I feel like I watched the birth of a child last night!!  I was alone in my garage and after a little tinkering (solenoid wiring was a little finicky/loose) finally heard the whirr of the old starter motor!! (sounds a little different than the starters I'm used too!)

After cranking her over a little with the coil disconnected to check valves and check signs of oil flow.  I connected the coil and it only took a half a can of starting fluid and half-dozens tries and half-starts, then finally.........

SHE RAN AND IDLED ALL BY HERSELF!!!

It was sooooo cool!  Just purred away.  I let her run until she warmed up.. no leaks, fuel pump must be working it seemed to be sucking fuel from the fuel can just fine.  I shifted into gear and rear axle turned (on jack stands) too cool!!

So...here is the results of the "running" test.

1) I have oil flowing from driver's side over-flow tube..but not passgner side, what does this mean?

2) if I tried to give the car any gas she would immediately kill...instantly. I couldn't get the engine to come off idle at all...seems carb is providing good fuel flow only in the idle circuit??  Now what?

3) oil pressure light never illuminated when I had the key in run before the engine started.  The generator light came on (and went off when the engine was running) but what should I look into for the oil light?  Likely the bulb or sender?

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate,



I would pull the spark plugs, remove the pass. side rocker assembly, and spin the motor while watching for oil flow from the head. If oil spurts out of the hole, then the rocker stand/shaft passage is plugged. If not, then try the solvent-soak/pressure procedure described in previous posts (search archives). While a turned bearing might block flow from that side (?), a plugged head passage is more likely. You may have to pull the head eventually and drill out the obstruction.



As for the oil light, change the bulb/clean the socket and clean up the sender connections, and then connect a jumper to rule out a broken wire.




6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Upon reflection (sorry, haven't had my morning coffee yet), even if the wire/sender was bad, the bulb would likely just stay on if not burned out or corroded (?).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

The easy way to check the oil pressure light is to ground the wire at the sw. and turn key on and see if light comes on it should.

Good job Nate!  That old Y starter has  good sound to it don't it.    As Daniel said take the rockers off and look for oil coming out of the hole in the head, if oil comes you have clogged rockers if no oil maybe a pipe cleaner down the oil passage will do the trick.  You can only go down the head since there is a "dogleg" when it reaches the block.

What carb do you have?  May be gummed up main circuit, although it seems that the idle would be plugged too.  Anyway you are on the road to some good times.

   God Bless.   Tim                           http://yblockguy.com/

350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor

tim@yblockguy.com  Visalia, California    Just west of the Sequoias

Thanks Tim..wish someone could've been there with me..but my friends think I'm a little over-the-top on this stuff.

On another thread I've figured out I have a Holley 94 carb.  I tried to rebuild a carb once when I was 17 and the engine never ran again But these are supposed to be pretty simple so maybe I should try.  I also heard you can buy rebuilt 94s at the parts stores for $100?? 

It was really frustrating lat night, I really wanted to hear her rev up a little, the valvetrain sounds like a bunch of chipmunks tap-dancing...I wanted to see those babies dance!  But each time I touched the throttle, the engine would instantly bog down and die.

I can't wait to go listen to it run again!! It was so cool!

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

my suggestion to you is to take that carb completely down and soak it in some carb soak. you should be able to get it at napa.  had problems with a snowmobile carb once that wouldnt run right. soaked it for a few hours and then reassembled it. works like a dream to this day.

Nate, Awesome! As you can see from my photobucket page, these motors can be resurrected, and that quite well.

On the carb - have you checked to make sure that when you WOT a time or two that you are getting a steady stream of gas/air mix shooting in the bores? Make sure the fuel bowl is filled and then give it a couple of squirts...odds are that nothing is coming through the jets. I would suggest removing the air horn assembly (top of carb - 5 or 6 screws I believe) and checking the fuel bowl. After having a looksee there and after making sure that the small accelerator pump is not all dried up/cracked you will have some more info to go on. These carbs are very EASY to rebuild and reassemble. Just make sure that your power valve is ok when you rebuild.

Glad to hear about the success

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

As mentioned before, they are very simple carbs. When I was growing up, it was a mechanical world with no computers. 14 year olds fixed carbs in those days. You might put some gas in a squeeze bottle like catsup comes in in restaurants or a pump type oil can. Take the air cleaner off and squirt some gas in the top of the carb while you open the throttle from an idle and see if you can get it to rev up. If you can get it to rev up, you might try to rev it as fast as you can get it to go and put your hand over the carb and hold it a few seconds. This creates a strong vacuum in the carb and quite often you can suck the trash on through. Also the 2 rather large screws at the bottom of the front of the carb are drains. Take them out and see if you can drain out some of the crap. BE SURE TO REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH GAS. Have a wet blanket handy in case you have a fire. Fire in the carb is very common. Just remain calm and smother it with a wet blanket.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Nate, great job! as suggested the carb needs o.haul, i would think that the accelerator pump is not working and sending shot of fuel to accelerate or the needle under the fuel discharge nozzles in center of carb is gunked stuck and wont let that shot of fuel into venturi area, look for that needle when pulling it apart. we all wait for next report. regards bill.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia