Pop! Bang! putt putt BANG! Klunk

So I got the '73 Ford Country Sedan going great with its new carb, exhaust manifolds, points/plugs/condenser, cap & rotor, etc. Then (2 days ago) it stalled in traffic, was towed to a nearby shop. They said loose secondary coil wire, and you need a water pump. OK. Then I drove it less than 20 miles, and it started stalling when rolling to a stop. Then it would skip and wheeze on the range. Then when I stopped it stalled and would barely start or go over 30 mph. I drove to another shop I know, but by this time, I barely made it into the yard and a couple of really loud backfires occurred (I was saying to the car, "Please don't do that!")
So I left it there, and the tech/owner said he would do compression, timing, restricted exhaust, all sorts of checks to find out what was wrong. I haven't heard back yet. The key fact to me is that it wasn't sudden, that the engine ran progressively worse and worse. I can't really guess what is wrong...Any ideas?

 

Sounds like either a timing issue, i.e. distributor misadjusted or timing chain is slipping, or a vacuum leak.

 

She's just throwing a hissy fit, to see if you really love her. Fords can be like that...

What Ratfink said, really.

 

Was the car sitting for a while? Does the oil smell like gas? Maybe a fuel pump.

 

Backfiring through the exhaust is retarded timing. Verify this by rolling the #1 cylinder to TDC on compression stroke, then look to see where the rotor points to. Each cam gear tooth is several degrees, so a jump of even one tooth will put the rotor past the #1 tower. And the description also sounds like there may be carb issues as well. The exhaust may or may not have a cat, depending on which engine and if the car is Cali emissions or not.

 

Hmmm...interesting. The carb was pro-rebuilt just now, and no cats on a '73. I don't think the distributor moved...and the exhaust wasn't restricted when the manifolds were installed a few weeks ago. If it is the timing chain, at least the water pump would be replaced at the same time,which in total would be a little outside my planned budget envelope.

 

Oh, yeah,I should have mentioned that it is the 400 V-8 with a Motorcraft 2100 2V on top and a single exhaust all driving through a C-6 and a 2.75 Trac-Lok.

 

Not really. Since the water pump is bolted over the timing chain cover, you already have it 2/3rds unbolted from the block. So toss in the rest of the removal and a timing chain/gear set, and you've got both taken care of. My '74 Cleveland jumped timing after a rear-ending; when I removed the timing cover, I found it still had the original aluminum/nylon gear, which made it throw the chain very easily.

 

If the distributor didn't move then I would guess you got a bad set of points/condenser, seen that in a couple of cars.

 

Perhaps the technician didn't tighten something down enough, like the distributor hold down or points. Also, I have had a distributor lock up on me. When the shaft gets gummed up with deposits, it may have trouble spinning freely. My old 283 Nova jumped time on the freeway, backfired then shut down. I tightened the crap out of the hold down, thinking it wasn't snug enough. About a week later it happened again. This time the breaker plate locked while the shaft kept spinning. The wires inside turned into confetti. You have to remove the distributor, disassemble it, clean it thoroughly, making sure there are no rough spots, grease it, reassemble it and reinstall it. Make sure you either mark where the rotor points or, preferably, set the motor on top dead center and point the rotor to number one on the cap.

 

If you pull the dizzy without rolling it up to #1, mark where the rotor points before pulling it, and mark the base in relation to the engine block, then mark the rotor in its second position when it stops turning as you pull it, to let you know what position to set it before dropping it in. Don't fumble the oil pump rod if it comes up with the dizzy.

 

Loose wire on coil ? If so it 's possible it burned up coil or points or both. It is to easy to overthink an ignition problem.

 

I'm guessing timing chain too.
What's the mileage on the motor?

 

Thanx, people. Good responses! It was the points, the coil, rotor too. I thought after the tech said it was burned points that maybe the weak coil had caused it, and that I didn't actually mis-install & gap the points. Then I told him to go ahead and do the water pump, now that I am nostril-deep in the swamp anyway (And last week I thought I was only hip-deep!) The car has 53000 original miles on it. So: heater core, points/plugs/coil/condenser,cap & rotor,pair of exhaust manifolds,rebuilt carb & choke heat kit,both rear wheel cylinders,master cylinder,headlight dimmer switch,PCV valve,air&fuel filters,and some cosmetic items. Phew!

 

I didn't know there were swamps up in the north eastern states. Grab your snorkle before you sink.
You should be back on solid ground before long.