 carb was faulty. The mixture screw on the right was not working at all. I could turn it in all the way and car would still run. I had the carb rebuilt, but it still did not run great. I replaced it with a new 4160 and the car had a bad hesitation from a standing stop. It was suggested to advance timing slightly. It made all the difference. The car runs clean and crisp. The increased gas mileage is a bonus.

Well I guess we should be as percise as possible, however I did specify "US quart" at least once.  It is true that an Imperial pint is 20 OZ as one discovers when you go to a pub.  That and miles are about the only things the Brits have not changed in going metric. 

I suppose that 13Miles/gal(us) is not too bad if you are driving around town at parade speeds or running erands.  But at highway speeds a T bird ought to be in the range of 16MPG or better.  John, I believe Mr Telewitski(sp?) drives his T bird exceptionally long distances, any idea what he expects? 

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.