What Next? 1973 Ford Contry Sedan

Further drama: It seems as if we struck out on this particular yard for wheels,3rd seat,etc.,but he is looking to see if he has some cruisers (Cop wheels are the only ones that are the same,unless you had the Class III towing package). A while ago,I suppose the bent wheels were on the front and seemed a symptom of the control arm/alignment problem,but with everything fixed and having them on the back,obvious wobble,even though heavily balanced. (I wish I had an old-timey static balancer,I bet I could improve them!}
So,what was my point? Oh,yeah...With all these other problems,I never did the basic motor mount test. Obviously needs LH one. That was the clunk. It's not cheap,and I don't want to do it myself,so,peel of some Franklins...Part is on order.
All that said,the main focus is still the engine,and why won't it run right? A) It never would work with points ignition,I don't know why,and I know everyone said Pertronix for the whole time. And B) Once I got the Pertronix in,it still popped back/spit back and sagged,especially when cold. Going richer on idle mixture didn't help,cranking back on the choke system didn't do it,so I figured I'd go to Mike the old car wizard 100 miles away and have him redo the rebuilt carburetor. All this because a light bulb went off when I read in my 1963 Glenn's Shop Class Manual that it would be a lean condition causing my symptoms. So,today I went and put the accelerator pump on its most insane setting, and bent the rod too! Now everything is beautiful--a smooth ribbon of power from idle all the way up! And no spit back when cold. From what little I know of carbs,I thought maybe its jets could be bigger,or a power valve (whatever that is),but this seems to be the cure. Meanwhile the idle is fairly smooth,not perfect.
I remember doing the motor mounts on my '56 6-Cyl. Ranch Wagon--Trans mount and one of the side ones--easy! Acres of room to work in. (Previous owner had whacked the trans mount HARD and bent it,and broke one of the others.)

 

Well, now, that's one way it'll backfire in the carb, especially when cold, so getting a bigger shot in will help with that. Now, there's a page I'm gonna post that won't pertain to your 1973 engine, but it will have tire info that ties cop cars and wagons together:

https://books.google.com/books?id=3...v=onepage&q=1973 police car equipment&f=false

There's tire info in the chapter on 460 PI cars that may be useful to you.

 

Hey,that's a fun read! Thanks.

 

Yah velcome.

 

A lot of the cop cars in that era were the ones I had most to worry about in my wild youth. Supposedly the local Barracks had a '65 Custom 300 with a 427 and a three speed on the column. I don't know how true that was,but the stories came from guys who worked on those cars,somebody had to!

 

This one guy who works on old cars and carburetors stated to me that when I got a reman carb,it was no doubt jetted for a small block Ford. For him to work on it would be at least $300. I wonder why I can't just install bigger jets in it,if I knew how.

 

I do have a few pix...

 

Barb likes it!

 

Best looking car in the lot!! Hey, that's not your mustang in the background is it?

 

Wow, that is a nice, straight wagon. You and Leadslead will definitely need to meet sometime, maybe at the halfway point, for pics.

 

Yeah,that's the '04 GT with the 3.73 axle & 5-speed. Left leg workout.
For the wagon,I am getting conflicting advice on the "cold engine spit back through the carb/push hard on the gas and the engine dies" issue. Some say one size bigger jets,others say no,you'll ruin your engine. I could give it full choke on startup,but that would make it idle at 4000 rpm, AFAIK. Once warmed up,it runs fine. Spark plugs are a nice light tan color.
And those wheels--boy are they hard to find; '73 through '78 5 on 5 only and 6.5" width. So the car will go over 75 mph but that wobble!

 

Looks like I found a sister wagon...

Mine should be up and running soon!