Possibly "Christine 2, 3, 4 and 5"!

[Mudeblue]

I have had my 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury for 35 years and had another for approximately 2 years in the late 60's before the long arm of Uncle Sam said "come here boy!" I have been working on an overheating problem, which I have presented and made inquiries on this forum, for approximately 2 1/2 years since the restoration completion; overheating is the last major challenge I hope. When I was taking measurements for the purpose of redoing the electric fans or possibly going back to a mechanical fan, I discovered that the engine is not centered in the car! Blow me over, tell me it is not so! At first, I thought I was going blind reading the tape but NOPE! Even researched it and the research said YUP, it is centered but further research says NOPE it is not! It was just a quick, crude measurement at the shop but it appears to be off by 3" plus. New one on me which just makes resolution of a bad situation even worse. This five year project has become the "project from hell!" At the same time the car has been running rough and we discovered the rod to the fuel pump is/went bad but that's an easy fix with and electric fuel pump. Every nut and bolt during this 5 year project has been a battle and I think the car may be winning! If we solve the overheating issue, I wonder what this piece of iron has in store for us next but it better be take note; I have a goose hunting gun under the bed! I think I am going to rename the car "Christine 2, 3, 4 and 5" and if the radio comes on by itself, RUN!

 

[Big_John]

If you are wondering if the engine should be offset, yes, that is correct. This is done for room around the steering gear. If you look at the floor, you'll see the driver side footwell is larger than the passenger side and the driveshaft tunnel is also not centered. Get under the car and look at the offset driveshaft too.

Regarding the pump rod... That's not an unusual failure, but it's easy to replace and probably easier than installing an electric pump. If you have installed an electric pump, you really need to install a crash/rollover switch. That will shut the pump off if you crash... Think about that... You crash, you're upside down in your convertible and the fuel pump is still pumping gas even though the engine has stalled. It should scare you.

 

[CBODY67]

When Ford went to EFI, they added an inertia-triggered fuel pump cut-off in the trunk area. During the Lincoln Versailles era.

GM (and probably others) EFI uses an initial timer to run the fuel pump at start-up, but after about 40 seconds, it times out if no evidence of "engine running" is detected. Otherwise, once the engine is running, the "Run" function takes over.

In prior times, the oil pressure sending unit (gauge or light) had an extra terminal on top to run the electric choke heater.

Several possibilities!

Happy Holidays,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

When Ford went to EFI, they added an inertia-triggered fuel pump cut-off in the trunk area

Actually, a good (cheap) source for one is in the trunk of Crown Vics. You could do an oil pressure switch, but I tend to think the inertia switch is the better piece because it also will shut off gas to a running engine in a crash, therefore shutting it down.

 

[Mudeblue]

If you are wondering if the engine should be offset, yes, that is correct. This is done for room around the steering gear. If you look at the floor, you'll see the driver side footwell is larger than the passenger side and the driveshaft tunnel is also not centered. Get under the car and look at the offset driveshaft too.

Regarding the pump rod... That's not an unusual failure, but it's easy to replace and probably easier than installing an electric pump. If you have installed an electric pump, you really need to install a crash/rollover switch. That will shut the pump off if you crash... Think about that... You crash, you're upside down in your convertible and the fuel pump is still pumping gas even though the engine has stalled. It should scare you.

Good point, thanks.

 

[CBODY67]

In many cases, FEW things in a vehicle are symmetrical, as suspected at first.

Driveshaft location can be due to the fact the pinion gear is on one side of the axle's center, side to side. Seems like that some Ford vans were visibly off-set?

Angling the ends of the driveshaft (or intermediary joints) helps manage harmonics which can happen during operation. "Nothing in a straight line", basically, whether laterally or horizontally. Look at the 3-section driveshafts of longer wheelbase motorhomes and medium-duty trucks whose driveshafts have a visible bow (to the bottom) in them.

As there is physical symmetry, there also is "weight symmetry". I suspect THIS can be a side-issue of Chrysler's engines being a bit offset to the rh side (with the pivot point being the end of the transmission tail shaft housing) compensate for the weight of the heavy steering gearbox on the lh side of things.

When designing a chassis front suspension which will have very accurate Ackerman angles of the front wheels in turns, putting the side-to-side steering linkage behind the front wheels is optimum. That then can dictate where the steering gear is placed and the length of the pitman and idler arms. In Chrysler's case, this meant the steering gear would need to be near #3 spark plug's location, beside the motor. So the V-8 engine block offset is needed within that general area of space.

"Rear Steer" can also relate to oil pan designs. Usually "front sump", although some engine swaps in the 1960s meant a tunnel in the oil pan was needed for the "drag link" to pass through. Some mid-1980s full-size Ford cars had oil pans with TWO drainable sumps in them. A different way of doing it.

Happy Holidays!
CBODY67

 

[413]

Fords used the inertia switch on every car they made, mustang, Tempo, Taurus, Probe, Ranger, F series gas truck,

Right side in trunk on cars and right kick panel on trucks.
Rockauto calls it a fuel pump cutoff switch.

It can be tripped in some minor accidents and the car won't start so watch for that.