1964 Thunderbird build

[crashchoate]

Thank you for the measurements but I just set where I thought it would be good and didn’t bottom out the booster. I hope it works well. There is a lot of room. I should have plenty of room for lines.

[crashchoate]

Ok I got a few pics of the lines I made today. I forgot to order one fitting so I’ll be ordering that today and then I’ll be able to make a new line to the wiper motor. There is so much more room to work under the master cylinder. I should have no problem with the brake lines.

I also ordered a new distributor today. I just thought it would be nice if the computer controlled the timing so I bought the Holley Dual Sync.

[RedBird64]

Great to have all that clearance. Makes for a cleaner looking bay.

I've been considering the Dual sync but I have reservations about losing the vacuum advance. Unless I'm missing something (I hope..), there isn't any kind of electronic manipulation of the timing that mimicks vac adv.
A while back I was chasing a driveability issue and after much tinkering, I took it to a "tuner" company that I found out had no idea how Ford distributors worked. They disconnected the vac canister because they thought it caused it to have way too much overall timing. The car was a dog off the line without it.
They just didn't understand that you'll never have high vacuum, high load and high eng speed while driving down the road.

Scott

[crashchoate]

I wouldn’t worry about losing vacuum advance. The computer will be able to sense a load change in fuel and air and throttle position and will be able to correct the timing as it see fit. It will make it run like a modern car. I just don’t wanna deal with all the vacuum crap. By the time I’m done the only thing on the car to have vacuum will be the rear vacuum vents

[crashchoate]

Found a good deal on some bling.

[RedBird64]

Purdy!
I talked to a tech at Holley a while back and his answer was basically that the computer wouldn't do anything to make up for the missing vac adv. But, I'm not really sure he knew what he was talking about. I just didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling talking to him.

S

[64ZCODE]

Not to pick on Holley reps however one calculated optimal carb size for me for the 390 and came up with 480 cfm. I'm running the 670 cfm Holley and the engine is loving it.

[crashchoate]

Purdy!
I talked to a tech at Holley a while back and his answer was basically that the computer wouldn't do anything to make up for the missing vac adv. But, I'm not really sure he knew what he was talking about. I just didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling talking to him.

S

The research that I have done it’s supposed to take care of all the timing concerns. I don’t see why they would make it if it wouldn’t replace the vacuum advance system. But I guess I’ll find out when I get it going. I planned on getting those valve covers but found them on Facebook market place for half price. You can find some good deals on there. Better than Craigslist.

[crashchoate]

Not to pick on Holley reps however one calculated optimal carb size for me for the 390 and came up with 480 cfm. I'm running the 670 cfm Holley and the engine is loving it.

I agree with you. I’ve had some interesting conversations with those guys before. The best one was with Fitech. After talking to one of there techs about fuel injection I said nope. They’re by far have the worst customer service I’ve seen. He had no intention of helping figure out what I needed on another project I was working on. Basically if it’s not a Chevy he didn’t wanna talk.

[scumdog]

Not to pick on Holley reps however one calculated optimal carb size for me for the 390 and came up with 480 cfm. I'm running the 670 cfm Holley and the engine is loving it.

You can get away with quite a cfm variation, the 480 (or thereabouts) would be fine for a stock 390, it would be economical, responsive but maybe a little small for a top speed run.

The 670cfrm would be as large as you would want on a stock 390 for all practicable use, a say 750cfm would only be good for bragging rights and more fuel usage in my opinion.

[RedBird64]

Not to pick on Holley reps however one calculated optimal carb size for me for the 390 and came up with 480 cfm. I'm running the 670 cfm Holley and the engine is loving it.

You can get away with quite a cfm variation, the 480 (or thereabouts) would be fine for a stock 390, it would be economical, responsive but maybe a little small for a top speed run.

The 670cfrm would be as large as you would want on a stock 390 for all practicable use, a say 750cfm would only be good for bragging rights and more fuel usage in my opinion.

I had some driveability issues and installed an Edelbrock 750 for a while but it didn't change anything. What I did notice was just a useless area of throttle after about 3/4. There just wasn't enough eng, even with all my mods, to use that extra CFM. I ended up going to a Edelbrock 625 and found that extra CFM syndrome was gone. It also had a bit more pep off the line (would scratch the tires..).
Now with the the EFI rated for 900cfm, I find I have an even bigger useless area above appx. 5/8 throttle but otherwise it runs fantastic.

Scott

[crashchoate]

Well I’m just about ready to start the beast. I can’t wait to hear that cam.

I’ve got all the wiring done and fuel line ran. All I have to do is drill hole in tank for return and put on new spark plug wires. The new distributor uses HEI style caps. So I had to order those. Be here Tuesday then I will make a video.

[crashchoate]

Ok so. I’ve started it and it runs. But I have no brakes. I’ve bleed them and have no air in the hydroboost but. I have no pedal.

[sseebart]

With or without boost, if the brake hydraulics are free of air, you should have some resistance in the pedal. I would run through the system again: bench bleed the master cylinder, check the lines for leaks, make sure the wheel cylinders are holding pressure, etc.

~Steve

[wallyblackburn]

Where did you get the radiator? Any mods to make it fit?

I scanned the whole thread twice and didn't see - sorry if I just missed it.

Thanks,
Wally