Any early 70's Ford owners

Any early 70's Ford owners have photos of their engines? I'm trying to determine how my distributor should be set up. The previous owner has a tube coming off the distributor that he has folded over and tied to prevent it from leaking. Obviously this isn't spec and I haven't been able to find a picture or diagram of what it should actually be. Any clues? :confused:

 

Sounds like vacuum advance. It should be uncrunched and have a hose run to manifold vacuum.

I think I only paid like $15 for an entire dist. from O'riellys when the one in my '75 f250 died. That and an ignition box I think is all that you need to just convert to electronic.

 

Thanks for the info. I definitely want to switch to an electronic ignition. I think Perktonics (I think that's the name) makes one for my car.

Now I have another issue! I took my car on a pretty long drive last night and everything was fine. I drove it into work today and where I work, we have a gate we have to drive through and check in with a guard. Anyway, while I'm in the line of cars inching forward, my brakes failed to work. The pedal didn't go to the floor or anything but the brakes wouldn't work. I pulled out of the line and stopped with the parking brake. I pumped the pedal a bit and it seemed to come back so I got back in line. The brakes worked again but now I'm real nervous about the drive home. I'll check the fluid, but if it isn't that I wonder what it could be? Master cylinder going maybe?

 

From your description, if accurate, my guess is that the pedal was already so near the floor, that you simply didn't notice the pressure bleed off until it was gone. So, check the level, and look for signs of fluid leaks on the inside of your tire/wheels. If no loss, that is likely a bad master.



If holding the pedal firmly, it begins to sink and you loose braking ability, it is due to a leak (internal or external). You said you pumped the pedal and you got your braking back, that is classic symptom. But you said your pedal didn't sink, so that is why i was questioning the accuracy.

Another way, if the pedal remains the same but you loose braking, it could be a loss of power assist. The power assist in your car comes from stored vacuum. Perhaps in holding the pedal so long in stop and go, you depleted the stored vacuum and didn't replace it at the rate it was used due to a major leak?? In other threads I see you have vacuum problems...

Unless there is an internal booster problem, the leak would have to be major, and most probably audible. Loosing power assist is much rarer occurrence though and I think it is more likely you just didn't notice the pedal sink.

 

I just went out and checked it. I started the car and pressed on the brake pedal. It doesn't go to the floor. I then put it in gear to see if the brakes worked and they did. I checked the fluid level in the booster and one of the two chambers was just about empty. I didn't check the level when the car was delivered and I probably should have. I looked at all the wheels and I don't see any evidence of a leak. So maybe it'sthe vacuum issue. I'm going to fill up the reservoir before going home and then take the wheels off this weekend and see what I can find.

 

Finding that low reservoir level is making it even more likely to be hydraulic than the vacuum assist... I found some videos that I think will really help you
understand what the systems do, and give you some idea what to look for.

 

Great videos, thanks!

 

If you don't find any evidence of leaking, and the side of the master that is losing fluid is the rear (closest to the booster), you could have a failed seal on the booster and it is sucking the fluid into the booster. The fix is to replace both the booster and the master cylinder. A friend had that on his 79 Thunderbird, and it has the same master cylinder as yours.

 

There was some leakage at the master cylinder and the wheel cylinders. So I'm having those replaced next Monday. I'll have them check to see if any fluid was sucked into the booster, thanks!

 

I had never heard of it before, so it was quite the surprise, let me tell you. When we removed the booster, it weighed about 10 POUNDS more than it should have! Luckily, we found a good one in a salvage yard. Master cylinders are super easy to get. So are the wheel cylinders. Let's hope that is all it is. Good luck.

 

That vacuum hose may go to a port on the carb, or some sort of harness coming off the carb.
Depends on the year and motor, lots of changes in the '70's.

 

Well it happened again! I took my mother for a ride around the block (she hadn't ridden in it yet). When we got back to her driveway, I put the car in park and turned it off. About a minute later I started the car, put it in reverser, let off the parking brake and the car started rolling. I pressed on the brake and again: nothing. It doesn't go down to the floor (that is accurate), its like it gets halfway and then the pedal just stops. Its not soft or mushy or anything. I had to hit the emergency/parking brake to stop the car. I waited a moment, pumped the brake pedal a few times and I had my brakes back. It goes to the garage tomorrow to have the master cylinder and wheel cylinders replaced. I'm wondering if there is a bigger problem. Perhaps the booster like you said. I'll have them check that. Any idea where the part number is located on the booster? There are a couple on ebay but I want to get the correct one, if I need to. I guess they don't make new ones for my car?

 

Before you worry about the booster, see what happens when the wheel cylinders are done. It sounds like you may have air in the lines, and that is why pumping the pedal works. You may find that once the system isn't leaking, and is properly bled that the problem goes away. We can hope, anyway.

 

I'll find out today (hopefully) and I'll post what they say/find.

 

How did you make out with the brakes?