Saving Granddad's Falcon

[dhbfaster]

Wow, hard to believe the last post on this thread was so long ago....but, I ate breakfast, and for the first time since since we got back from Canada I asked my wife "What's on the list today honey" and she said "nothing."
I was like...huh?

So, I was finally able to dig into my problem with the horn not working (It hasn't work since I replaced the steering wheel) and I figured it out. The plate on the inside of the new steering wheel that makes the horn contact was spaced completely different than the old one. Here's the old one Old.jpg and here's the new one. New.jpg
Once I figured that out, I was able to just swap the plates. I cleaned the old one up nicely, reinstalled and amazingly the horn works perfectly now. I don't know why the instructions don't tell you that.

Then I went out and picked up a bottle of the Griot's detailer...the falcon was so dusty...now it's beautiful again.
I'm stoked- two things marked off the short list in one morning. Tomorrow, I'll finish off the detail on the inside of the trunk.

[Luva65wagon]

I was hoping to get a lot of detailing done so I could make the jingle-bell at XXX on Sunday, but they delivered all the stuff the other day and set it right in front of the ghetto garage, so I haven't been able to do that. The poor car has been in that Costco garage for almost 2 years and it is looking pretty sad. But that is about to change!

[dhbfaster]

Put the new coil on last night and started it tonight and it runs fine. A little rough still but maybe it just needs to be driven, and I haven’t had a chance to check the gap on the points yet.
i checked all the voltages at the solenoid upon start and when running...and everything checks out per your description Roger.
Same problem with the starter, except it started the car on first crank and next time the starter just spins and the motor is not turning over...So it’s just not working 50% of the time. voltages at the solenoid near the battery are the same with the key in start position whether or not the starter works or doesn’t work. I also made sure the starter was not loose...it was good and tight. I’ll probably take the starter off tomorrow...

meanwhile...it was very difficult to work the choke cable...it has been getting stuck easily.
The cable seems to be part of the problem-I lubed it up well back at the rebuild, but it’s very stiff.
But see the screw in the middle of the pic that looks loose next to parts that look out of alignment?
Looks like this is part of the cause...I found it loose and tried to tighten it, and it’s stripped.
is this why everyone seems to have an extra carb??


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S

[Luva65wagon]

Put the new coil on last night and started it tonight and it runs fine. A little rough still but maybe it just needs to be driven, and I haven’t had a chance to check the gap on the points yet.

Definitely check those points. If the coil has been weird, or condenser, the points might be burnt a bit as well. But certainly a lot farther along than at first!

i checked all the voltages at the solenoid upon start and when running...and everything checks out per your description Roger. Same problem with the starter, except it started the car on first crank and next time the starter just spins and the motor is not turning over...So it’s just not working 50% of the time. voltages at the solenoid near the battery are the same with the key in start position whether or not the starter works or doesn’t work. I also made sure the starter was not loose...it was good and tight. I’ll probably take the starter off tomorrow...

The four terminals of the starter solenoid "should" have voltage as follows:
Key OFF = 12V on battery cable terminal (left-hand large terminal), 0V on both small and far-right large terminal (to starter).
Key RUN = 12V on battery cable terminal, 0V on left small terminal, ~9V on right small terminal, 0V on far-right large terminal.
Key START = 12V on batter cable terminal, 12V on left, right and far-right terminal.

There is a small, but possible, chance when you let the key move from the Start to the Run position that IF the solenoid were faulty it could provide that ~9V to the starter if the large contacts in the solenoid "stuck" when you released the key to RUN. This could cause the starter bendix to again engage the flywheel while the engine was running. I don't see this in your scenario, but posting it just for clarity.

Because your starter is rotating, and the engine is not rotating, the only possible way for this is a starter bendix getting weird in some way. Usually they don't get predictably bad (bad every time in some predictable fashion), but can work intermittently. The only way this type of starter can spin the motor is by engaging the bendix into the flywheel first to activate the internal motor switch. So, for me, the symptom seems to point to the bendix, which is very hard to test. Most bench testing checks the motor spin function. The bendix can be manipulated by hand, a bit, to see if it feels like it's free spinning (bad) or engaging. But yours might be hard to test. If the starter was rebuilt, did it get a new bendix or did they reuse the old one? The starter for your engine is not a rare beast, so I'd just replace it (again).

meanwhile...it was very difficult to work the choke cable...it has been getting stuck easily.
The cable seems to be part of the problem-I lubed it up well back at the rebuild, but it’s very stiff.
But see the screw in the middle of the pic that looks loose next to parts that look out of alignment?

If, as you say next, that screw is stripped, then it would try to twist things instead of pulling the choke closed, or opening it.

Looks like this is part of the cause...I found it loose and tried to tighten it, and it’s stripped.

is this why everyone seems to have an extra carb??

There are not many of your carburetor left in the world. It's certainly the cause of your choke issue. I don't remember any stripped screws when I rebuilt that carb (the second time). But I'd like to see a side view of the cable. Also, loosen the cable clamp and make sure if you move the choke on the carburetor by hand, or the choke knob by hand, both move freely. Might need a slightly longer screw (if there is depth and thread for one) or to try a helicoil if you can get on that small. Probably an 8-32 screw. Might be tough.

And don't get discouraged by all this. It's part of the shake out this car never really got to see because you had to leave for so long. If we could all show up and help it would be a blip on the history scale for this car to resolve these issues. But that's tough these days, so breathe and try to enjoy even these things.

[dhbfaster]

Well guys...I got the tires for Father’s Day. Went with the Milestar whitewalls and I have to say after all the surveys and looking at pics and old ads...I think I made the right choice. They look great. They’re about 3/4” bigger in diameter than the old tires and just slightly narrower. The ride is better too.
I got the choke cable all fixed up too. I cleaned it up, put some glue in where it was slipping and clamped it tight with the vice. So far so good.
it was a great falcon weekend! Now to finish tuning it up.



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[Luva65wagon]

Looks awesome Don. That picture should become your new thumbnail!