Ok, worked on it a bit more and got the hard start completely gone going back to the 10 degree initial timing but now I am back to having a hesitation when I first step on the gas, no matter what gear or even in neutral. The carb has been recently rebuilt and I checked and the accelurator pump shoots out a nice stream when the gas is hit. Any ideas? I now this is a different topic and maybe I should start a new thread?

Thanks All

Cbass

1958 F100 292

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice."

-Henry Ford

Steve- how do you adjust the vacuum advance?

1958 F100 292

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice."

-Henry Ford

One thing to keep in mind if you have an Autolite carb.  The accelerator pump is spring actuated, so if you pump the accelerator rapidly, the pump doesn't have a chance to empty itself and return for another stroke, so you end up flexing the spring and not really pumping fuel.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

One of the reasons I have tuned my outfit to use "live" manifold vacuum is that it starts well at 10° initial - then the vacuum advance kicks it up at idle. To make this work I have the total vacuum advance shut back to 7°-8°. My total mechanical is set at 36° - then the vacuum boosts it to about 44° max at low load cruise.

The other feature I have used is the one in the Duraspark II controller that detects operation of the starter solenoid and retards it another 6°. That allows it to start at 4° BTDC - then immediately kicks it up to 17° when it has manifold vacuum and the starter disengages. 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Ok, I think I have it all nailed down. I checked the fuel and all of that checked out so went on to check electric and that was fine as well so I was pulling my hair out. So I retarded the timing a little just to make the starting better for the time being and while i was in there I double checked that after sitting for a number of hrs it was still squirting gas. I took off the air cleaner and looked down in there and gave it a few manual pumps and i got nice streams. I put it back together and get in the car and it starts right up no problem at all. I think that the problem might have been a impatient operator. When I gave it some time after giving it some gas it starts right up, just goes to show that it can be the easiest things some time. Now I want to get that timing a little more advanced because I loved the way it drove when it was all the way advanced. Is there a way to get it to drive like that but not be that advanced upon initial starting?

Thanks again guys, you all are the best.

Cbass

1958 F100 292

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice."

-Henry Ford

This is a bit off the wall, but in line with gekko13's comment. I had an intermittent problem some years ago, and finally found the points were hanging open and varying the timing, or not firing at all. I had the plugs out, the dist cap off, and was bumping the motor to check that the balancer hadn't slipped. I looked at the dist to see if the rotor was at #1, and realized the points were open, and not contacting the dist cam. A little WD-40 solved that for a bit, but when it got erratic again, the timing light showed it had come back. In your case, that doesn't seem likely as it would fire retarded, not advanced, but you might check. If it's really retarded, it might jump to the next plug and become advanced, if you have a hot coil.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I agree with the others who state that the fuel pump is probably not the problem.  Here lately, I have seen a rash of "mysterious" problems popping up due to component failures such condensors, coils and the like.  These parts are purchased new, in name brand packaging and turn out to be crap in a matter of days or less.  Check your basic pieces.  They may be defective when installed.  (Some) manufacturers are producing parts to fit a price point and if they actually perform, that's just coincidental, IMO.  It's a sorry state of affairs but I have seen it first hand. 

I doubt it's the fuel pump. If it will run and idle fine once started, then the pump is very likely functioning correctly. If the fuel drains or boils out of the float bowl in between starts, it can take quite a few revolutions for the pump to fill the bowl before it will run. So I'd make sure fuel is not getting out of the bowl. Once that is confirmed, devise a safe way to supply fuel to the carburetor using a gravity feed or get a remote fuel supply which is actually designed for this. This will eliminate the pump from the equation. If the situation still exists, then it's very likely not the pump.



Do you know where your initial timing is?


Lawrenceville, GA

Cbass,

It's reasonably typical that a lot of older machines see a drop in ignition voltage during startup. This can be for a number of reasons one is age and a buildup of corrosion on the electrical connections on the path to the coil the other is bad design.

If you have a multimeter and an assistant check the battery voltage this should be above 12v and closer to 14v. then check your voltage at the coil. It should be the same or probably slightly less.  Have your assistant crank your engine while you check the voltage at the coil. if there is a significant drop you will need to get more voltage to the coil.

A common fix is to run a lead directly from your battery, using the signal wire from your ignition to trigger a relay. this way you will have full voltage at the coil. If you want you can try a temporary wire from your battery to the coil to see if this cures the problem.

Good luck with it.

Warren

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

Thanks guys and that does make sense except that it would just turn over and over before I over advanced the timing. I posted this on the Ford Truck site and they seam to agree with you guys but also feel that I may have a fuel pump issue and that is why it would turn over until it built pressure and then start. I know have to figure out how to test this theory.

Thanks again.

Cbass

1958 F100 292

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice."

-Henry Ford