1965 Comet Caliente (little red)

[Sugarmaker]

Comet folks,
Weather sucks! John and Adam and I took a look at the distributor on the 65. it has some side play in the shaft. I ordered a new bushing for the top end of the distributor. There is about .005 plus movement in the shaft. I have not changed one of these bushings before. I assume it may have to be reamed to some slight clearance from the shaft diameter? When I had the distributor out before, I was close to pulling the bottom gear, but it was tight! I did not try to remove it. Now it will have to come off. I assume I may need a press.

We also found the timing marks on the damper, cleaned off the rust, rubbed with some chalk, and hooked up the timing light. started the engine and let it warm up a little. the timing was about 12 degrees. Loosened the distributor and adjusted slightly to 6 degrees before TDC . It seemed to run better. It was good to get that done and will be ready to set it again when the distributor is improved. Any suggestions appreciated.

Cheryl just got out of the hospital yesterday. She had a very mild stroke. Spent two days in the ICU, many tests, All good. Some new meds. She has pretty much fully recovered. We dodged a bullet on that one for sure!

Our local AACA is planning several car drive, eat, snack events over the summer. So I need to get the Comet ready for some drives soon.

Hope things are good in Merc land!

[Sugarmaker]

Comet Folks,
We got the small white plastic carb choke plate adjustment: (from Mikes Carbs) Glad these were still available!




It installed fine and was a direct replacement. Re set the adjustment screw on the underside back to the choke (fast idle screw) again! Finally got the correct spot (with the indicator mark) figured out where to set the screw on the mid point stop on the cam! Dang that is a hard one to see.
Car started up as expected when flooded. Choke closed when at full throttle and it fired up!
The semi rough engine may be due to the worn distributor bushing. The new one will be here in a few days. Will try to get some pictures of the bushing change out. Hope that helps?

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Weather is better. Time to start mowing the yard too!
Cheryl and I have been taking some short rides in 'lil red'. The distributor bushing is next on the list.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
I keep tinkering and adjusting this 289. It is just not getting better. Still has a stumble when trying to accelerate from a slow rolling start. like going around a corner, and starting to press the throttle to take off. My grandson is a mechanic on a lot of new cars. He says we may have to do a compression test and check the timing gears chain, and maybe valve adjustments?
So the plot thickens! I have read many similar postings of this stumbling problem with a 289 2 barrel carb engine, and there are possible answers all over the place for sure. Yes I am not a expert on these. I also don't have known good replacement parts to swap on to the car like a carb or distributor.
But my goal has been to keep the Comet pretty much stock and fix/ improve things that I can.

[A/FX]

Many years ago I owned a Lincoln Versailles with a 351w 2 barrel, it had the same symptoms you are experiencing. My relatives owned the local Lincoln/ Mercury dealership so I presented the problem to them. When I explained the stumble on acceleration he said “ wait a minute I will be right back” he returned from the parts dept with a small metal part that looked like a push retainer used to hold a wheel on a pedal car. I was told to remove the lever from the accelerator pump on the front of the carb and install the cap over the rod that is attached to the diaphragm. I hesitated because I thought he was yanking my chain but I installed it anyway. Problem solved! The hesitation was gone! Just for giggles I removed the cap and the hesitation returned. It was a 50 cent part that cured a big headache.
This is not the part but it looked very similar to this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-1-2-in ... lsrc=aw.ds

Jim

[Joe Travers]

This should help- https://www.carburetor-blog.com/knowled ... justments/

Joe

[Sugarmaker]

Jim, Joe, Folks,
Well the information you guys provided may get to the root of the hesitation problem on the 289!
Jim,
The small cap to add to the pump. Well I may need some additional coaching on the placement and the size? Is this causing the pump to have more fuel flow by adding a spacer? I may look at this as a quick fix.
Joe,
The info from Mikes Carbs is a great series of videos that can help me or anyone if the carb needs to come apart again. I picked up on several of his recommendations!
Thanks for the support!

[poboyjo65]

One small thing to check. loosen the nuts on the carb studs .take the throttle return springs off & basically make sure the butterflies are opening easily with no resistance as you snug up & tighten carb studs down. sometimes the carb gets cocked slightly on install . always tighten the carb down first before putting the springs on,they can pull it into a bind . I even bent a butterfly once. felt like my throttle pedal was hung then it popped when I pushed hard.It gave me a fit trying to tune it ,,,,until I had the carb off later & looking at the bottom of it I noticed one butterfly was open more than the other. after fixing that I was able to tune out some crazy things it was doing at idle.

[A/FX]

Here is a picture of a carburetor, the blue circle shows the accelerator pump rod. The small cap I mentioned in my last post goes on the end of the rod which closes the gap between the rod and the linkage, this actuates the accelerator pump slightly sooner. Like I said it cured the hesitation/ stumble that my 351 had.
Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Guys thanks again for things to check on the carb.
Jim,
My accelerator pump is different. Doesn't have the pin sticking out.

[Sugarmaker]

Jim,
Here is a picture of my carb it has a lever on the accelerator pump that comes in contact with the pump. So I don't think the added cap will work??
Not a great picture:

[Joe Travers]

Chris,

Have someone tap the gas pedal in the car while you check travel of the old bellcrank (mounted on the back of the intake manifold).
I'm still running one on my engine and had to do some bending and tweaking to tighten it up. It's 60 years old and makes metal/metal contact.
Just a free idea

Joe

[Lou's Comet]

Jim,
Here is a picture of my carb it has a lever on the accelerator pump that comes in contact with the pump. So I don't think the added cap will work??
Not a great picture:

You can get the same result by bending the small rod that runs from your linkage to the accelerator lever, on the side of the carb. It should have a slight bend in it so if you make the bend more pronounced it will shorten the rod, which will actuate the accelerator pump sooner. Just like the cap did for Jim.

Remove air cleaner, hold open choke plate and work throttle linkage. The accel pump should squirt gas as soon as you move the linkage. If it doesn't shorten/bend rod until it does.

You have a nice Comet,,,really enjoy reading about your improvements and you making the car yours. Looks like you are having fun and IMO, that's what it is all about

Lou

[A/FX]

Jim,
Here is a picture of my carb it has a lever on the accelerator pump that comes in contact with the pump. So I don't think the added cap will work??
Not a great picture:

You are correct the cap will not fit that carb. I see the link to the accelerator pump is already in the shortest position so the only way to quicken the action is to bend the rod. Have you installed a new diaphragm? Even if it is new is it in good condition?
Joe’s idea about the mechanical linkage is worth exploring, it may take a while but eventually you will solve the issue.

[Sugarmaker]

Joe, Lou, AF/X, Folks,
I may just try bending that rod! I have worked on several Allis-Chalmers tractors and one of the tricks I had to learn is that one of the throttle rods sometimes needed to be bent to "adjust" the carb. So I am taking the rod bending under advisement. But I am in need of a serious "adjustment" to this engine/ system!
Cheryl and I took the Comet for a 30 mile ride tonight. I was very disappointed with the performance! Oh I wont give up. I may need some help and advice along the way for sure. 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.

Today I took the vacuum advance hose off the port of the carb sucked on it and saw that the plate in the distributor did move.No I don't have a vacuum pump tester.
I did adjust the vacuum advance internal setting with a small Allen wrench. I now know how that works. If I need to set it back I can do it. I found it was set at full stroke. I turned it out three and a half turns. Checked the timing with the advanced hose off the carb and plugged. Set the timing at 6 degrees with the headlights on. Not sure of ideal RPM (don't have a tach.) The timing advanced without the hose hooked up or not. Maybe that's normal? Yes I don't have a number on how much it advanced. But it was working.
I am not opposed to going back through things I have worked on, like the carb.
Thanks guys!