What Next? 1973 Ford Contry Sedan

Yes, the sputtering was caused by the retarding of both dwell and timing. Good that you found that.

 

The salvage yard is Balicki's in Palmer,MA. They have a website. If you get there,it's probably better to park and walk in.

 

I can't understand how the point gap shrinks like that! Well,I didn't set it,so they could've set it wrong when they did the timing chain job. Earlier,the reman distributor I got came with a humongous vacuum advance unit which on my engine hits the intake manifold,preventing turning the distributor. So maybe the vacuum advance unit I swapped on was tired. S'posed to get a new one midday--I'll have to put it on in the rain.

 

I overlooked the right side upper control arm bushing--I had the left one done,now the right side one is completely gone. I have the part,Ford dealer will put it on. Maybe the slop in the steering is this and not the box. I'd like to say I've never had a car that needed this much attention,but then I remember the '89 Crown Vic Wagon and the '88 Squire I had.

 

Some require a lot, some require not much at all, just TLC. I'm sure you measured gap when the rubbing block was on a lobe, but was there any lube on the block? That's a quick way to close the gap.

 

Not as much lube as there was,but some. The vacuum advance they sold me was unsuitable--the applications were only up to 1971. It'd be nice to find the right one!

 

Arrrgghh, I hate when I get the wrong part.

 

Ford parts counter got me a vacuum advance. There are many adjustments for different car model lines,and the fact sheet only goes up to 1971. I tried 5 different settings and the 5th one worked (at least the old 400 runs halfway decent now). The rough idle is mostly gone,mainly because the old vac unit comprised a huge vacuum leak,which didn't occur to me while chasing down problems. The salvage yard (I hate to say junkyard as we always said) man is chasing down those wheels and seats I need,and maybe a few other items if what he has is a full-house Country Squire.

 

So I tried a bunch of different "Turns" settings on the vacuum advance. Engine seemed to run OK,then horribly. Gap/timing/dwell are set. Today I started thinking about the vacuum modulator. I want to replace that and the line to it. Dig it! The car will go great,run really sweet,and then will shift and immediately go into the shudder dance as you are starting off. If I can't get someone to put it on a lift,I'll have to crawl under there. If the tube is steel,it'll have to be cleaned out,most likely. Rubber would be replaced. I can see where it starts,firewall behind intake,but that is all I can see.
Here's the fun part: Data plate says C6,build sheet says C4. C6 has more bolts attaching its pan,so you'd have to get under there to know. Of course each transmission has its own modulator.
Anyway today I had the Ford people install the other upper control arm bushing. Yay! No more clunking.
Maybe when the weather improves I'll hear from the salvage yard.

 

http://www.lmctruck.com/ICATALOG/FB/full.aspx?Page=120
This should help you tell

mike

 

A full-size wagon would not have a C4 behind a 400; is it possible there was a mistake in printing? You can tell a C6 right off the bat--the bellhousing is part of the case, whereas the C4 has a removable bellhousing.

 

Mine has a fmx with 400

 

Again,my issue with the transmission mix-up was that in FACT the data plate says "U" code C6,whereas the build sheet says "C4" in the transmission box. Maybe this was a mistake that some smart person on the line corrected,but it is definitely a C6. Lots of midyear changes,along with the massive changes for MY 1973.
Once you crawl under the car,you can see what is what. The return line goes to EGR (complicated). Since I've removed all useless vacuum crap,the return line can go to the EGR port on the carb. (There were many controls in between so EGR could talk to vacuum modulation,but what does it all mean now?) All I want now is distributor vacuum advance,transmission modulator,climate control vacuum & can storage,and power brakes.

 

Ran into this on Ranchero.us. NO, that C4 code does not refer to the type of transmission, but the variant of the model of trans you have. This page, starting with my post at the top, the OP on the other site ran into the same confusion:

http://www.ranchero.us/forum/index.php?threads/78-cali-car-w-460-cid-long-term-project.22161/page-5

I not only spelled out the designation, I included a link to the page I pulled the info from. His Ranchero started life with a 400.

 

Well,OK,why wouldn't engineers confuse us? Why NOT have the same code mean two different things? Cheez Whiz!