The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Still sluggish after everything so far

I recently purchased a 1959 Apache 3200 with a 235 inline 6. The truck has 63,000 original miles. From the beginning it has always and still starts easily without even having to choke it. It runs well until you hit approximately 1500 rpm's and it just bogs and misses. It does it in every gear and load is not a factor.

I thought a tune up would help. So far I have installed new plugs, plug wires, points, condensor, rotor button, coil, cap, fuel pump, fuel lines, rebuilt carb., cleaned tank, and installed inline fuel filter. The truck still performs the same.

Any suggestions on where to go from here.

Also I noticed a siver knob on the side of the distibutor about the size of a dime in diameter that turns. What is this for?

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I might add that when the bogging starts you can hear a rather noticable sucking of air in the carb as you drive down the road.

Hy vintage_fishing, I would put a vacuum gauge on the engine and see how it reacts to the change in rpm from idle to 1500 rpm. if the gauge goes steadily down it probably has a blockage somewhere in the exhaust system, hope that helps.

possibly a non-vented gas cap has been used .Try going for a drive with the gas cap removed

Could be a weak or broken valve spring.

The knob is for lubrication of the bushing on the dostributor shaft. When the knb is turned, it forces gease into the bushing. It does need to be removed and refilled periodically.

Thanks Bill, that makes sense. I had turned it both in and out and it made no difference in the performance or timing as some locals had suggested it was for.

I have tried that it it did not effect it any.

My younger brother looked at the truck earlier and he thinks the distibutor has play and is walking at the rpm's it bogs. He suggested replacing the points and condensor with an electronic module or to just replace the distubutor with a neew electronic one. Any thoughts or suggestions as to replacing these items as probable cause?

something to try before throwing money at it - add a ground wire to the body of the distributor - if the bearing is worn and it really is 'walking' it's not getting a good ground - remember tho that the distributor should rotate slightly in response to vacuum, that's not an indication of problems, if it's erratic it could be a vacuum problem, including a bad vacuum advance

Bill

Im thinking the timing is slow or the carb running lean.

Look at the distributor while reving the engine, if you don't see any rotation of the distributor the vacuum advance is not working. If that's ok, pull the top off the carburator and make check that the power valve is functioning. Don

If the truck is just setting in the driveway and you rev the engine up to say 2500 RPMs does it go up steady and stay there?Or does it bog down?A electronic dis. is not going to help its no better than a set of points our engines are 3000RPMs at most points are good for that.I'll bet that if the engine runs up to 2500 RPM in the driveway it's a fuel problem some where there is a flow problem.Did you change all the fuel lines or at least blow air thru them?

Pete

The distrutor has a ground wire running from it to the coil.

The vaccum advance seems to be working as it rotates the cap as the rpms are increased.

I replaced all the fuel lines.

The distributor rotates as the rpms increase.

What is the power valve you are speaking of in the carburator? How can I identify a properly functioning power valve?

see if you can borrow another good carb from someone, try it.
check and see if any rubber gas lines are kinked , that is if you have them........make sure the fuel filter is clean..

from what you have done, the truck should be running great..

if you mean the wire that goes from a terminal on the side of the distributor to one terminal on the coil, that is not a ground, that's the coil negative to the points .... try a ground from some point on the body of the distributor [maybe one of the spring clamp mounting points] to a screw on the side cover

Bill

What did you set the point gap at? Or better yet, did you use a dwell meter?

I set them at .17 with a feeler gauge but did not use a dwell meter.

I'm not a carburator expert. This is what I know about the power circuit: small hole in the base (throttle plate assembly. must line-up with the cutout in the gasket (if there is no cutout, make one), this is vacuum source for operation of the power circuit. The spring-loaded rod in the top of the carburation must operate freely, this operates the ball in the high-speed metering assembly. If all passages a clear and the actuating rod operates freely, you will get an enriched gas supply for high speed operation. I’m sure the “Carb King” could give you a better description. Don

After you set the points to .017, did you reset the timing.

Pull out your new spark plugs, what color are they burning.

Was the rebuilt carb from a FLAPS or did you rebuild it.

I decided to take the truck to a local mechanic who primarily works on older vehicles to look it over. I will post details of his findings and hopeful cure when he finishes. Thanks so much for all the help so far. I'm thinking it is the carburetor but time will tell.

"Tennessee" is 400+ miles long, and 100 miles top to bottom. If you're anywhere near Nashville, let's get together and figure out your problem. My farm is near I-65 close to the Alabama state line, and I'm in Nashville pretty regularly.
Jerry

Hey, thanks for the offer but I got good news today. It was nothing but the points. It looks like the guy helping me earlier left off a clip that acts as a spring to hold the points off. The mechanic I carried it to noticed it right off the bat and correctly installed a new set of points and boy did she ever purr. Actually I am having him go ahead and install the electronic conversion replacement for the points tommorrow so I can be relieved of worrying with the old points again. He also noticed the brushes stuck on the generator and is having it serviced tommorrow also.

I do want to thank everyone for their help and support with this.