Problem Starting 1960 Ford 951

michaelvary · Mar 17, 2012

Please help, I think I have tried everything. I have 1960 ford 951 powermaster which was running this fall. It was previously converted to a 12v system. When I garaged it I thought i would do a basic tuneup, and noticed the spark plugs were in firing sequence 1-2-3-4 instead of 1-2-4-3 so I change that and also changed the plugs, wires, points, condenser, rotor, dist cap, and properly gapped the points and plugs. I checked compression and it came up 80-80-65-80. It was still running real rough when I accidently ran it out of fuel. I cleaned the sediment bowl and replaced the screen and gasket. I even rebuilt the ms269 carburetor with all new jets and gaskets. I then opened up the distributor and cleaned the centrifugal advance that was somewhat greased and sticky. I then replaced the coil. I am getting good spark at each plug and I think I am getting fuel to the cylinders and when I pull the plugs, 3 and 4 come up wet. I went back to the 1-2-3-4 firing sequence and get nothing. When the wires are in the correct sequence the engine fires a couple of times and quits. I simply cannot get the engine running smoothly or get it to power up. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

mostly_gas · Mar 17, 2012

Just reading what you have done, I would guess too much fuel. You really need to be systematic about the diagnosis and your work. Verify you have timing correct and spark OK then move to the carb.Establish if your float level is correct and the float valve shuts off. Verify all carb lit parts are installed and seated correctly. That should get you started.

Ford tractor · Mar 17, 2012

It's often simple stuff.

Check that you have the rotation correct. Then the fire order correct (#1 is closest to the radiator). Then check the timing is correct and that the spark is good. To be sure, mark the cap with an arrow for the rotation and number the posts 1,2,3, 4. I've fixed "blown engines" that were nothing more than wired wrong!

By the way, the engine would NOT run if it was incorrectly set to 1234. I suspect that there is some confusion on your part based on that. Don't take it personal, it's easy to get flummoxed (BTDT).

I'd also check that the key switch is good. They go bad and cause problems.

Then I'd personally take the carb back apart and make sure the float is correct, and it was assembled correctly.