Bob Shafto

The wheel well trim pieces on my '66 Galaxie need to be polished and have dings removed. Does anyone know of a company or individual who does this kind of work?

Brand new red carpeting for a 1961 full size Ford. Never been out of the box. $350 at Mac's; yours for $150 plus shipping.

Wow Bloo, what an interesting post. I've run mostly NAPA green in my '36 Master Six for the 57 yrs I've owned it and have never knowingly had a problem with foaming. I did make a modification to the radiator 20 yrs ago though: had my radiator guy put a new neck on it that will take a 3-4 lb cap. Really helped with overheating in very hot weather (90s) when in traffic or going up hill. One key is to not overfill the cross flow radiator; fill only to the outlet hose level. Seems counterintuitive but that's how they were designed (as you well know). Don't know how they ever got around in the Deep South with these cars back in the day. You going to this year's Flathead Reunion? I plan on making the 1,200+ roundtrip drive in my coupe. Hope to see you there. Still problem solving with the Ford. Bob

Thanks so much for your thoughtful and detailed post Bloo. The new engine has a C6ME - A block, the same as the original 390 FE 2 barrel engine that replaced it.

m-mman or Bloo === any idea where I would find the valve specs. They aren't in the shop manual and I haven't seen them on-line. The plan is to do a dial spec test next.

I assume the timing wouldn't explain the low compression though, so it looks like I either get a new replacement engine or completely tear down the existing one. It is supposedly warranted for a year, but I guess we'll see whether they'll honor that or not. ☹️

Good advice on the timing. I'm thinking that the best way to check for the correct pistons might be to find another 390 motor, measure the distance down the spark plug hole with #1 at TDC, then compare the same measurement on my engine. Anyone think that will work?

The "palm test" was done but did not indicate a problem with the intake gasket. I believe the dry compression test was done by blowing 150 lbs of pressure into each cylinder with the valves in the closed position. There was no blow by through the rings or valve train. I'm going to try and get my mechanic to join this thread. He can be much more specific about all the diagnostic tests he did. Meanwhile, keep the ideas coming and thanks for your contributions.

Yes Bloo the 5" of vacuum is very significant. There are no vacuum leaks; the dry and wet compression tests show the rings are seated properly, and the valves are in the correct position. The mechanic did say he had to advance the timing significantly to get it to run the way it's running now. The camshaft is suspect however. Clearly something was done incorrectly by the rebuilders. I hope they will honor their warranty, but can't say I'm very confident about that.

Here's a summary of what the latest mechanic did with the car (a very experienced guy who knows old motors). To add insult to injury, the new set of points installed with the engine failed while driving the far to the shop, creating a backfire which blew out the muffler!

You're right of course, it does have a timing chain. My faulty memory! It's been 13 months since the engine was installed.

This engine doesn't have a timing chain, so no issue there. The marks on the timing gears are in the correct position and the valves also in the proper position at TDC. I'm learning a lot from this conversation!

Great suggestions guys, thanks. Too much volume in the cylinders would produce lower compression and less vacuum. My difficulty now is determining the correct size of those parts, starting with the push rods.

Here's a mystery several very good mechanics who've looked at the car are unable to explain. I installed a new 390 long block in my '66 Galaxie over a year ago. Since then, it has never run quite right. What can't be explained is why it only has 80 lbs of pressure in all cylinders and only 5" of vacuum at the manifold. Those numbers are way below normal. A dry and wet compression test confirms that the rings are sealed properly and the valves are opening and closing in accordance with the timing (and the timing gears are aligned properly). With a lot of careful carburetor tuning and close attention to setting the timing, it manages to run reasonably well but it is clearly not right. There are none of the usual suspect vacuum leaks (intake manifold, carburetor mount, etc.) so it would appear to be an internal engine problem. But what? Any ideas much appreciated.

Thanks Boo, that will get me started on the cure. Glad the restoration information was helpful. I figured if I didn't write that stuff down it will be very hard for future owners of these cars to keep them running.

Every time I make a left turn in my '36 Pontiac, I hear a distinct "clunk" noise that appears to come from the left rear corner of the car. Otherwise, it drives and rides fine. Any suggestions for what I might look for as the source of the noise?

The brake might be pulling because one brake drum is worn excessively. That was the problem with my '36, eliminated when I replaced the drum. Check the inside diameter for wear.

Thanks Jon. Any idea of what the correct float setting should be? Sorry,no picture. It's at a shop.

Can anyone tell me what the original 2 bbl carburetor on my 1966 Galaxie 500 390 motor with AT was. It has no tag or other identifying information. Make and tag number needed. And maybe too the correct float setting? Thanks

Can anyone tell me what the original 2 bbl carburetor on my 1966 Galaxie 500 390 motor was. It has no tag or other identifying information. Make and tag number needed. And maybe too the correct float setting? Thanks

Good advice all around. I had a similar brake problem, then discovered one brake drum was wider than the other. Both were originally 12" in diameter as I recall. I had one that was 12.5".

Thanks guys, looks like the next step is to take the intake manifold off and see what's what.

No power brakes or vacuum manifold.

I got mine from Steele.