garycrist Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 I have been a Ford guy since my 1st. car a burgundy 63, I've been hooked. When I worked at a L/M dealer in the mid 70's when all of the glob-on emission were added. Gas mileage became terrible, especially in 385 series engines or 429s and 460s. Part of the "Ford approved service procedure" aka. warranty. (I get paid) was to put on a 1/10 gallon glass jug that attached to the driver's rolled down window and the window channel. I twisted a valve and it filled up the container to a measured mark. It went to the carb and when that jug went empty the car died. What a terrible job, driving in an air-conditioned Lincoln during the Summer! From that experience I have always beat everyone in their own vehicle on gas mileage. Oh yes, back to the big blocks. As we were out in the country, we would take them out and pour 1/2 to 1 gallon of ATF through the carb to de-carbon them. What a cloud it would make, even better that a C-4 modulator rupturing! After driving them around for a bit, they would clear up and not ping so bad with the crummy fuel we had back the, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim W. AZ Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 (edited) When I started driving in 71, they used to sell re-refined oil at the Hudson station by my house. My first car after my mom's 68 Bonneville convertible, (the girls loved that car) was a 67 Riviera with a 430cu in and it hauled ass. It did great burnouts and I won a few races in that car. I had a Dynamic 88 and a Datsun 210 wagon that rusted beyond safe and when I drove it to the junk yard, I had to used a metal post to stop. The body slid forward a few inches it was rusted so bad. I bought my brother in laws 78, three on the tree, Maverick and have owned Fords pretty much ever since, other than one Buick. To blow out carbon, we would hit the freeway northbound and run at 100 mph or so. Ah..., the reckless old days. Edited March 24 by Tim W. AZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 8 hours ago, garycrist said: ..we would take them out and pour 1/2 to 1 gallon of ATF through the carb to de-carbon them. What a cloud it would make, even better that a C-4 modulator rupturing! After driving them around for a bit, they would clear up and not ping so bad with the crummy fuel we had back the, 8 hours ago, Tim W. AZ said: .. To blow out carbon, we would hit the freeway northbound and run at 100 mph or so. Ah..., the reckless old days. ahh.. the time honored ways to clean out an engine.. My father used Marvel Mystery oil on everything.. before Cats.. even seized up motors and the classic, "Italian Tune up".. pull the trans down to 2nd and beat the snot out of it lol Anybody else ever dump (carefully administer) a bottle of water down the intake of a hot engine while hand modulating the throttle? it definitely worked for cleaning up chambers and reducing ping This was my go-to trick when the Italian tune up didn't do enough. lol 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted March 24 Author Report Share Posted March 24 The funnies things during that time, was run-on. Shut the key off, go inside and eat come back out and the car was still running. I guess it was one of those FREE options. At least it cut down on starter replacement. When I moved to Cali one could not De-carbon them like we used to. I once had a big block Ford that ran-on no matter what I did. I even set the idle down to about 400ish RPM. It would still run-on, with the best solution to shut it down in Drive, most of the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim W. AZ Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 48 minutes ago, garycrist said: The funnies things during that time, was run-on. Shut the key off, go inside and eat come back out and the car was still running. I remember them "chugging" until they finally choked themselves out. Compared to then, there are a lot of repairs and service that I won't/can't do now because of complexity, but cars don't carbon up, run on, crack blocks and throw rods like they used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted March 24 Author Report Share Posted March 24 The funniest part of the muscle cars of the 60's and 70's is they didn't stop, could not corner worth a diddly, brakes were for the faint of heart and only an AM radio. Now one may play tunes in a climate controlled environment with heated/cooled seats and outrun most of those fast cars of the day, all in our STs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim W. AZ Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 And now spent $50,000 plus or minus depending on the car, to buy a car that was originally under $4000. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted March 25 Author Report Share Posted March 25 Adding to the topic, I see a member who has no heat below 2K RPM. Back in the early 80's I took to learning all I could about the 5.7L GM diesels. I even learned how to rebuild Rosa pumps or the high pressure pump and 8 spider legs. The shop behind me specialized in replacing those diesel engines with gasoline motors. He had a pile of engines and he gave me all I wanted! But, back to the heating issue. I would have clients call and tell me their heaters quit working but, they ignored it because the A/C was needed but, now that it's getting cold, bla bla bla. I told them they would need head gaskets and it would run $XXX. The next obvious question would be as you know, is "Well how in the hell would YOU KNOW as you haven't even looked at the car yet"!!! Usually they would call back stating they took it somewhere else and wanted so much more bla bla bla.🤣 The neat thing about the 5.7 diesel was the 1980 X block. It had the big main bearing journals, but most importantly, it could be bored .250 inch. Warren Johnson Pro Stock, used those blocks in his big cubic inch Thumpers. AHHH the fun! By mixing and matching different parts, the late model heads, cam etc. I built a monster diesel motor for my Dad. We put that into a Burgundy Olds 98 with crushed velvet seats. What a living room. You could do burn-out with the thing! On a run from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City cruising about 85 he got 27 MPG! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 On 3/25/2024 at 3:27 PM, garycrist said: We put that into a Burgundy Olds 98 with crushed velvet seats. What a living room. You could do burn-out with the thing! I used to run around with a guy on high school in my junior & senior years (64/65). He had a 58 Olds. Cherry. You can do a lot more than burn outs in that monster. Girls loved it..! (I had a 56 Ford Vicky. Not cherry, but it ran. Sort of.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjunior Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 Banging on the starter to make it turn over and finally start the car. Sitting on the fender to change that starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 .... changing the floor mounted headlight switch, filing the point set flat then setting the gap on the high spot of the distributor cam, setting the choke before cranking, checking the oil & antifreeze level and tire pressure evey time you when get gas, checking the water level in the battery ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Don't forget about bias-ply tires and flats all of the time too. A 4 way and jumper cables in the trunk just for back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted May 7 Report Share Posted May 7 On 5/5/2024 at 11:52 AM, garycrist said: A 4 way and jumper cables in the trunk just for back up. I completely forgot about the 4-way. Used to carry one. Great piece of useful equipment. (Still carry a jumper battery to this day in liew of cables.) Gotta use care nowadays; a 4-way has an entirely different meaning than it did years ago. Wuoo wuoo..! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normkol Posted May 8 Report Share Posted May 8 I still have a 4-way in the back. I've never had to use it on the Edge, but it's nice to know it's there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted May 8 Author Report Share Posted May 8 Rather than lugging those jumper cables around, I purchased one of those little LIPO batteries for jumping my stuff. Now with the new Edge, I carry a breaker bar and socket for the tires and 165 foot pounds of torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabangsta Posted May 8 Report Share Posted May 8 Before I found the correct lug nuts for a trailer to match the vehicle, I got an extended lug wrench with 2 double-sided sockets. I replaced the lugs to match the vehicle, but still carry the lug wrench as it has come in handy and works better than the OEM one in many instances. This is just a small selection of things I carry around the spare tire. I need to get a more current picture of it, and the things I 3d print holders for. I added a compressor, plug kit, jump box (each vehicle has its own now), etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted May 8 Report Share Posted May 8 Forgot to mention I also carry a Dewalt inflator. Much faster than those small compressors and battery operated. Usually carry a 5ah battery as that's more than enough to inflate a dozen tires. Jumper battery is a GooLoo 20,800 mah unit. Holds charge for over a year if not used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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