1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[Lou's Comet]

Some things I would try.

1) make sure accel pump is squirting as soon as throttle lever is moved, is it a strong squirt?

2) do a compression test, pull all 8 plugs and block throttle open for the compression test.

3) check for play in timing gear/chain, remove dist cap, take breaker bar turn balancer clockwise (at least 1 revolution) and bring timing mark to top dead center. Then while watching the rotor turn balancer counter clockwise till rotor moves. Check how many degrees balancer moved if 8* - 10* or more timing chain gear shot.

4) check plug gaps. If you are still running points&condenser make sure gap is .035 sometimes people that are used to newer stuff gap at .045 , make sure electrodes aren't rounded

5) are the points and condenser good? Do you know when the last time they were changed? Point gap? Are points pitted?

6) check dist cap and rotor for cracks and corrosion.

7) check spark plug wires, and coil wire. are they old and brittle? Wait till dark, have some one start the car and maybe power brake it a little. See if you can see any spark jumping.

8 ) ignition coil not cracked or leaking oil?

9) if you have access to vacuum/fuel pressure gauge check the fuel pressure and check vacuum. Make sure you have new fuel filter


These would be easy things to check without throwing parts at it.

Does the engine make any strange noise's, or smoke? Any hard starting hot? How does it pull on a longer hill?

Hope this helps

Lou

[Joe Travers]

The car started ok. High idle seemed ok to warm it up. After every stop and attempt to move out at slight to medium throttle it would stumble and stalled several times in the middle of intersections! Also at 45 MPH, there is noticeable miss in the engine! Just not smooth! Very NOT good. On a good note we had very good ice cream sundaes, sandwiches and onion bites!
When I pulled in the shop after the ride. Stopped the car and blipped the throttle and it sounded just fine! No hesitation, no stumble, instant response. Could this be a transmission problem? Sounds weird and I really don't think that's it but, I don't rule things out till I know what's going on.

I read through this entire thread and found one possible snafu. You swapped out needle valves in the rebuild kit, did you swap seats as well?
Lou covered everything but fuel. May want to pump out a small glass full and let it sit on a shelf, see if you have water separation.
Last time I had a problem like yours', I found slivers of rubber in my fuel filter. Ethanol problems.


Joe

[Sugarmaker]

Joe,
Thank you for the detailed list of things to try. I did change out the seat too.

Lou,
1) make sure accel pump is squirting as soon as throttle lever is moved, is it a strong squirt?
Yes it is working.

2) do a compression test, pull all 8 plugs and block throttle open for the compression test.
I did not do this yet but it for sure is on the list.

3) check for play in timing gear/chain, remove dist cap, take breaker bar turn balancer clockwise (at least 1 revolution) and bring timing mark to top dead center. Then while watching the rotor turn balancer counter clockwise till rotor moves. Check how many degrees balancer moved if 8* - 10* or more timing chain gear shot.
I did not do this but need to check for timing chain slop at some point too.

4) check plug gaps. If you are still running points&condenser make sure gap is .035 sometimes people that are used to newer stuff gap at .045 , make sure electrodes aren't rounded
Yes John gaped all the new plugs to .035

5) are the points and condenser good? Do you know when the last time they were changed? Point gap? Are points pitted?
Put in new points and condenser with last month. Point gap near .017 but I plan to replace distributor bushing as there is some slop in the shaft.

6) check dist cap and rotor for cracks and corrosion.
Just put on new cap and rotor from NAPA

7) check spark plug wires, and coil wire. are they old and brittle? Wait till dark, have some one start the car and maybe power brake it a little. See if you can see any spark jumping.
I did put on a new set of wires as the old ones had several issues.

8 ) ignition coil not cracked or leaking oil?
I have not really checked the coil for leaking or cracks

9) if you have access to vacuum/fuel pressure gauge check the fuel pressure and check vacuum. Make sure you have new fuel filter
I did replace the fuel filter and found very little in the filter.

All the folks following and trying to solve this from their homes,
I was talking to my friend Mike and he had some suggestions. I did two things. Replaced the small gasket between the carb and the choke where there is a small port. Also after thinking about it more I took the top off the carb again. I was reading the instructions for setting the float, actually the words were that when setting the float its not the float level being measured its the fuel level. So I took the float out, bent the tab to allow the top of the float to be almost level. This was higher than I had when I did the rebuild. So more fuel should be in the carb.
Put the carb back together and fired it up. Warmed the engine till the gage started to register heat. Had to go for a ride. It ran away better and did not have any serious stumbling or hesitation. Is it perfect, maybe not yet but a lot better. Still learning here. Thanks for the help and I will probably need a lot more. Sure we went for ice cream again. It was much more fun!

[Lou's Comet]

Cool beans!! Glad you got it running better, and of course the "ice cream".

Lou

[Sugarmaker]

Lou, folks,
We went for a couple rides today.
The engine seems to run best with the fuel screws turned out about 3 turns.
I did adjust the float just a little higher the fuel level is now very close to the recommended 7/8 inch dimension from the top of the carb.
Added a splash of brake fluid to the master cylinder.
Cleaned the front of both doors and reglued the weather strip to the doors. It was coming off.
Gave lil red a bath and Adam polished some of the chrome with "nevrdull" . She is coming around.
Needed to get it ready for show and tell with some of my friends coming to the shop for pizza tomorrow.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
So I got the bushing for the distributor. Pulled it out of the car and delivered the assembly to a local machine shop they pressed off the gear and the spacer. Checked the top of the upper bushing and it was the same size as the new bushing. The lower bushing has a lot wear in it. About .014 inch too large. So the plan is to replace the lower bushing only or maybe both upper and lower??
Cheryl chilling out in the drivers seat listening to 50's music:

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Yes its running again, sure several attempts to get the distributor in place. Just little things. We did replace both upper and lower bushings. Much better. The car runs just as good maybe a little better. I think it still has a miss when at running speeds and adding a little power. Like it might be still be short on fuel when needed? Or something that you guys may have hit on in your suggestions. So still some additional work to do. But its running and moving down the road pretty well. Cheryl and I visited the shore of Lake Erie then also took a ride to a Amish owned ice cream shop. I am for sure getting more used to driving the car. We do get ask questions about it.

[poboyjo65]

The more closer to being in tune it gets the more fine tuning & resetting it will need. just gotta keep tweaking everything. they are finicky about the float settings. cant always go by the book with today's fuel. I toyed with different power valves for my 4100, which is basically same a 2100 except WOT. I think I went with a 2 stage power valve & seemed to help a condition I had.

[Sugarmaker]

John, Folks,
We went for a 50 mile ride tonight. John with his wife in their 55 Ford, went along with us. Sure there was ice cream! Getting more used to running at 40-50 miles per hour on these country roads. I still feel it is missing a little. So yes I will keep looking, learning, and tuning. I did order a new brass float from Mikes Carbs. So I will try to reset the fuel level when this is installed.
Hope things are good in Comet land!
My friend John is looking for his 65 Cyclone that he sold to Critez (SP?) years ago. He and his wife would like to get it back if possible. Any leads would be appreciated.

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
I got the new brass float for Mikes Carbs today. I installed it. But forgot to get the spring clip in place that hold the needle in the seat. If you have never done this take it from me its not good. Car started and kept getting rougher and rougher. I backed it out of the shop and it stalled! I checked under the hood and had gas everywhere! Puddles in the cavities of the intake manifold! It was totally flooded!
Got that mess cleaned up and after an hour of waiting I finally got it started. Did not get a chance to drive it yet. That could have been not good.
Hope things are good in Merc land!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
We have been busy cutting wood, and filling the wood shed of the sugarhouse, for making maple syrup next year.
John and his wife stopped by tonight with their 42 Ford Business Coupe and we visited for a while. I had to fire up the Comet to check the float. It started up fine and actually went to higher idle when I blipped the throttle a couple times. It warmed up fine and kicked down on the slower more normal idle after warm up. I set the float with maybe a tad more fuel. Will have to get it out on the road and see if that made any change to what I call a miss. Maybe its just those dual glass packs talking??
We did adjust the windshield washer squirter positions and tightened those down. Then tried the windshield washer peddle and we did have some spray. I may need to gently open the nozzles as they have been painted.
It was dark out and I had the headlights on. Still not sure about the half chrome covers over the top of each headlight??? That's on the list also.
Our first car show is coming up on May 11 in our home town. May have a couple Comets there if the weather is nice.
Hope things are good in Comet land!
No ice cream tonight.