'56 Ford Victoria, automatice with (not sure) 292 or 312. Just went on a 2,000 mile trip ran good the whole time. Home for a week and drove it 30 miles,ran great then all of a sudden it started missing on idle and crusing like it was hitting on only 4 cylinders. New carb kit 4-5 years ago. It has the Holley Teapot. Fuel filters are good. Ignition or carburation??? Inside of cap is dry, all wires in good shape and fit tight. Seems worse when warmed up good but does miss at idle. During the long trip I had one person tell me that every once in a while he would see a puff of smoke from exhaust but that it was not oil smoke more like it was too rich. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. As a side note just bought and had installed a new front crossmember...fit great, looks great got it from Goodell Fabrication in Coweta, Ok..918-486-6498. $299 and that included freight to S.E. Ia.

Location:Washington,Ia

fouled plug,bad wires,points pitted, loose wire to coil,bad or loose ground, fuel filter clogged something like that.

55Birdman  Hickory NC

If the car starts easy when cold but runs worse as it warms up, I would look first at the carby fuel level as, by what you say, someone thought it was running rich on the recent trip. Was fuel economy good or bad? Generally these things don't creep up on you unless you have a bit of crud stuck under the needle and seat. The fact you have an inline filter would normally rule this out. You need to start somewhere and by what you say I would eliminate the carby before looking elsewhere. The points would be the next place to look. Some of these faults can be hard to find but if you are systematic you will find it.

Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

Could be the needle and seat in the carb.  Our new gas softens the needle up and even makes them stick.  Just a thought ??     God Bless   Eddie

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630

One item to check is valve lash, especially the exhausts. I went on an across country (NJ to Oregon) trip in my 56 TBird. At about the 3/4 way on the way out I noticed the the car idled poorly when hot. Ran this way on the way back.



I had the ignition, compression checked out, had the carb rebuilt but it didn't change. One guy told me to check the valve lash. All the exhaust valves had almost zero lash (and some of the intakes). Reset the valve and it ran normal again. However, now with some more miles, it starting again - time for a valve job.



If you don't have hardened seats, this could be your problem.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Since you say it sounds like its running on 4 cylinders pull the carb apart and see if you have something blocking a main jet,years ago I had a 55 olds that sounded like it was running on 4 cylinders and had spark to all plugs and plenty of fuel and finally took the carb apart and blew everything out and found some junk clogged a main jet.  It only took me a year to figure that out.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

You may have picked up some trash in the carb regardless of filtration.  You can try reving the engine up and going full throttle with the choke momentarily closed in which to ‘suck’ the passages clean and then just prior to the engine choking to a stall, open the choke and let the engine clear itself out.  This procedure sometimes eliminates the need for the carburetor to be removed.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

thanks all, Ted I think you got it....I did a little find tuning of the needles, dumped in some SeaFoam, closed the choke, reved it up then let sit overnight...took it out for about 30 miles the next morning and it ran like a new '56...appreciate everyones help...THANKS AGAIN!!!

Location:Washington,Ia

What is SeaFoam if you don't mind me asking?

1957 Thunderbird

312

been using Seafoam in my snowmobiles for years. It's a carb and injector cleaner, & a fuel preservative. I haven't removed the carbs on my snowmobiles in several years now, we put the race car away with a final runthru of gas and seafoam, carb is always spotless in the spring.........GOOD STUFF. Gary

       

Gary, 55 Vicky, St. Germain, Wisconsin