82 fox mustang Q

[marquisman]

so this is the sitch... my buddy and i picked up a 82 fox t-top to build up since he got a good deal on a t-boned 86 witch has a redone motor and 5-speed and a whole lot more. but any way 2 weeks ago i got it running properly since the timing was fucked( 302 with holley 600 4bbl) we were driving it around and what not sut it off and re-started it a couple times with no probs at all, then the next day i go to fire it up it wouldnt fire, it wants to but jus wont, its a bit better when you use quick start but no go. it almost went a few times...this car is pissing me off, ive checked everything, spark, fuel etc...what can be wrong?

[Pirate]

If you are running the stock duraspark II ignition system that came on that car, the silver ignition box that hooks up to the distributor is probably dead. Either that, or you used the 82 distributor in the 86 motor, and disintegrated the distributor gear because you were supposed to install the steel dist. gear from the 86 motor onto the 82 distributor...the stock roller cams chew up the old iron 82 gears.

[87_crown_vic]

my Grand Marquis did this...times it would start fine, times it didnt wanna do anything but act like it was gonna start. i changed plugs and wires since they were bad. come to find out there was rust on the tip of the coil where the wire plugs to also. as pirate said, could be distributor that you might have to check, the duraspark box, or when did it last have wires and such done on it?

[Lincolnmania]

check the duraspark module and wiring
are the plugs fouled?

[Mercracer]

Make sure that your dampener timing marks are legible. Pull the top of your distributor off and turn the engine over until the rotor points at the #1 Cyl wire. Look at where the timing pointer is pointed to on the dampener. That will eliminate timing chain as a potential problem. If you have spark, then your module is ok but your coil may not be. Does gas shoot from the accelerator pump nozzles when you open the throttle blades? Did you try dumping an ounce or so of fuel down the carb?

[marquisman]

we havent done any swapping yet so the 82 is just how we bought it. the carb is fairly new, shoots gas, has new cap rotor wires plugs are new as well, they get wet real quick, but the coil shoots a ton of spark arnt the electronics in the dizzy just for advance purposes?

[1987cp]

I'm still not clear on what distributor you're trying to run. Best bet for a carb'd car is frequently to use a Duraspark distributor; my experience is that the gears don't interchange with a TFI distributor due to having different shaft diameters, but you can easily buy a '79-'85 distributor with a steel gear already installed. Like the mang said, DO NOT attempt to run an iron-geared distributor with a steel roller cam. Having the electronics connected to your Duraspark distributor is critical because it's the little vaned thing spinning next to the inductive pickup that tells the Duraspark II box when to fire the coil.

I assume base timing is set to 10 to 14 degrees BTDC?

[marquisman]

the 82 is still untouched its still has the duraspark system, i dunno if someone is screwing with the cars

[marquisman]

i just dont know why one day it runs great, and the next day it dont fire up

[Mercracer]

Coil or timing (chain, dist gear, etc ) can do that.....

[gadget73]

Distributor wasn't left loose and allowed to spin was it?

[marquisman]

no it wasnt, that was the first thing i did