I have the 3 deuces running and now trying to tune it better. I tossed the Spectre fuel pressure regulator after reading the manual for 56 Ford V8's for which this 2110 was intended stating the fuel pressure should be 4.5 PSI. That is what my mechanical pump puts out and it drives okay, no flooding or fuel running out everywhere. Now I am trying to get the idle speed down with the Mummert 270 cam for the Fordomatic. It won't idle in gear under 750RPM and to get that in-gear idle speed it needs to idle in neutral at 1100-1150RPM. I am now using a 4.5 power valve and the manifold vacuum in gear is about 10 inches. 14 degress initial timing and running manifold vacuum to the distributor. No power valves or idle circuits on the end carbs. I had to modify the fuel bowl on the 2110 to accept the newer style Holley power valve. This meant grinding with a Dremel the area where the power valve fits in the fuel bowl wall adjacent to the venturis. The newer valves are taller and the step in the wall will hold the valve partially open. My current problem is hot re-starts. After driving and letting the car sit for 20 minutes or so, the fuel pressure drops off. It won't start until I crank it enough for fuel pressure to return. When it does start it takes several seconds to get up to speed stumbling while in neutral sitting still. I have thought of an electric booster but that may just be a bandaid. The fuel bowl doesn't feel hot enough to boil the fuel out while it sits. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks.



Here is a link to the fuel bowl modification I found on the HAMB by Psychobilly:



http://66.154.44.164/forum/showthread.php?t=155818&showall=1

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Have moved this post to the Technical section as it’s a better fit there.

 

Mark.  I’ll suggest pulling the carb tops off after the engine has set and check the fuel levels.  If the level in one or more of the carbs is down, then dig deeper and try to determine where the fuel is being lost.  Power valve threads and gasket would be my first place to look.  Don’t overlook stopped up or plugged anti-siphon hole(s) located around the fuel boosters as the source of the problem.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Took Ted's advice and pulled the tops off all 3 carbs after driving the car and letting it sit for ten minutes. I had noticed the rear secondary carb was dribbling and when I looked at the fuel bowl level it was half of the others. Took it apart and put some new gaskets in, blew it out with compressed air. Checked the power valve on the center primary and it was good with no signs of leaks. Put it all back together and re-set the mixture and idle speed. Turns out the fuel pressure gauge from Vintage Speed isn't working consistently. Sometimes it shows zero pressure while the engine is running fine. I think something may have gotten into the gauge while I had the fuel lines off so many times. Anyway, the starting problem is gone. Idle is better. Took it to the gas station for a tank of fuel. Ran great. MagnaFlows are growing on me but getting on the freeway turns heads.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Many of those types of gauges to not register anything when hot. The gauge is probably alright.


Lawrenceville, GA

Well...a fuel pressure gauge that won't tell me what the fuel pressure is ain't wufasheet to me. I ran an Autometer electric fuel pressure gauge that tapped into the fuel rail schrader valve on my 95 F150 351 Lightning with a Ford Racing(Powerdyne) supercharger kit without problems. I actually got my hood on the Bird this morning. The fold-up Summit Racing cherry picker has another use for this one-man garage. Swapped the lower profile air cleaner bases into the bell type cleaners and it worked. Hood is closed and not hitting the tops.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Since no one talked about your idle problem, here goes my opinion.  Using manifold vacuum to the distributor with a performance cam is a mistake because of what you said.  The vac in gear is down to 10, so lots of advance the cam wants at idle is lost and everything degenerates into a catch 22 of lost advance/lower idle, more lost advance/even lower idle, etc.  I would suggest you limit your mechanical advance in the distributor to about 15-18 crank degrees by using a larger bushing or moving the advance stop tang, depending on which distributor you are using.  This will allow you to run 18 to 22 or so degrees of initial which the cam will love, and still have a total of around 40 degrees centrfugal which, in my experience, Y blocks kind of like.  Set your timing by the total advance method and let the initial be what it happens to be.  With a little "messin around" you should get that cam to idle at 900 in neutral and 750 in gear.  Hook up your vacuum advance to a ported source so you still get economy at cruise.  I'm sure others will chime in but this method works for me.

Thanks for the info. I am using the stock 57 Tach Drive distributor with Petronix II, Flamethrower coil, and MSD6. Could you go into some detail about the bushing/tang adjustment? Went through the dist section of the shop manual. Checked the specs for the 312. It calls for 12 to 13 centrifugal advance at 2000RPM and that's what the timing light indicates on the running engine. So I plugged the vacuum advance and bumped the initial up to 22. Still cranks without straining. Reset the idle, got it down to 1050RPM and about 750RPM in gear. Seems to help the hard engagement but still have to tweak the idle speed/mix more to keep it from near stalling coming to a stop.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Mark, are you sure the balancer reading is correct? 22 initial is an awful lot.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

If you play with it a while, I think you'll find a happy spot.  I'm shooting in the dark a little cuz I've never taken your style distributor apart, but the later Y block distributors and early small block distributors had a tang with a piece of rubber? to insulate it from wear.  It travels in a slot in the lower distributor plate I think.  If you take the two screws out that hold the plate in that the breaker points rest on, you can remove that plate and by twisting the breaker cam/rotor shaft, you can see how the weights and springs work and also will find the limiter.  My cheapo trick was to get the stock rubber bushing off the tang and use a piece of  the largest diameter of vacuum hose that would fit through the slot.  That would usually take about 10 degrees out of the total.  The only problem you risk by what you did is you could have too much advance total if you really get on your bird.  Anything above about 42 or so degrees total and you risk detonation under heavy load.  Hope this makes a little sense.

I spent the afternoon playing with it. If my timing light is right (Snap-On) I have 22 initial and 14 mechanical equaling 36 total with the vacuum advance disabled. No sense of pinging but haven't done a full throttle wind up through the gears. Still worried about damaging the Fordo and want to get a few more miles to work out any bugs that might bite in the progressive linkage and carbs on the new motor. The Mummert heads and cam really lit the engine up and not sure I am getting full throttle yet on the linkage. The stock accelerator linkage is funky and mushy. I am looking to upgrade to a Lokar gas pedal, cable and possibly a kickdown cable. I also did a valve adjustment and re-pressurized the rocker shafts. The idle in gear is awesome. The distinctive Y block lope with the Magnaflows is really noticeable. Even at moderate street driving the exhaust note says this ain't a scrub. When the secondary carbs hit the exhaust is much louder. Every once and awhile coming to a stop, it will stumble and struggle a bit but not stall. I have been downshifting to manual low just before coming to a stop that takes care of it. I have a dashpot that came with the primary but I haven't used it or think it could help. I will do the modification to the primary carb throttle base for ported vacuum later after some of the details are finished and revisit the timing. Thanks again for your help.




57 Black Tbird 312/auto