The downside of the barge...

OK here's a question, if the previous guy rebuilt the carb, and had it two off the clock on the dizzy. Would the idle be way off because of the carb being set to idle to the timing of the off dizzy? Which is why setting everything back to where it it's supposed to be, the car will die if you take your foot off the accelerator, or is the timing still off at the dizzy? Oh and the linkage to the choke plate fell off, is there supposed to be any clips behind the linkage? And how does one set the choke idle and fix the idle plate? Sorry if any of that was lengthy or senseless, I blame the heat.

 

It's the longest day of the year. Things will cool off by January. Good luck.

 

Can you snap and post pics of the carb, linkages, etc.? And yes, idle quality and engine vacuum will be off if everything is not just so. Iron out the ignition, then we can go after the carb.

 

OK little update, last night I lifted and moved the distributor a notch, and finally I got it to tune at 10 btdc. She sounds a lot better, less like a tractor more like a dragster.
She idles real low still, I adjusted the idle mixture screws on the front of the carb, put them all the way in finger tight then backed them out four turns... she still idles low and kinda shakes a bit.
With it sounding like a dragster is that caused by a misfiring/nonfiring cylinder? sticky lifters? stuck valve?
I'm going to run a compression test later, and take some pics of the carb, just thought I'd give an update.

 

Just remember, you also have the throttle stop screw to deal with on idle. It should be set so the front edges of the butterflies are a smidge above the idle ports and fully below the transition slots. If the stop screw's in too far, the plates may be above the bottoms of the transition slots, drawing unmetered fuel into the engine. Reset the throttle stop screw as I said above, then the mixture screws in and back out 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 turns and see how it runs. Pull the plugs and ensure they're not carboned up and properly gapped at .034".

 

OK fellas, I got the timing set, the distributor is way advanced though, I have to turn it so the vacuum advance is pointing almost to cylinder one...
Anyway, she starts with a bit of gas pedal pressure, but cold idle is off she won't idle on cold just rumbles and dies.
I adjusted the fuel/air screws on the front bottom of carb all the way in, then backed out 1 1/2 turns. I think there's a cold idle screw as well?? not 100% sure since I've only messed with small engine carbs...
I put E clips on the choke linkage since the other ones aren't there.
So I have to ask, what do I do here step by step? its a motorcraft/autolite 4300 4 barrel carb.
Walk me through this like I'm a complete dummy and have never worked on carbs before (because unless its out of a lawn mower or something I haven't)
I will take pics of the carb in its current condition soon.
Me thinks he had the carb adjusted for his odd off the clock rotation...
I know this may also sound odd, I can only describe it this way though... before my little adventure with overheating she ran quiet with a slow, kinda off, lob lob lob...(sound effects don't work well written...) now she seems to run faster (even though her idle isn't set) doesn't go lob lob lob anymore... just sounds better... i think the 'tractor' sound was sticky lifters as its getting quieter, I need to change the oil and check the valves... I think they bought this wagon from some old lady or old man, or next of kin, and it had sat in the garage for years, family didn't want it... anyway, so the people who bought it 'fix' it by getting it running and rebuilding the carb, but didn't set it up the way its supposed to... and I come along and try to put it all back to how its supposed to be... and so I run into one thing after the other...
Anyway sorry for rambling, hope someone gets the juicy bits out of that and can help me with my problems.

 

I think I have a couple different books that would have nearly everything for a 4300, so I can shoot photos of the pages and email them to you. I would just need an email addy to send them to you.
The loblobloblob sound is likely that the engine speed was so slow, not enough air was getting in. Kind of like a high lift camshaft.

 

Well fellas... I got bad news... and I want to blame the previous owners... only cause it makes me feel better... sides I bought it knowing it was overheating... anyway I did a dry compression test... cylinder 1 was 115 psi, 2 was 115, 3 was 90, 4 was 120, 5 115, sad news 6 is dead 0, 7 was 35 or 40, 8 was 150.
I'm sad now my baby...
I'm thinking at best blown head gasket... guess I'll title transfer it and stick it in my garage...

 

Just remember, these older engines take a bit of accidental punishment. First thing when it's in the garage, drain down the coolant to get it below the cylinder decks; second, pull the plugs and spray oil, preferably PB B'laster, into each plug hole liberally, then just jumper the solenoid so the engine cranks a few times to spread it inside the rings and such, and reinstall the plugs; third, unless it had a fresh oil change before you bought it, drain the oil and refill with inexpensive store-brand oil.

Don't think for one minute that your purchase was a bad one; you're giving an excellent-condition 43-year-old car a chance at new life. We all run into having to do big work on our cars simply because we love them and crave the challenge.

 

BTW, I took pics of those pages; when you're ready to dink with the carb, shoot me an email Addy and I'll send them to you.

 

OK last night I pulled the valve cover from the driver side, I obviously wasn't the only one in there, the gasket had about a 1/3 left, bolts where not that tight, and opening it up and you can smell burnt oil... it was getting dark outside by the time I got the cover off, so I couldn't see much, but it looked like everything was working correctly... kind of like a sewing machine...
Anyway when I had gotten the timing close but not exact, it had started, but after I shut it off and tried to start it again, it made a loud bang, backfired a flame ball out the carb, and smoke poured out the oil cap which is on the side of the offending cylinder. I don't know if that's a connected incident or not.
Today I will try and see what I can see, I'll take some pics and share them.
How do you think I can fix this? lets go through this step by step fellas.
Either that or am I looking at a new long block? not that I have the means, either financially, or mechanically, to remove an engine.

 

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to cars. You've spent 6 pages of advice like a fart in a whirlwind, jumping from one thing to another and wasting tons of money. Auto diagnosis is a step by step program. The first step is always determining the condition of the engine. That includes a compression test, both dry and wet, and a look at the timing chain to see how much slop/stretch is has. Then one moves on. You didn't do this. If you had, you would have discovered the bad cylinders and pulled the heads 5 pages ago. At the least, you will probably need a valve job. Once the heads are off, you can determine if the cylinders are F'd up from the overheating. You will also probably need a new timing chain and gears as well.

Report back when you've pulled the heads.

 

Sorry, y'all not the only people leading me and giving me advice, or are here beside me working on it.
I also had to borrow tools from places, some of them didn't work out or work correctly.
Also some of the rush was because I was trying to get it registered and inspected.
I know probably not a good enough reason/excuse...
Yeah I probably screwed it up, sunk tons of money into it that didn't need to be done, and so on and so forth, but that's kind of a moot point isn't it?
Anyway, since you're trying to be helpful, which I appreciate, how do I pull the heads?
I have little to no mechanical training, so either bear with me, and train me, or feel free to let me sink on my own.

 

Anyway here's the pic of what it looks like under the valve cover.
Sorry if I'm bothering anyone with my thread being on the top of the general discussion forum, but we're a small board of like minded helpful folks, at least most of us... some of us are just here for the beer.

 

That's step one. Look closely at the rockers: are any bolts loose? Then look at the springs: are any broken? The oil areas look OK; do you see any spot areas where the oil has cooked into carbon, or does it all look uniformly wet? You want to look closely around the spring seats; that's where a dragging valve will make more heat, cooking the oil and causing carbon to build up.