Sorry for dragging this up again, but thought a more or less final report should be made. 

I rerouted the gas line so it stays well above the intake.  Also changed the coil to an OEM with ballast.

This weekend on a 60 mile run up I-5 and back, gauge temp rose to 180, as the tall climbs were made.  On return home there were three long periods of idle at 180.  Quality never deteriorated on idle.  After in the barn, checked the thermo housing temp and it was 187 with gauge at 180, maybe a couple degrees more.  The OEM coil was 147.

Soooo, the sender will remain in the stock location.  The problem looks like it is fixed on the idle.  

I tinkered around with the mainjets too, and maybe created a new issue.  The car behind me said whenever I put the foot to the throttle black smoke came out both exhausts, at highway speeds of 65-75.  So my thinking is either the jets are a tad too large, or they are on the fringe and the pump shot is excessive.   Ambient temp may have played a roll, as it was COLD the entire first leg of the trip, being about 50 degrees.  Unfortunately I was at the tail of the convoy on return, when temps outside were 95, with nobody to see what was happening. 

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

I have thought about upgrading to a 2300  350 cfm, but only because of the increased flow.  The engine should jump to 4000 faster than currently.  However money is getting scarce.  I really dont think the carb design or size is the problem, it is the 1.14 venturi compared to the original 1.02, approx. 300 cfm vs. 240.  Spark plugs have been looking very good, slightly on the lean side.  Increased the main jets from 52 to 53.  I havent gone through a WOT and immediate shutdown yet to check plugs under those conditions.  Also plan to follow Charlie's advice to slightly lean up the idle mixture, but havent done it even though it is the easiest of all tasks.  Thanks for the interest 63. 

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Might be fruitless, but if your coil solution doesn't work, I'd also try swapping out the carb for something different.  A good baseline would be an autolite that is specific to an original y block application.  Or try one of the 2300 holley's that came on trucks from late 50's through 64. 

I recently swapped out an old 2100 that was of 68 small block ford application that was on two different y's I've messed with over the years with a 58 holley 2300 & was surprised how much the idle through 2500 response & light to part throttle driving changed. 

The only down fall of the autolite 2100's is the fact that the idle, low & high speed air bleeds are built in to the boosters & also the carb castings.  The worst thing is there is very little information availible to properly understand what boosters with which carb produce accurate meetering with which engine, & then if you factor in the changes that occur with a 100 degree fuel bowl, & what each air bleed does or doesn't do when the carb is 100 degrees it stands to reason as to why most end up with new carbs, & or application specific remanufatured carbs. 

The carb is an autolite 2100 which originally would have been used on a Mustang SBF, 1966 if I remember right.  There is a half inch phenolic spacer between it and the intake.  This probably doesnt have any bearing, but I rotated the automatic choke spring so that the choke never is activated, always open.  Carb was newly rebuilt before installation.

Mike

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

46,

I searched through this thread & didn't find what you have for a carb spacer, & what carb you are using.  I saw something about autolite, & remember from before you had planned on using a 2barrel, but think it may be relevent to find out what the application of that carb is, & what you have for a spacer/insulator. 

Thanks John, I'll try it. 

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

46:

That fuel line is located in probably the hottest part of the top of the engine.  I recommend temporarily running a line on the topside of the intake and see if that makes a difference.  Even with fiberglass insulation, the heat would be trememdous under the center of the manifold.  It burns the paint off the manifolds.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

John,  There is an elect. fuel pump with gas line running under the back part of the intake, and coming up through the center area where the hold downs are, then to the front of the Autolite.  The line is wrapped with adhesive backed fiberglass insulation from down in the hold down area to within an inch or so of the carb. 

55Vickey, The first flamethrower of this number I ended up using on my 54 Ford tractor when it was first converted to 12V.  It was always hot when in use, and gave out in 1-2 years.  The second overheated and puked its oil when I left the ignition on overnight, but it was hot while in use during its short life.  My thinking was that with the Accel pointless ignition matched to one of their coils they specified in the instructions, it should be a great match this time around.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

46 Y block:

Sounds more like vapor lock than electrical to me.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I have a flamethrower coil with no ballast resister and it also gets extremely hot. Everything with the engine is super until it gets hot then I usually put it in nuetral while at a stop light to keep it from stalling. Fires right back up but it is very temperature sensitive. Is it normal for the coil to be so hot? Usually run at 180+ on the highway and highway driving is great, but it's the idle area that gets touchy when its hot. Gary

       

Gary, 55 Vicky, St. Germain, Wisconsin