1972 Fury III 360 101498 miles

[73 T&C]

Live the latest underhood shot. You’ve really come a long way! Congratulation!

 

[1970FuryConv]

Kick Panel, right side
Remove the door sill plate (4 screws). Not too bad

and kick panel (2 screws)

Lots of scaly rust in cavity behind vent door

Wet dry vac area

Pulled vent door assembly. Imagine what happened when all this stuff got wet from rain

After first pass with wet/dry vac, thought things might be OK. Drain holes look good.

On 2nd look. Rust hole in the corner. ****!

Maybe I can buy some Eastwood Rust Converter, paint the area, and fix that with caulk. For now, need to put things back together. Vent door reinstalled, door open

Paint on Kick Panel

Someone already cleaned out left side. 2 rust holes there. For now car stays under carport. I don't drive it in the rain. Will fix this problem eventually. Just wanted to do basic work to see that rust doesn't get worse.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Kick Panel: painted and installed. Much better than off-color, scratched, & dirty

 

[1970FuryConv]

Kick Panel LS
· Still rust particles blowing onto floor, after I drive on highway, especially. I must have misjudged the car being cleaned out in this area
· Door Sill Plate: 4 screws, Phillips head screwdriver. Kick Panel: 2 screws, Phillips head screwdriver
· Vacuum out cavity to rear of vent door cavity. Many rust particles vacuumed out. Big rust hole to vent cavity. Whisk broom and toothbrushes to break rust particles loose.

· Vent Door remove: 8 screws, 7/16 sockets & 3/8 Stub Ratchet. Mtg hole for lower rear screw is rusted out.

· Vacuum vent door cavity: vacuum, whisk broom, and tooth brushes. Hot sweaty job. Drain holes OK. Rust hole under Vent door frame.

· Vent Door: reinstall

· Kick Panel: install, top screw 1st. Door Sill Plate: install. I guess "Every Rose has its thorn," but still love the car. Just need to avoid driving in rain until I can get this fixed. Otherwise, wet carpet.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Test drove the car 66 miles to work today. Took the gamble of using the under dash cable and opening the right side vent at the kick panel. I had vacuumed the area, but apparently there was some stuff coming down from the cowl and at highway speed, debris blew out into my face and into the car.

Shut vent door quickly.
Consolation: car still ran okay and is a joy to drive. I just have a little more vacuuming to do.

 

[LocuMob]

Test drove the car 66 miles to work today. Took the gamble of using the under dash cable and opening the right side vent at the kick panel. I had vacuumed the area, but apparently there was some stuff coming down from the cowl and at highway speed, debris blew out into my face and into the car.
View attachment 202206
Shut vent door quickly.
Consolation: car still ran okay and is a joy to drive. I just have a little more vacuuming to do.

I have stuff coming out of those vents everytime I open them, and my friend still has sand coming out of the vents in the Super Bee he got out of Arizona. I hope you can get it all, but I've accepted that leaves and debris will keep flying in my face.

 

[1970FuryConv]

I have stuff coming out of those vents everytime I open them, and my friend still has sand coming out of the vents in the Super Bee he got out of Arizona. I hope you can get it all, but I've accepted that leaves and debris will keep flying in my face.

LOL. Guess we need to stop opening those vents.

 

[73 T&C]

Test drove the car 66 miles to work today. Took the gamble of using the under dash cable and opening the right side vent at the kick panel. I had vacuumed the area, but apparently there was some stuff coming down from the cowl and at highway speed, debris blew out into my face and into the car.
View attachment 202206
Shut vent door quickly.
Consolation: car still ran okay and is a joy to drive. I just have a little more vacuuming to do.

It’s part of the fuselage charm.... the vents work great at pushing huge volumes of air through the car at any speed over 20 mph.

But unless you use them regularly and park in a garage at home and work, you will ALWAYS get debris coming in when you open them initially.

Don’t know how many times I’ve cleaned out the kick panels and loosened the lower fenders to “shake them out”.

Trust me... with my 73 T&C.... I know!

 

[1970FuryConv]

OK, so it finally stopped raining. Got out the vacuum cleaner and the microfiber towels and went to work cleaning up the mess I made. Some pics

I know. The carpet on the dash has got to go. Recovering the dash is another project, maybe for winter.

Still its a great interior

And the exterior: Awesome!

 

[1970FuryConv]

I decided I want an ignition upgrade. I had great success once before with 360 & Davis Unified Ignition HEI, so I went that way again. Original rotor position for #1 cylinder spark plug. I had turned the harmonic balancer Bolt, so that the rotor was in number one position and the timing mark was at 12° BTDC, since that was the most powerful timing that didn't knock with the old points and condenser system.

New Distributor

Installed. Ring of black arrows must lineup with points on reluctor wheel. That way, the pickup and reluctor are aligned. By the way stains on firewall paint are from a previous melted voltage regulator. Gotta figure out how to get that goo off without damaging the paint.

New number one position. The position of the rotor is significantly offset from the blade at the bottom of the distributors shaft. Usually, there are about parallel. But in this case there are 120° different.

Cap & Coil Installed

to make this system work, you have to combine the 14 gage crank wire that went to the original coil with another 14 gage ignition on wire, which I ran from my auxiliary fuse box. So I made this connector and plugged it into the battery terminal of the coil. The advantage of the system is no ballast resistor, so it gets full voltage all the time, which is supposed to give a more powerful spark.

The end of an afternoon's work

 

[Wollfen]

I decided I want an ignition upgrade. I had great success once before with 360 & Davis Unified Ignition HEI, so I went that way again. Original rotor position for #1 cylinder spark plug. I had turned the harmonic balancer Bolt, so that the rotor was in number one position and the timing mark was at 12° BTDC, since that was the most powerful timing that didn't knock with the old points and condenser system.
View attachment 207435
New Distributor
View attachment 207436
Installed. Ring of black arrows must lineup with points on reluctor wheel. That way, the pickup and reluctor are aligned. By the way stains on firewall paint are from a previous melted voltage regulator. Gotta figure out how to get that goo off without damaging the paint.
View attachment 207438
New number one position. The position of the rotor is significantly offset from the blade at the bottom of the distributors shaft. Usually, there are about parallel. But in this case there are 120° different.
View attachment 207441
Cap & Coil Installed
View attachment 207445
to make this system work, you have to combine the 14 gage crank wire that went to the original coil with another 14 gage ignition on wire, which I ran from my auxiliary fuse box. So I made this connector and plugged it into the battery terminal of the coil. The advantage of the system is no ballast resistor, so it gets full voltage all the time, which is supposed to give a more powerful spark.
View attachment 207446
View attachment 207447
The end of an afternoon's work

Hey Ben, I noticed in the pic of the original distributor the rotor is pointing toward No2 cylinder, is that with the timing mark set to 12 degrees? If not, when you run the car, and check the timing, does the timing mark bounce around? To me that looks like either a loose chain or a slipped one.

 

[1970FuryConv]

I had measured and used Belden 8mm Spark Plug Wire Set from NAPA before, so I went with that again.

Wires Installed

Other side

Full view

Air cleaner conceals somewhat

I had also opened the spark plug gap to .055
So what happened?

1. Started immediately; let engine warm up
2. Timing: I missed the sweet spot by 7 degrees because the arrows were aligned by eye. Advance from 5° to 12° BTDC
3. Manifold vacuum now 17HG, excellent, first time I’ve had normal idle vacuum. I had 15HG before, which is a little low. Remove gage, plug port manifold vacuum
4. Vacuum Advance: install hose to ported vacuum
5. Check spark to each plug with timing light: #1 may have slight miss. Other 7 are OK
6. Test Drive: Trans did upshift on acceleration, WOT, without letting off the pedal. Medium acceleration/throttle response is also improved. Idle is smoother. Probably will transition to a higher quality spark plugs, although my Champions seem to be doing OK.

Happy Fury

 

[1970FuryConv]

Hey Ben, I noticed in the pic of the original distributor the rotor is pointing toward No2 cylinder, is that with the timing mark set to 12 degrees? If not, when you run the car, and check the timing, does the timing mark bounce around? To me that looks like either a loose chain or a slipped one.

Hi Gary. Yes, that is with the timing mark set to 12°. The good news is the timing mark doesn’t jump around, but stays steady when I adjust timing. I had someone rock the harmonic balancer bolt back and forth, while I watched the rotor. It’s hard to say, but there doesn’t seem that much slack. The car's got new paint on the timing chain cover. Not sure if the timing chain was replaced and if it was done right. The old distributor rotor did have some offset clockwise as viewed from the top from the blade at the bottom of the distributor shaft. Not much but enough that number one spark plug position as everything was installed was offset from a straightforward position into the position you saw. Still, I guess the timing chain could be improperly installed.

 

[Wollfen]

Hi Gary. Yes, that is with the timing mark set to 12°. The good news is the timing mark doesn’t jump around, but stays steady when I adjust timing. I had someone rock the harmonic balancer bolt back and forth, while I watched the rotor. It’s hard to say, but there doesn’t seem that much slack. The car's got new paint on the timing chain cover. Not sure if the timing chain was replaced and if it was done right. The old distributor rotor did have some offset clockwise as viewed from the top from the blade at the bottom of the distributor shaft. Not much but enough that number one spark plug position as everything was installed was offset from a straightforward position into the position you saw. Still, I guess the timing chain could be improperly installed.

Easiest way to check is to pop off the drivers valve cover and bring the piston on number one up to the very top with both valves closed, then check the timing mark on the harmonic balance, that will get you an idea of whats what. One also has to check to make sure the harmonic balance isn't out as well since it has a rubber spacer between the inner and outer pieces, the outer piece can sometimes slip with age. I know, more work, and we are all allergic to work.

 

[73 T&C]

Harmonic balancers tend to slip.... DAMHIK.

Checking with valve cover off is only sure way to know.... worth the effort.

 

[commando1]

On the compression stroke!
On the compression stroke!

How many times do I have to add that?

 

[1970FuryConv]

Was reading my FSM. Distributor drive gear slot was parallel to sides of car with #1 @ TDC. Not pointed at front left intake bolt. Suspect a new cam, maybe an Edelbrock cam, carb, intake kit.

 

[65sporty]

Ignition made quite a difference, enjoy driving it

 

[LocuMob]

Was reading my FSM. Distributor drive gear slot was parallel to sides of car with #1 @ TDC. Not pointed at front left intake bolt. Suspect a new cam, maybe an Edelbrock cam, carb, intake kit.

My slot is off 15-20° (1 o'clock i guess) from the FSM in the 440, running a purple shaft, not degreed or anything, put in in the garage, lined up the dots, and away I went. Think it's the same in the 383, purple shaft unknow specs.

 

[ImpJay]

With exposed headlights and horizontal bars that front looks somehow angry. Thumps up for the look!