You should have a timing light, you can get an in-line type for real cheap. The points and condenser take 2 min to remove and should be fully reusable, so not loss there.
Some of the basic tune up tools for this car should be dwell meter and timing light. Have you checked the price of the dist?
Last I checked, the cost of a 'tune up' was bout $80+ You'll need a tune up about 6mos to 1 year. Investing in the basic tools might be less than the cost of having one tune up done.
I'm not sure about setting time based on a vac gauge, as the vac changes based on idle mix. What if your idle fuel mix is off, then is your time going to be off?
If you don't want to invest in the tools, you might be best to take it to a pro and have them do it, you might find that it cost a lot more.
I'd bet the cost of having this done and the amount of time spent is greater than just replacing the dist, buying a timing light.
You should have a timing light, you can get an in-line type for real cheap. The points and condenser take 2 min to remove and should be fully reusable, so not loss there.
Some of the basic tune up tools for this car should be dwell meter and timing light. Have you checked the price of the dist?
Last I checked, the cost of a 'tune up' was bout $80+ You'll need a tune up about 6mos to 1 year. Investing in the basic tools might be less than the cost of having one tune up done.
I'm not sure about setting time based on a vac gauge, as the vac changes based on idle mix. What if your idle fuel mix is off, then is your time going to be off?
If you don't want to invest in the tools, you might be best to take it to a pro and have them do it, you might find that it cost a lot more.
I'd bet the cost of having this done and the amount of time spent is greater than just replacing the dist, buying a timing light.
I think he is into it a little bit more than that. I think he has been buying other parts and has spent weeks on this from the looks of it.
Location: Vero Beach, FL but currently live in Korea
Posts: 1,223
Chris, where do you live. If you live close enough to other members of this forum perhaps one would be willing to help you for a beer or a soda. More than likely there is a Mustang club in your area with members who would be glad to help and you'd have a wealth of local talent to show you. Changing a distributor, setting the timing, adjusting the points and such takes about 1/2 hour 45 minutes max. I understand if you don't feel comfortable doing it. Sometimes the dist needs a bit of jiggling to get it back in. You should at least invest in a shop manual .
. It'll answer questions and has illustrations. If you really want to be part of this hobby you're going to need to learn some basic mechanical skills and they are basic. The tools you need are basic too. You don't need any elaborate and expensive test equipment. I have a mechanics tool set that I built over the years, a timing light, vac guage, dwell meter and hand held tachometer. I feel comfortable taking apart anything on my car although I haven't attempted to do a auto transmission yet and hopefully won't have to. Although a little dyslexic, I have the shop manual and I refer to it even when doing something I'm familar with just in case.
That head should work fine with the older block once you get everything adjusted properly. The 67 dist you have is the same as a 65 and interchangeable through 71. Someone mentioned getting a Duraspark and control box in a previous post because that is what originally came on 78s. They're electronic and I've read a number of posts on here as to choosing the Ford Duraspark over Pertronix, Mallory, MSD, etc setups.
You might also want to also check to see if your local highschool or community college has an auto mechanics course and go talk to the instructor. You never know. For a couple of pizzas you'll get some experience students interested in working on a vintage car with their instructors supervison.
Chris, where do you live. If you live close enough to other members of this forum perhaps one would be willing to help you for a beer or a soda. More than likely there is a Mustang club in your area with members who would be glad to help and you'd have a wealth of local talent to show you. Changing a distributor, setting the timing, adjusting the points and such takes about 1/2 hour 45 minutes max. I understand if you don't feel comfortable doing it. Sometimes the dist needs a bit of jiggling to get it back in. You should at least invest in a shop manual . Amazon.com: 1965 Comet, Falcon, Fairlane and Mustang Shop Manual (9780967321127): Ford Motor Company, David E. LeBlanc: Books. It'll answer questions and has illustrations. If you really want to be part of this hobby you're going to need to learn some basic mechanical skills and they are basic. The tools you need are basic too. You don't need any elaborate and expensive test equipment. I have a mechanics tool set that I built over the years, a timing light, vac guage, dwell meter and hand held tachometer. I feel comfortable taking apart anything on my car although I haven't attempted to do a auto transmission yet and hopefully won't have to. Although a little dyslexic, I have the shop manual and I refer to it even when doing something I'm familar with just in case.
That head should work fine with the older block once you get everything adjusted properly. The 67 dist you have is the same as a 65 and interchangeable through 71. Someone mentioned getting a Duraspark and control box in a previous post because that is what originally came on 78s. They're electronic and I've read a number of posts on here as to choosing the Ford Duraspark over Pertronix, Mallory, MSD, etc setups.
You might also want to also check to see if your local highschool or community college has an auto mechanics course and go talk to the instructor. You never know. For a couple of pizzas you'll get some experience students interested in working on a vintage car with their instructors supervison.
He he he Talking about a mechanics course. I remember when I breifly attended a vocational school back in 96 or so. What a trip! I brought my older sister's f150 and we tried to do a "free" tune up. What fun. We were so dumb we pulled all the plug wires in one shot. We ended up placing the number one plug in the wrong spot. We couldnt get the damn thing to run. There was about 12 of us scratching our heads for an hour. The instructor finally bailed me out. He, the wise ninja, figured it out. I ran across this video today and couldnt help reminisce the good old days.
I've been reading the last few posts and I'm sitting here shaking my head. It's amusing how people just assume things. First of all, I have been working on cars for over 25 years..No, I'm not a master mechanic but i know more than just the basics and even if you go back and read the begining of my post, i stated the things i have done to my car and I only listed things that would possibly be relevant to the problem.
Just because i see no sense in replacing the distributor when i have already put new points and a condenser in it is what i find ridiculous. Why do that when all i needed was a vacuum advance which i ordered online for $15
Also, i assure you timing can be set using a vacuum gage and many people on this forum use that method instead of a timing light. Search this forum and see for yourself.
I have (2) friends who are ASE mechanics who also can't figure out why my car stalls when hot which is why I started this post in the first place to see if anyone had a solution for fixing the problem and after 8 pages of posts, that still hasn't been done.
I think it's time this thread is closed...
Last edited by Chris31419; 11-19-2012 at 10:34 PM.
Also, I'm only talking about certain posts and want to say thanks to all of the other people who were very nice and tried to help me solve the problem.
Tom991- I live in Savannah, GA and that's ironic you mentioned the Mustang club because I just mailed in my check for membership last week. They are supposed to contact me and let me know when the next meeting is.
Location: Vero Beach, FL but currently live in Korea
Posts: 1,223
Well the picture of the inside of your distributor does look pretty rough. My concern is if the plate is rusted so that even with a new vacuum advance will that be enough to advance your timing? Twenty five years ago cars for the most part had transitioned to full electronic ignitions where timing was comtolled by th ECU not the timing advance module on a distrutor. Carbureted cars are a different animal when it comes to timing advance. Analogous to pedaling a bicycle up a bill in high gear you're pedaling like crazy, advancing up the hill slowly and sweating like crazy for a longer period than downshifting to a gear that will get you up faster so you can cool down.
I've been reading the last few posts and I'm sitting here shaking my head. It's amusing how people just assume things. First of all, I have been working on cars for over 25 years..No, I'm not a master mechanic but i know more than just the basics and even if you go back and read the begining of my post, i stated the things i have done to my car and I only listed things that would possibly be relevant to the problem.
Just because i see no sense in replacing the distributor when i have already put new points and a condenser in it is what i find ridiculous. Why do that when all i needed was a vacuum advance which i ordered online for $15
Also, i assure you timing can be set using a vacuum gage and many people on this forum use that method instead of a timing light. Search this forum and see for yourself.
I have (2) friends who are ASE mechanics who also can't figure out why my car stalls when hot which is why I started this post in the first place to see if anyone had a solution for fixing the problem and after 8 pages of posts, that still hasn't been done.
I think it's time this thread is closed...
Hey Chris,
Didnt mean to make you feel this way. I was just looking from the outside in. Dont know what you know, you could be a great mechanic for all I know. I am not a mechanic by any streatch of the imagination. Lets end this thread by showing us a video of the stang burning rubber when you fix it.
Well the picture of the inside of your distributor does look pretty rough. My concern is if the plate is rusted so that even with a new vacuum advance will that be enough to advance your timing? Twenty five years ago cars for the most part had transitioned to full electronic ignitions where timing was comtolled by th ECU not the timing advance module on a distrutor. Carbureted cars are a different animal when it comes to timing advance. Analogous to pedaling a bicycle up a bill in high gear you're pedaling like crazy, advancing up the hill slowly and sweating like crazy for a longer period than downshifting to a gear that will get you up faster so you can cool down.
I agree
There are bushings that can cause wobble in the rotor, I am sure they are worn. Tom is absolutely right, the risk of future headaches just replacing the vacuum advance might bite you in the butt later on. I think I bought the distributor from summit for my jeep for under 150 bucks, and it was hei. So it cleaned up the bay a little bit, all billet, and updated stuff without going into ecm type setups. Its much more reliable than points, just not as bullet proof. Forgot to add, that it may actually pay for itself over time. Since the original points require a lot of attention on a regular basis. I think the book say every oil change or every other change, but its routine with points.
Last edited by ivancaicedo237; 11-19-2012 at 11:08 PM.
Chris. Take a breath and push some of your pride aside. While replacing your distributor for a reman unit may be the easiest thing to do, why not mark the position of the rotor, yank it and tear it down on your workbench. Clean up the breaker plate and the mechanical advance mechanism, lubricate it, replace your vacuum advance and then stick it back in. At least you'll know everything is how it should be.
I.will just go ahead and replace the distributor and be done with it since everyone thinks I should. What kind of troubles me is the distributor that the parts places show for my car, the vacuum advance doesn't look like mine. So I don't know if I should buy that distributor that their computer calls for or get the one that matches my vacuum advance. They also bolt up differently so it's not a simple issue of just swapping advances. The one that's in the car now is for a 69 Mustang with a 250 engine and with my head being changed, that would be my gut instinct to buy that one.
Most of us don't seek to offend or insult people on these forums, most use this as a source of information that every one can gain from. One of the problems with forums is that we really don't know the background and skills of everyone.
It was my understanding that the dist wasn't very expensive, I thought someone posted a sub $50 figure.
Everyone seems to have their own slant on how to approach a repair. I tend to fix things over replacing them when I can. Others simply replace things, both have valid rationale behind them.
As for the difference between the advances, it really shouldn't matter which one the dist comes with.
The size of this thread is pretty long for something that's pretty straight forward, so I can understand the frustration, but we are offering help, not trying to insult.
Location: Vero Beach, FL but currently live in Korea
Posts: 1,223
Quote:
Originally Posted by KarlJay
Most of us don't seek to offend or insult people on these forums, most use this as a source of information that every one can gain from. One of the problems with forums is that we really don't know the background and skills of everyone.
It was my understanding that the dist wasn't very expensive, I thought someone posted a sub $50 figure.
Everyone seems to have their own slant on how to approach a repair. I tend to fix things over replacing them when I can. Others simply replace things, both have valid rationale behind them.
As for the difference between the advances, it really shouldn't matter which one the dist comes with.
The size of this thread is pretty long for something that's pretty straight forward, so I can understand the frustration, but we are offering help, not trying to insult.
+1
I too if I think it's repairable for less and have the time to troubleshoot will repair instead of replace. My home office computer recently died. I "troubleshooted" it down to the mother board, found one same model later revision MB for $35 on fleaBay and bought it. I could probably troubleshoot the MB down the the circuit that is at fault but I figured why bother. Another MB is the fastest way to cure the problem.
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