Hey Reed,
I'm too old to get stoned and push Lorrie uphill.

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

They sound like spiral wound wires,IF that is the case,they should be ok.

Hey Steve,
They ARE "spiral wound". They have this teenincy Wire wrapped around the center Wire. MSD doesn't make a kit of wires for the Slant Six. Had already gotten a set of these EXACT same Wires for Ms. American. So got another set, and made up the Wires for Lorrie. The set cost nearly $100.00! But they LOOK Great! They're Black with Gray Boots.

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey All,
Friday Mid-Morning Update:

With a GREAT amount of trepidation and angst over the question: Would Lorrie Start,Run&Drive? Finally got up the courage to go out at 8:00 a.m. and sat on Lorrie's front Bumper to have a heart-to-heart talk with her.

Told her that it was NOT her fault that she wouldn't start&run when it was cold.

Told her what had been done yesterday to remedy that situation.

Told her that she was now the only vehicle here that was in any condition to be driven, and that if she didn't get herself together and cooperate, that we were REALLY going to be in trouble because Ms. American was no longer safe to drive because her Lower Ball Joints were worn out and needed to be replaced.

So got into Lorrie and gave Lorrie’s Carburetor a shot of Start Fluid, turned on the Run Switch, activated the Start Switch, her MIGHTY 225 Slant Six Engine made about one revolution, and SHE STARTED RIGHT UP!

Ammeter went to 30 Amps and then settled down to just above Center. It normally sits at about 10-12 Amps. Hope we haven’t blown the NEW Electronic Voltage Regulator.

Oil Pressure Gauge was registering 30 PSI, which is NOT normal for Lorrie.

When rebuilding the Dash/Instrument Panel earlier this week, had removed the little plastic Hose that comes FROM the Oil Pump and goes TO the Oil Pressure Gauge.

Checked to see if the connection was leaking. It wasn’t. But while checking the on the Plastic Hose Connection, noted that touching the Instrument Light made the Needle on the Oil Pressure Gauge move!

Pulled the Light out of the Socket, and the Oil Pressure started to go up to 40 PSI at idle which is normal. It would go up to 60 PSI if the Engine was revved up, so everything seemed to be alright with the Oil Pressure Gauge.

Brought the Engine up to Operating Temperature (160 degrees), which means that the Water Temperature Gauge is working.

The Fuel Gauge Switch makes the Fuel Gauge work.

There was a slight roughness to the idle, and it was running a bit slow, but that is because the Carburetor hasn’t been adjusted since it was taken apart last time.

Was going to check to see if it would idle with the Transmission in Gear, but just as I started to put the Transmission Selector in Reverse, THE ENGINE DIED!

Activated the Start Switch again, and got NOTHING!

Checked the Start Switch's 32 Amp Fuse. It was fine.

Checked the OTHER Fuses, and what was thought to be a 32 Amp Fuse in the circuit from the Battery to the Common Strip on the Fuse Panel was burnt.

Took it out, and was going to replace it, but wouldn't you know, there wasn't another 32 Amp Fuse to be had.

Originally, that Fuse Slot had a piece of Copper Tubing in it just to get the Electricity to the Common Strip of the Fuse Pane, but when rebuilding the Dash/Instrument Panel, the Copper Tube had been replaced with what was thought to be a 32 Amp Fuse. Got to looking at it carefully, and found that it was a 25 Amp Fuse!

Came into the Studio and found the Copper Tube, sanded each end to clean it, used a piece of rolled up sand-paper the same size as a Fuse to clean the Fuse Slot, put a bit of Dielectric Silicone on each end of the Copper Tube and installed it in the Fuse Slot.

Turned on the Run Switch, activated the Start Switch, and once again, LORRIE STARTED RIGHT UP! Put Lorrie's A747 Torqueflite Transmission in "D", and drove her down to the end of the street, turned around and came back.

Am going to take a bit of a break, then go run a complete check of the Electrical System, and Tune the Carburetor.

Am going to set the Fast Idle to 1,000 RPM and the Hot Engine Idle Speed to 550 to 600 RPM depending on how she runs.

Then later this evening, am going to use the Timing Light to see where Lorrie's Distributor is set.

Will let you all know how it goes.

Anyway, as of this morning, Lorrie looks again like she just MAY be back.

Will have to see how she does tomorrow morning when she is asked to start without Start Fluid.

Will have to wait and see.
Time will tell.
Be well.
JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hooray!

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Hey Reed,
Am not going to celebrate YET. Have been here before.

But the good news is that went out and took the Vacuum Advance Hose off of the Carburetor, adjusted the Idle Mixture Screw, adjusted the Fast Idle Screw to 1,000 RPM, adjusted the Hot Engine Idle Speed Screw to 600 RPM, checked the Transmission Fluid Level, checked for leaks at the Transmission Cooling Tubes at the Radiator, and checked for coolant leaks at the Radiator.

Everything seems to be as it should be, except for the Ammeter.

At idle it is at about 10 - 12 Amps, but when the Engine is revved up it goes up to about 25 Amps. With the Headlights, and Brights on, it goes to 30 Amps. And right after starting it goes to 30 Amps.

The Actron Volt/Tach/Dwell Meter shows that the Alternator is charging at just above 14 Volts at idle, but the RadioShack MultiMeter show the Battery getting 13.72 Volts with the Engine revved up, and 13.34 Volts at idle.

Whaddaya think?

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hmmmm.

(1) I think I have to admit that automotive electronics are not my strong suit.
(2) My first guess would be that the battery isn't fully charged yet or that the ammeter either sin't wired properly or is internally faulty. But, see (1), above.

I recommend replacing the ammeter with a voltmeter.

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Ammeter readings are fine JC.... Everything is regulating/charging properly. If it would ease your mind ADD a voltmeter, also keeping the Amp gauge. You can pull the voltage reading from the Ammeter to save you from a whole new circuit. Can be fused but generally PERSONALLY I dont fuse a volt gauge... HYAW...



Sounds like the problem was 1 coil, 2 gap...... Causing all the various spark/no spark, test results. Bet there will not be anymore hiccups now...

Volt Meter Here


MRO.....

_________________
MRO....

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.... Pick 2...

Hey Dusty,
Alright. We will see.
May do THAT. Just don't have a really good place to put it though. Maybe to the right of the Tachometer. There's an area there that it could go.
Don't even think it was the Standard Blue Streak FD478X Ignition Coil. It checked out alright yesterday. 8.78 KOhms between either the "+" or "-" Terminals and the Center Post.

The NAPA Echlin IC24 Ignition Coil registered a 7.71 KOhms between the same terminals.

And they both had 6 Ohms between the "+" and "-" Terminals.
Much of THAT was stuff on the Terminals being tested.

There was also sometimes something amiss with the RadioShack Multimeter.

And there was no small amount of ineptness on my part.

Once everything was cleaned up, the readings stabilized. And as was mentioned previously, don't think that there was anything wrong with the FD478X.
We will see.

Volt Meter Here

About the Voltmeter: Lorrie has all Stewart Warner Gauges.

If she gets a Voltometer, it should be a SW 2-5/8" Gauge.

Also, NEED a SW Tachometer to replace the one presently IN Lorrie's Dash/Instrument Panel. It is just there to fill the hole. It doesn't work.

Am going to be seeing if Lorrie will continue to start this weekend. If everything checks out over Saturday and Sunday, will get her insurance reinstated, put the Engine Cabinetry back in, and Lorrie will become the daily driver here.

I tell you Dusty, this has been a REAL experience. Pretty steep learning curve for me. Not always pleasant, but it was never uninteresting. Am more at home with dealing with this kind of thing than ever before.

Couldn't have done it without all the help from everyone who was gracious enough to put up with the PITA that I know I must have been at times.

Hopefully all that is behind us and Lorrie will once again do her thing gracefully and without any more issues.

What will be will be
Just wait and see,
Time will tell. Be well.
JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

The ammeter is for current going to/from the battery.

I think your some of your electrical load is passing thru the ammeter, not just battery charging current.

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

JC,

Your fuses were exactly what I was referring to about two weeks back as the possible problem. I don't use them on starting circuits or recommend them. Use a fuseable link wire or a circuit breaker. I learned this the hard way when I worked in the marine industry.

Fuses won't provide the needed amp draw for the coil or HEI. A fuse will glow and not burn sometimes causing all kinds of problems. Fuseable wire and circuit breakers will provide the amperage required.

_________________
Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Hey Mr. E,
The Wire from the "BATT" Terminal on the Alternator, the Terminal that Daniel calls "B+" goes TO the input Terminal of the Ammeter. The output Terminal of the Ammeter goes TO the Fuse Panel Common Strip which is connected directly to the Starter, which is connected to the Battery's "+" Post.

The readings that were made were with just the Engine running. No lights, no Brights, no nothing else on.

BUT when the Lights, Brights, and anything else is turned on, the Ammeter goes up just above 30 Amps.

Is THAT alright?

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey Ted,
Am going to have to go back and reread about this. I've slept a number of times since then and don't have any memory of what you said.
Have a 32 Amp Fuse between the Fuse Panel's Common Strip and the Run Switch's First Circuit's Input Terminal, which sends 12 Volts TO the IGN Terminal on the Electronic Voltage Regulator.

Have a 32 Amp Fuse between the Fuse Panel's Common Strip and the Run Switch's Second Circuit's Input Terminal, which sends 12 Volts TO the Control Module's "B" Terminal, and then on TO the Ignition Coil's "+" Terminal.

Have a 32 Amp Fuse between the Fuse Panel's Common Strip and the Start Switch's ONLY Circuit's Input Terminal, which sends 12 Volts TO the Starter Solenoid.
Haven't the slightest idea what these two items are.
Well, this is the first time I've ever heard about this. Hopefully it won't be a "hard way".
???
Just what we don't NEED.
Alright. Am going to have to do my homework on all this. Up till you mentioned it, I had no knowledge of any of this.

Ted, there is so much that I don't know. AND I don't know what all I don't know!

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Great news JC, sounds like it might be " pay day" for you! Personally I don't use an ammeter anymore a voltmeter tells you all you need . Ammeters have been known to fail internally and even burn out if they get high resistance. That 30 amps is running thru that gage and the wiring is from alt to ammeter and eventually it gets to the bat. But congrats on Lorrie, do you have a timing light to check your timing?
Lower ball joints on a Galaxie huh? Do you have a ball joint puller? They will make the job much easier. Most Fords I've done over here have the joints riveted to the control arm, but the replacement joints are bolted in, I'm sure yours have been done before, the bolts are much easier than rivets to remove. You are going to really hate this next suggestion......but, you have a spare hei coil, modules are cheap and I bet that dissy in the 390 is worn pretty bad after all these years, so why not pick up a decent electronic pickup dissy and wake up the 390? Sorry, it's just what I was thinking!

Hey Steve,
Have been to this point previously, and each and every time, Lorrie came up with something NEW to have go wrong. So am NOT celebrating yet.

As was said here a while back, I don't trust her anymore. She's going to have to earn the trust I used to have in her. Used to be I'd just jump in Lorrie and take off for wherever I had to go without giving her reliability a second thought. I've loaded up the "AllisonWonderland Concert Lightshow" equipment, and headed out from here to New Orleans, or Las Vegas, or Oregon, or Hollywood to do show, but those days are over.

Lorrie is in the best condition she's been in since coming to live with me in 1975. She has never been this well equipped and maintained, and there isn't any reason why she shouldn't just be TOTALLY reliable. Still, until she proves that she is, I'm apprehensive.
Am thinking about putting a Voltmeter in in addition to the Ammeter. There's room for another 2-5/8" Stewart Warner Gauge just to the right of the Tachometer. It would look GREAT there.
But EVERYTHING has been known to fail at some time or another.

Still, did you read what Ted is saying about Fusible Wires, Fusible Links, and Circuit Breakers? Am NOW having trepidations and angst about THAT! If Lorrie finds out about them, she's going to do something that will necessitate getting that stuff for sure.
Right. And it's been wired like that since I rebuilt her Engine in 1985.
Thanks. But as was mentioned previously, she's still going to have to continue to do well for a while before I'm going to be celebrating, and be willing to drive her down to Houston which is 100 miles to the South of here.
Yes. Am going to be doing that this evening after the Sun goes down behind the trees to the West of here so that the Timing Light can be seen.
Well, you're not the first one to suggest such a thing. Others have urged me to go Pertronix since it is not outwardly visible. But for now, the Points&Condenser do just fine. Besides, waking up the P-Code 390 might not bode well for the Transmission/Overdrive/Differential. Although the old Gal is driven very gently. We never race and seldom exceed speed limits.

It has been my philosophy with Ms. American to not replace anything that couldn't be restored. The only way that anything gets replaced is if it is just TOTALLY un-usable.

Anyway, it's getting close to the time to go out and hook up the Timing Light and start Lorrie up to see what her Initial Timing looks like.

Am going to set it at 5 degrees BTDC, and see how she likes that.

The Factory Service Manual says it should be set at TDC, but that is with a Points&Condenser Distributor.

Will let you know how it goes.

JC

_________________
Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor