My 4 bbl swap...

[DarkKnight]

Looks good mang. And glad you got ure diagnoses worked out

Question though. Is it nesasery to keep all that EGR stuff?

[P72Ford]

Question though. Is it nesasery to keep all that EGR stuff?

No worries. You only need to keep it if you have to pass emissions. Otherwise, you are free to ditch it.

[gadget73]

OK, never mind on the position sensor. Silly me thought the carb cars had a sensor built into them to tell the computer it actually opened. EFI cars have that.

Also interesting that the 90-91 VV TV cable looks just like the one used on an EFI car. Probably is the same part.

[1987cp]

Overall, the project was decent. I wish some things had gone differently, but what the hell, right? I will be doing some more mods to the red box shortly, but I need a break for now. Next up will be a rebuild on the rear. That'll include gears, etc, and I'll follow that up with a full exhaust...

Looking pretty good. Nice that you were able to retain your stock throttle bracket, though now that I see it I'm surprised you went to the trouble of swapping out the stock throttle cable. The Lokar is very easy to adjust, though, so that's good.

I was going to ask if you realized you still have fugly cast iron factory exhaust manifolds ... Can't remember offhand, is the cam still the original or what?

[P72Ford]

I was going to ask if you realized you still have fugly cast iron factory exhaust manifolds ... Can't remember offhand, is the cam still the original or what?

Long story behind not retaining the OEM throttle cable.

Those are indeed fugly cast iron exhaust manifolds. They should be gone by the end of the summer. I will be doing a complete exhaust when school is done. The cam is also stock, and will remain that way until I grenade this engine. I hope it holds out at least until I finish school (it should).

Then I may get ambitious... I already have a stock bottom end rebuild (better pistons and hardware), but I also have an F4 truck egnine laying around.

I think it'd be nice to have a roller 351.

[P72Ford]

On the first voyage to and from school, I didn't use any more gas with the 1406 than I would have with the VV. The TV adjustment was a bit high too, so I may be able to do even better now that I've corrected that. It was colder here this morning, and with the choke adjusted now, it was very, very easy to start. I was impressed!

This afternoon I will readjust the timing, and then look a little deeper into the vac. leak. I sprayed around the base of the carb again, and I think I can still sense a change in idle. Is it possible that the EGR plate I got is warped (off an '83 Capri)? Everything seems to be sitting flat, so where is this leak coming from? I don't want to overtighten the carb down, as I have it within spec right now. A cracked intake or carb flange would give me a really long face too.

[Tiggie]

Looks like I will be using a cable TV if I ever convert my car. Nice job mang!

[P72Ford]

Looks like I will be using a cable TV if I ever convert my car. Nice job mang!

I like it better than the Lokar setup. I wish I had used the stock throttle cable, but I kind of ruined it... oh well. I at least should have used the black jacketed Lokar throttle cable to make it look more "stock". Maybe down the road.

I readjusted the timing tonight, and everything is much smoother now. I just can't seem to remember what I have it set at. Anyways, I'm going to try and fix the vac. leak later this week. Maybe a thicker gasket will help me out; we shall see.

[gadget73]

I normally don't suggest it, but maybe this is a solution for brush-on gasket sealer. That indian head shellac stuff comes to mind. Big down side, if you remove the carb the gasket will shred and its sort of a pain in the ass to get it all cleaned up again. I use that stuff on trans pans and it does a nice job of sealing up.

[Brown_Muscle]

WOW great job mang looks great, even with the fire extinguisher crap your engine compartment looks extremely clean. Keep up the good work! You know what would look really good too? Some red spark plugs wires, but that just IMO.

[P72Ford]

After chatting with Scott and Tom last night, I think that the issue is a warped EGR plate. I'll have to take it off and see just how warped it is. I may try and eliminate the EGR for the time being (until my next emissions in 2 yrs), and just use a regular carb spacer. But, it all depends on how warped the plate appears to be.

[1987cp]

That would certainly do it. Do you know a machine shop that can shave it down for you for cheap?

[P72Ford]

That would certainly do it. Do you know a machine shop that can shave it down for you for cheap?

I have a friend who says his father can make it flat again. I may take him up on that.

Also, the car was running very nice this morning; once it warms up, the stumble seems to subside. Maybe its possible that as the engine warms up, the aluminum intake and carb base expand a little, decreasing the size of the vac. leak, which is why it smooths out? I don't know, I'm just speculating.

Anyway, I'm going to see if a regular carb sapcer will cover the EGR hole in the carb pad on the intake. That'll kill the leak, even if I have to run "EGR-less" for a few days. Which reminds me; I really need to go and swipe the valve off my other parts car...

[1987cp]

This morning I finally gave up on what I thought was a good-fuel-economy combination and put in smaller rods, taking me from position "8" to position "2" on the 1406 tuning chart. I also had been running the silver (heaviest) stepup spring, so I popped in the pink (second heaviest) springs under the assumption that with a richer cruise mode, I won't need enrichment as soon. So far it seems to be working out very well, and I'm wondering if I might not end up actually using less gas since I won't be dipping into the power mode every time I need to go anywhere. No bogging/popping, flatter power delivery, can't complain!