This picture is representative of the old Load-O-Matic - its not the one you want.

It has what is often referred to as the "straight" points set.

Above is the newer version with the "curved" points set - no springs showing on the upper plate. 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

The early (55 and 56) distributors did have a spring visible if you take off the cap. No spring means its a 57 or later model.



How about the fuel filter? I assume you have one. Can you see if there is any particles in the filter (glass bowl). If its a metal/plastic filter I would replace it and then cut it open to see if any particles are in it. If so, you need to clean out the gas tank.

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

Don't forget about the little filter screen on the carb. Mine got clogged and made me pull my hair out until I drank enough and decided the carb was coming off. I undid the line first and saw the troublemaker immediately. Apparently in my case, there was little scales of rust that would "stand up" and block the screen. If you take the hardline off the brass fitting on the back of the carb, then the brass fitting itself, you may be surprised at the amount of scale/crap/rust that may be in it. At least in mine. Just one less thing to troubleshoot. Probably isn't the problem but may be something to look at.

Kev



Loving my Y!

Kevin Walshe

Costa Mesa, California

Put on a new Holley 4160 390 CFM.  Drove it around for an hour and it ran great.  Stopped for a few minutes with it running and it stalled.  The new clear filter was empty.  I turned the power on for the electric pump, with engine off, and tapped on the filter.  It got enough gas in it to get started and back to the garage.  It was running but there was just a trickle of gas through the filter. I turned it off and disconnected the line into the filter and a buch of pressurized vapor shot out.   So my conclusion is vapor lock.

The fuel pump is on the frame at about the drivers door.  The fuel line enters the engine compartment just in front of the front wheel and angles up to the carb in between the fan and the block.   I have a clear filter at the inlet of the Holley and with the carb spacers it sets a good distance off the manifold.  Any ideas of routing or materials to prevent vapor lock?  The fuel line is metal up to the filter.  The previous owner split a rubber hose and wrapped the metal line with it.  The filter is a clear plastic one that I had new on the shelf.  It is about 1.5 inch diameter by about 2 inches long, so fairly large volume.

Also I checked the distributor and it is the 55.  What is the downside of running this with the new Holley?  Seemed to run fine when I was out and driving,  but the 390 was so much better than the tea pot.

Thanks in advance for any input. 

Electric fuel pumps "push" fuel great.They do not "draw" well at all.The pump should be mounted as close to the tank as possible and mounted so the fuel feeds the pump by gravity.In other words the inlet of the pump should be lower than the outlet of the tank.I am surprised the loadomatic works that well with the newer carb.Without having centrifugal advance the advance curve is limited.Do yourself a favour and spend another few dolars and get the full benefit of the new carb.Did you have to change the main jets to get it running well?The factory ones are 51 size and are too small.I have the same carb and went to 56 size and it works real nice.I also changed to the newer distributor.I think you will correct the fuel problem by moving the pump.Personally I dont like the plastic filters.Easy to see through but I prefer the "universal" style metal filters.About 3 inchs dia by 3-4 long.Let us know how you make out with these suggestions.Just reread your post.The spacer is a great idea.I have a 1 inch phenolic on mine.If you get into the motor a little further its a good idea to block the heat cross over passage between the heads under the carb mounting.You will need a new intake gasket and cut a couple of pieces of tin to cover the openings in the head.Cuts more heat off the carburetor and you dont need to warm the carb in the warm weather.

  

Have you checked the tank? Sounds to me like junk plugging the line. Elec pump should be as close to tank as you can get it, they pump not suck. Try taking the fuel line off before the elec pump and put air (pressure) into your tank at the fill. Collect the fuel in a clean container and take a look at it. GOOD LUCK 

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

Sorry if this is a repeat.  I thought I added a reply and it did not show up.

When I got the car back to the garage the filter would not fill, just a trickle flowed.  As soon as I relieved the pressure by disconnecting the line just before the filter then reconncecting, the filter filled right up with gas.  I had thought of the pickup in the tank as I had this problem on a Packard, but I think the gas flowing after the pressure release points more to a vapor problem at the engine end.

I have read some other threads and it was recommended to put a return line in to keep the fuel flowing.  Can anyone suggest the part and set up for this?  Do you know if a return line can be added without fabrication at the tank end? Any heat shielding ideas?

Also, the car ran smooth with good pickup with the carburetor right out of the box.  I was going to work on fine tuning then this problem came up.  I had planned to replace the distributor next weekend.  I figured that even though it is running better, the distributor may improve it even more.  Do you know if the loadomatic advance does not work at all with the newer carb or just not as well as the 57 style?

I think if you do a couple of things as suggested in last 2 posts your problem should clear up.I just have only a new stock type manual fuel pump on mine and have no problems.Move the electric pump and check the line for junk and should run fine.The loadomatic has limited advance because there is ONLY the vacuum type on it.The later ones have both types of advance and are much more responsive to engine load and speed.You can also tune them by changing the springs on the mechanical weights and adjust the amount and quickness of the vacuum can.Mr.Gasket sells a neat little 2 pack of light springs for the later distributor which I just put in mine.Full advance in quicker time.Timing is much more responsive with the lighter springs.I think you will be surprised at the difference when you install the newer distributor.Just a suggestion-set the initial timing at about 12 BTDC on the new dizzy.Try this with the loadomatic first  and see the difference.As far as the new carb-drive it as is but keep an eye on the plugs for good color.They will tell you a lot about how the carb is working.Should be a tan color.Too light or white indicates a jump in main jet size required.Holley suggests going 2 sizes bigger  as each size increase only adds about 3% more fuel and you need to go 2 sizes to really have any affect.

  

 

Chemist, i know you,ll fix it soon with this much help. just check fuel cap is vented or tank breather pipe is clear, try removing fuel cap soon as happens again and recheck. just to dismiss this as possible problem..

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Oldcarmark,

On your setup, do you have a line straight from the pump to the carb or an inline filter between? 

I have been thinking about this problem all evening.  Your comment on having the stock setup struck a nerve on what I have been thinking about.  My current setup has about 3X the stock length of a large diameter metal fuel line in the engine bay with about 50cc of filter, all sitting between the block and the radiator.  That is a relative large amount of fuel sitting at a low flow rate in the hot engine compartment (my problems have all ocured after driving a while and then the car sitting at idle for a few minutes). 

I am going to try your suggestions in the morning and also try to move back to a more stock configuration of fuel line.  I am also going to move the pump and put an inline filter outside of the engine bay. 

Aussiebill, I did pop the gas cap when I was having the problem to see if there was a vacuum in the tank.  There was not but I did not look at the cap closely.  I will also check the venting of the tank and the draw of gas from the tank if I can replicate the problem.

Thanks for the tips everyone.  I will let you know if I figure it out.  It may take a few days as  only do 1 thing at a time so I will know exactly what fixed it.