Got towed home yesterday need engine help

[trularin]

Remember the three 'F's.

Fuel
Fire
Function

Check for each.

[Silverstreak02]

I didn't have much time tonight, but I checked the resistance of the coil (less than 1ohm) and looked at connections again. I started it and it was more difficult then usual, but did start and idle roughly. I let it idle for a minute or two and shut off all the lights in the garage to see if anything was arcing or sparking. I didn't see anything so I gave it some gas. Within about 20 seconds it backfired out the pipes and stopped running. I tried to start it again, but no dice. It will fire for a split second if I pump the gas, but that's it. I have a hard fail of something at this point, but no more time to work on it tonight. I'll look more tomorrow.

So far I've avoided removing the distributor to check the gear for a reason. My damper doesn't have any timing marks on it so it's hard to get it timed correctly. The last time it was set on the dyno by my tuner. I think I'm getting very close to either doing that or buying another coil. I hate troubleshooting by shotgunning parts. I talked to Mallory and they said they would test the distributor for free, but it would take 2 to 3 weeks. If I pull it I may send it to them for testing. I have a few other things to check before I do that.

Jeff

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by Silverstreak02

I didn't have much time tonight, but I checked the resistance of the coil (less than 1ohm) and looked at connections again. I started it and it was more difficult then usual, but did start and idle roughly. I let it idle for a minute or two and shut off all the lights in the garage to see if anything was arcing or sparking. I didn't see anything so I gave it some gas. Within about 20 seconds it backfired out the pipes and stopped running. I tried to start it again, but no dice. It will fire for a split second if I pump the gas, but that's it. I have a hard fail of something at this point, but no more time to work on it tonight. I'll look more tomorrow.

So far I've avoided removing the distributor to check the gear for a reason. My damper doesn't have any timing marks on it so it's hard to get it timed correctly. The last time it was set on the dyno by my tuner. I think I'm getting very close to either doing that or buying another coil. I hate troubleshooting by shotgunning parts. I talked to Mallory and they said they would test the distributor for free, but it would take 2 to 3 weeks. If I pull it I may send it to them for testing. I have a few other things to check before I do that.

Jeff

This may be a silly question, why has the engine got no timing marks?

Who built the engine without reliable timing marks?
How did the tuner know what timing the engine is running?
Did he alter the timing while plotting for max torque through the useable rpm band?

Remove the rotor button and check there is no carbon tracking where it goes on the shaft.

[Silverstreak02]

Originally Posted by Gaz64

This may be a silly question, why has the engine got no timing marks?

Who built the engine without reliable timing marks?
How did the tuner know what timing the engine is running?
Did he alter the timing while plotting for max torque through the useable rpm band?

Remove the rotor button and check there is no carbon tracking where it goes on the shaft.

The motor is from a low mileage Explorer from a salvage yard. I bought a new damper and many other components to convert it to a Mustang front dress and carb. The damper was from Ford Racing and had very light indents in the finish that I used to set timing to get it started. They were extremely hard to see so I bought one of those tapes and installed it. Before I put the tape on I wiped the damper with acetone to clean it and what marks that were there disappeared. The tuner adjusted the timing on the dyno and I'm not sure exactly how he did it, but it seemed pretty good for the first 1800 miles. I've had the rotor off already, but will remove it again to look closer. Thanks