He may not be familiar with Autolites. Jon at Pony Carbs knew his stuff alright and he set up my carb. A decade on... How much wear can I expect? Who has the correct settings now that Pony Carbs are gone? Mine still seems to go pretty well. I like the Autolite and hope to stay with it for some time yet, but if it gets too bad, then I'm thinking of one of those electronic carbs, maybe...

"weeping out the top"......could mean the floats are set a little too high!?! Maybe axe 'em if he would set them "just a tad lower" to see if that solves the issue.
The first thing I.... would try is give it more initial timing...slow down the curb idle (because the added timing will increase curb idle) and see if that helps the smelly carb and helps the MPG a little. I'm ALWAYS suggesting this butt it IS a simple and EZ thing to try and OFTEN times it helps (sometimes a lot!)
Let us know what you find out.
6sally6

A question about timing? Often I read that one of you will say bump the timing up a little. If base line is 6, what is a little and how do you know you haven't gone to far? Back when i acquired my 65 289 2bl coupe from California it was at 16 and ran really good.
Chris

I think you guys are correct about the float settings and I believe the mechanic saw this. He showed me what he did and mentioned that he took the top off the carburetor to adjust everything. He's an older guy and been around cars a long time. I imagine he is in his 70s now.
I think the Autolite on my car still has some good life in it, but I can see a day where it will need a rebuild (a proper rebuild) and I keep wondering about the new bolt on EFI carburetors like the Holly or Edelbrock.
Finding guys that really know how to tune a carburetor is getting more difficult.

TKOPerformance wrote:

It depends on where the mechanical advance is set.  You have to adjust total timing be setting initial timing based on how much mechanical advance is in it.  You see what slot the breaker plate is using.  Its going to be like 9 or 13.  You double that number to get degrees of mechanical advance.  A typical low compression iron head C or A code 289 will want a lot of timing, 36-42 degrees total.  So if you have the mechanical at 13, for 26 degrees advance I'd start initial timing at 10 and go up from there.  If its on 9, for 18 degrees total I'd dial in 18 degrees initial, but I'd rather move the plate to the 13 slot.  Performance tends to be better overall with more timing coming in mechanically.

Then use the lightest advance springs in the kit so all the advance is in by 3,000-3,500RPM. 

You need to verify that the markings on the balancer & where the pointer points are accurate.  A piston stop is the best way to do this on a assembled engine.  Often timing marks on the balancer may have shifted, or parts swaps in the past could have the wrong balacner/pointer combination.  Ford used at least 3 different pointer locations over the years, and at least that many balancers.

Again thanks TKO for all the input. we will get into it in january when it goes together.
Chris 
 

Just a side note of shaft bushing wear.  If you install a really strong return spring, the shafts wear out much quicker.

Those concentric spring kits from Summit (and other places like OReilly) work great and give redundancy. They do not induce excessive force that wears bushings prematurely.

6sally6 wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

.  Performance tends to be better overall with more timing coming in mechanically.

I have had better performance with MORE INITIAL advance and a lower mechanical.


Then use the lightest advance springs in the kit so all the advance is in by 2,000-2,500RPM. 

And full advance just a tad above idle.

.

Regardless..........what FoMoCo has in the distributor(in stock form) is VERY sluggish for performance
 
6sal6

Yep, they even noted this when they interviewed the guys who set up the Mustangs for Bullit.  Stock for stock the Charger just ran away from the Mustang, so they had to bump up the power on the Mustang to be able to get the kind of chase scenes they really wanted where the cars were truly running full bore.  All they really did was reset the timing curve and tune the carb.  Amazing how much Ford left on the table with these cars. 

You can adjust the float level in any carb.  Its just a question of how you do it.  On some there's an adjustment screw, etc., but on others you may need to bend a tab on the float, etc. to close the needle valve at a different float height. 

Is it still "weeping"?! If not you are prolly golden....Don't forget.......these fuel we are FORCED to use now daze smells a lot like poop (if you get my drift!) so a carburated engine willhave a smell even when adjusted right.
Another thing to keep in mind........a carb is just a controlled 'drip' unlike FI.
DO NOT........let modifying your timing curve scare you away.........it's really simple and almost ever guy I have talked into it later sez they  were astonished at the increase in performance. A side benefit also is it may lessen the carb stink.  All for less than 20 bux!!
Think about it and I/we will talk/walk you through it!!
6sally

TKOPerformance wrote:

Adjusting the float(s) won't make the carb run less rich

Well, that shoots down what I always thought.  I was of the opinion that the float level was designed into a carburetor to establish the desired hydro static pressure on the fluid under the spray devices located in the low pressure area of the venturi.  The lower the hydro static pressure...low float level...the less fuel will be delivered for a given volume of air passing through the venturi.  The exact opposite is true for high float level.  I'm pretty sure that if the level is high enough for fuel to be running out of the bowl vent there will  be excess fuel slobbering into the venturi with little or no air flow through the pot.  Yes, the jets control the volume of fuel delivered but they are calculated to do so at a calculated volume of air flowing through the venturi.  Which, I believe is why a pot goes lean at high altitude.  The actual mass of the air entering the engine is less and and the hydo static pressure on the fuel is less so a given jet delivers less fuel.

I had a 283 bowtie in my 55 F100 years ago and it started getting hot anytime I pulled the slightest hill or worked it a bit.  Never missed or stumbled...just started heating.  Running flat was no problem.  It had two fuel tanks with a manual change-over and I discovered that all five pieces of neoprene connecting it all together were dry and had little splits.  The dang thing was sucking just enough air that it couldn't keep the float bowl full when it started working.  So...it went lean and heated.   Or at least that's what I reasoned.

So that's what I always thought but I'll certainly listen to a better explanation if I'm just full of the old dirty brown stuff.

BB1

As far as I can tell, it has stopped weeping out the top of the carburetor. The paint on the intake manifold is a little discolored due to the fuel weeping, but I think this has stopped. The mechanic reset the floats when it was in for a tune up. He took the top off the carburetor and checked everything. Something must have been off prior to the tune up, because it was definitely running extremely rich (burn the nose hairs - rich) and the idle was a little rough. Post tune up, the cold start is perfect, the idle is perfect and acceleration is perfect. Maybe the fuel smell is due to it being an older car and the type of fuel we use today?
As best I know, it isn't burning oil or losing coolant.
I will check the pcv valve when I get a chance - Maybe this needs replacing?
I do drive my car regularly, so I will drive it a few miles and keep my eye on the exhaust tips. At the moment they are looking a little on the black side. I am hoping to see this become more of a grey.

 

6sally6 wrote:

DO NOT........let modifying your timing curve scare you away.........it's really simple and almost ever guy I have talked into it later sez they were astonished at the increase in performance. A side benefit also is it may lessen the carb stink. All for less than 20 bux!!
Think about it and I/we will talk/walk you through it!!
6sally

Already done Sal! It made quite the difference with acceleration and pick up