foothilltom

Hey gfi, welcome. There's lots of good info here on brake issues if you can master the art of searching the forums (which I have yet to do). What shape is the car in generally? In other words, are you fixing up a junker, wrenching on a driver, or tinkering with a restored beauty? It would help to know hold old and rusty stuff might be. My experience would suggest you look at the wheel cylinders as they can get corroded over time. Make sure they're actually working with pedal operation. Also, agreed with Grabber...any air in your system kills the necessary hydraulic pressure to apply the brakes correctly. Can you explain your process for bleeding the system? It takes 2 folks (generally) and bleeding in a "longest run first" order. Let us know. Tom

Hey, thanks and back atcha! Sweet 'vert for rolling up and down Kalakaua Ave.

I realize this is not the best place to ask this question, but I figured it might be the fastest place for an answer. You out there, bnickel? Tom

Cheesehead!

I'd respectfully suggest that your tightening method is just fine...maybe too fine (cracking the alternator housing). It's possible that your old (loose) belt "polished" your pulleys and the new belt is still slipping due to that lack of friction. You can take off the new belt and scuff up the pulleys with a scotch pad or sandpaper to test this theory. The squealing may not be due to a loose belt at all and could be the bearings in the various pulleys. I'd start with simple and go from there. Good luck! Tom

Hey Brian, would you care to be a bit more specific? Do you have the original belts or what? I might suggest you lay them out on the garage floor and arrange them by type. Take a group photo and post it here. We can help you identify what goes where. I can tell you this in the meantime: the lap belt must be anchored to the roof and if you have a new headliner, it may be tricky finding the hole. The lap belt will be the "longest" belt. The shorter belts will be for the passenger side. Anywho, I think a picture of your belts will help you the most in our replies. Just my opinion. Tom

Brilliant diagnosis, Coz. The system works again.

I think this discussion was fascinating. I don't know about your experience, but I am pretty certain a similar discussion happening on any other forum would have degenerated into name-calling and insults. This forum is populated by intelligent (present company excluded), self-effacing, and humble folks who can disagree yet still remain completely civil and informative. Well done, dammit. Tom

Well, I think we're all right. (And it's always cool to disagree, that's how we learn). My comment (agreeing with MP) was that increasing mechanical advantage would not actually provide more braking power. Your comment about sufficient pressure at the wheel cylinder is totally relevant, though I was assuming that was not an issue. If there is not sufficient pressure to push out the pistons of the wheel cylinder, there is a big problem. Given edwards last comment about pumping the pedal to build up pressure, I would back up and suspect more elementary problems (air in the lines, bad MC, etc.). I'm interested in hearing edwards answers to CARs last question.

Agreed with Power Maximus. Assuming your wheel cylinders are working and your shoes are good, you're not going to see any benefit by adding mechanical advantage. 4 wheel drums just don't match the stopping power of discs, but you will get used to it. You just learn to plan ahead and be more alert. Plenty of folks got by just fine over the decades with drums, but if you're used to a modern car, it's a big culture shock. That said, I upgraded my boys drums on his 69 coupe to front discs mostly to satisfy his mother. She is still on me to add an airbag :) Good luck, Tom

I find it helpful to review the various "circuits" in a typical carb to better diagnose stuff like this. Your "idle circuit" is adjusted as rangerdoc suggested. I'd be surprised if a rich idle circuit is to blame given how little fuel is actually involved here, but it's possible. You also said that the rich behavior occurs with "around town" driving, which would tend to steer me away from the idle circuit. As a test, you could clean up your plugs, re-install, and let the motor run at idle only for a few minutes. Stand behind the car and see if you can detect a rich smell from the exhaust. Pull a plug and check for the tell-tale rich signs. If so, lean out the idle-mixture screws as Ranger suggested. The fuel level in your bowl dramatically impacts the hydrostatic pressure that feeds the jets. If the fuel level is too high, ouila, rich. With the engine running at idle, check the sight screw and make sure fuel is just barely reaching the bottom of the hole. Fuel should just trickle out if at all. If you get more of a stream of fuel, adjust your float/needle. Your jets control the amount of fuel in your primary circuit. It's possible somebody reamed out those 50's over the years. Jets are super-cheap so I might suggest (assuming the above is all good) you buy 48's (don't step down more than 2) and install them. Your primary circuit is my #1 suspect given your description. The Power Valve can be troublesome. It is rated to open at a certain level of vacuum to provide additional fuel during acceleration (when vacuum drops). The rebuild kits don't often tell you what type of PV they come with and you can easily wind up installing one that opens too soon (rich) or too late (lean). In your case, you could even consider installing a plug instead of a PV and see if this helps your rich behavior. The Accel pump is among the suspects, but I'm thinking to a much lesser degree. Let us know how you do! Good luck. Tom

I find it helpful to review the various "circuits" in a typical carb to better diagnose stuff like this. Your "idle circuit" is adjusted as rangerdoc suggested. I'd be surprised if a rich idle circuit is to blame given how little fuel is actually involved here, but it's possible. You also said that the rich behavior occurs with "around town" driving, which would tend to steer me away from the idle circuit. As a test, you could clean up your plugs, re-install, and let the motor run at idle only for a few minutes. Stand behind the car and see if you can detect a rich smell from the exhaust. Pull a plug and check for the tell-tale rich signs. If so, lean out the idle-mixture screws as Ranger suggested. The fuel level in your bowl dramatically impacts the hydrostatic pressure that feeds the jets. If the fuel level is too high, ouila, rich. With the engine running at idle, check the sight screw and make sure fuel is just barely reaching the bottom of the hole. Fuel should just trickle out if at all. If you get more of a stream of fuel, adjust your float/needle. Your jets control the amount of fuel in your primary circuit. It's possible somebody reamed out those 50's over the years. Jets are super-cheap so I might suggest (assuming the above is all good) you buy 48's (don't step down more than 2) and install them. Your primary circuit is my #1 suspect given your description. The Power Valve can be troublesome. It is rated to open at a certain level of vacuum to provide additional fuel during acceleration (when vacuum drops). The rebuild kits don't often tell you what type of PV they come with and you can easily wind up installing one that opens too soon (rich) or too late (lean). In your case, you could even consider installing a plug instead of a PV and see if this helps your rich behavior. The Accel pump is among the suspects, but I'm thinking to a much lesser degree. Let us know how you do! Good luck. Tom

So what was the resolution to your "car not starting" problem? It's quite helpful to know so your experience can be used for future advice. Regarding your header/clutch question, clutch linkage (cable) fit problems are quite common with headers. This is one reason why I opted for stock manifolds for my 351W. Headers made everything a PITA and the performance penalty is pretty negligible for my setup. Anywho, you're going to have to re-route your clutch cable. I'm sure some of the guys here have clutch cable experiences with headers, but I got sick of the long tubes getting in the way of every little thing. The simple joys of removing spark plugs easily... Good luck.

So what was the resolution to your "car not starting" problem? It's quite helpful to know so your experience can be used for future advice. Regarding your header/clutch question, clutch linkage (cable) fit problems are quite common with headers. This is one reason why I opted for stock manifolds for my 351W. Headers made everything a PITA and the performance penalty is pretty negligible for my setup. Anywho, you're going to have to re-route your clutch cable. I'm sure some of the guys here have clutch cable experiences with headers, but I got sick of the long tubes getting in the way of every little thing. The simple joys of removing spark plugs easily... Good luck.

I may have this all backwards, but I thought vacuum decreases quickly as the throttle opens. If this is true, increasing the idle would actually decrease vacuum and hamper the booster even more? The highest vacuum should be with a closed throttle and higher RPMs (like getting off the gas at reasonably high RPMs with clutch disengaged). If this is true (and I'm wrong constantly), I would think your best braking pattern would be when you stay off the clutch until the very last second and downshift through braking. At idle, you're pretty much stuck with whatever vacuum your setup makes, but increasing the idle seems like the wrong approach. I'm over my head, but thought I'd contribute my requisite $.02. Tom

I may have this all backwards, but I thought vacuum decreases quickly as the throttle opens. If this is true, increasing the idle would actually decrease vacuum and hamper the booster even more? The highest vacuum should be with a closed throttle and higher RPMs (like getting off the gas at reasonably high RPMs with clutch disengaged). If this is true (and I'm wrong constantly), I would think your best braking pattern would be when you stay off the clutch until the very last second and downshift through braking. At idle, you're pretty much stuck with whatever vacuum your setup makes, but increasing the idle seems like the wrong approach. I'm over my head, but thought I'd contribute my requisite $.02. Tom

I was under the impression that a voltage regulator is a solid-state device with no adjustments. It either works or it doesn't. As always, I could be wrong (and often am).

I'm intrigued, Pak. Can you point me to some "up close" pics of your setup? I've already deviated from stock with my newly installed exhaust setup (didn't go with the transverse, single muffler), so I'm slowly moving toward restomod anyway. Thanks in advance. Tom

Much appreciated, boys! I am going to order something up this weekend for a next-weekend project. Thanks! Tom

I'm way over my head here, but I can tell an experience I had. My 351W had what I would describe as a tapping/ringing sound at higher RPMs. Definitely got louder with increased RPMs. Turned out to be a rocker arm stud had pushed out slightly, raising the rocker off of the valve and creating a helluva racket. The push rod was all dicked up as well. Good luck.

Howdy gents, I'm looking for input on an aftermarket tach. My coupe is a 4-speed with no factory tach (a terrible thing) and I'm looking to put one in. I would prefer something small-ish so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, but big enough to see. So some specific quesitons: * Recommendations on brand/size * Recommendations on location per the above I was thinking of mounting something directly below the dash pad between the two main gauges. Ideas and suggestions are most welcome. Pictures would even be more appreciated! Thanks, Tom

So.....did you buy this coupe or take a pass? You'd think someone who references The Beatles in their subject line would follow up. :)

If you're interested in ruling out bad fuel, disconnect the fuel line to the carb, crank the engine for several seconds to drain out the bowl. Then shoot some starting fluid (don't need a lot) down the primaries and immediately try to start it. You will definitely hear it *wanting* to start as someone else mentioned. If this doesn't work, your fuel is fine and you should start progressing through the other ideas: * Super-Rich mixture (check the plugs as bigperm said, try starting with WOT) * Timing off 180 * Good coil, properly wired? * Points gapped correctly? (This is huge) How are you verifying that you have good spark? How do you know you have it properly timed if it has never started? Good luck, you'll whip it. Tom

I'm thinking this is the same coupe I saw on Craigslist yesterday. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/1763642089.html He has it listed for $5K which is a bit high, but if you have him down to $3500 then good on you! I was put off by the "rust out" as that can be a nightmare and tons of dough. Like somebody said, a two-owner car is a good thing and the original build sheet will definitely help for resale down the line if you restore it. Pictures on craig's generally look 3x better than the actual car, so I'd lay eyeballs on this thing before getting too serious. Best of luck! Tom

[ATTACH]6767[/ATTACH] This is most likely a stock setup, but you can never be too sure with wiring. Its from a GT coupe with the stock non-functional scoop and embedded turn signal lamps. Tom