Hi Kerry,
That sounds great, do you know if the old plugs were the right heat
range ?
Keep your eyes on the new ones and you might want to check and make
sure you have a good strong spark at the plugs. Just make sure it is not
running to rich and fouling out the new plugs.
Congrats on the mighty troubleshooting
Allan R
On Wed, 20 Mar 2002 09:16:03 -0800 (PST) KerryPinkerton
<pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
> Ah well better lucky than good.
>
> Problem solved but it was a very unexpected solution.
>
> A little recap. About a year ago my 73 with a factory
> rebuilt thermoquad started running crappy. She would
> cough off idle and was very flat at top end. Vacuum
> readings were low, in the 17 range when a few months
> earlier it had been 20.
>
> None of the traditional vacuum leak tests show any
> results including Dick B's trick of covering the
> primary with cardboard and seeing if the rpm increased
> before it died. I set the timing and tune over and
> over and there was no significant change.
>
> Last week I replaced a drivers side exhaust manifold
> (forearm is STILL sore from banging it on the brake
> booster repeatedly). In the process of doing this I
> noticed that the plugs were heavily sooted but my
> spark indicator showed that all were firing strong.
> Checked the firing order again and again.
>
> Based on the lack of vacuum leak test results, i had
> about decided it was the carb and, in fact, pulled an
> Edelbrock from my son's Mustang to try a different
> carb. Of course the linkage was not the same and
> before I messed with rigging something up I decided to
> change the plugs. No rational reason for this after
> all they were 'new'. The old plugs (AC) are about 2
> years old but 'new' in that they only have 3-4K miles
> on them. It was just a cheap, eliminate a slight
> possibility kind of thing. Autozone only had Bosch
> and I got the cheap ones since I was just testing.
>
> BANG! What a difference! Vacuum back up to 20. Idle
> is smooth, power is strong. She be back! There is a
> moral to this story but I'm not quite sure what it is
> yet. Reminds of my English Lit classes. Didn't
> really enjoy the process and never quite came up with
> the same conclusions as the professor...
>
> The only complaint is that in passing gear at WOT she
> seems to stay in passing gear a little TOO long. I
> say this because the rate of acceleration falls off
> and then picks back up when she shifts into high. The
> shift point from 2-3 seems to be about 70 at WOT. If
> I punch it at 65 she sometimes will drop into second
> for just a second and then back to high.
>
> That however is a completly different problem and I
> will research it later. For now, I'm going to change
> clothes and go for a drive in the rain. The 64 is in
> the shop drying off. She has a squeek in the front
> end.
>
> In the tlc department, the 73 also had a squeek in the
> rear end and I tracked it down to the upper shock bolt
> being just a tad loose. Tightened it up and no more
> squeek.
>
> I am a MUCh happier camper. Now I just need to think
> about what she was telling me and why it took me so
> long to fall into the solution. Is there a way to
> tell that the plugs are misfiring under load?
>
> Someone asked how to change plugs on a 71. On the 73
> (similar) the 1,3,5 4, plugs can be reached from the
> top. The #7 plug from below and I had to put a wrench
> on the end of my plug socket as there was no room for
> the ratchet. #8 also is easier to come out from
> below.
>
> Having said that, there is below and then there is
> below. Being on a creeper makes for a different arm
> angle than standing up with the car on a lift.
>
> One final trick is because some of the areas are so
> tight it is difficult to start the plug back in the
> hole. You can take a piece of vacuum hose or (my
> preference) a piece of 1/8 id flexible water line and
> put that over the end of the plug to act as an
> extender. For several of the plugs this is the only
> way I have found to get them started.
>
> happy happy..
>
> Kerry
>
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