Thread: 390 problems

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there really is no way to put a head gasket on wrong on those engines. due to them being universal and only being able to go on one way. it may be cause the electric fans arnt pulling enough air flow... like the cfm rating is too little

Hey all. I have a 1968 Ford Galaxie w/ a 390 that has ~60000 miles on it. I put a new edelbrock preformer manifold on it along with a Holley 670cfm Street Avenger with an electric choke. The problem I'm having is when the car is warmed up and idling fine I'll be driving down the road and have to come up to a stop or slow to turn, the car will occassionally die. Although, sometimes it will downshift just fine and sit there and idle fine. When it dies (which is more frequent) the car will start right up but it usually acts like it's cold again. Almost always when the car is shut off after it is warm, it will act like it's cold again for several minutes and have a really low idle. For example, I can drive the car for an hour but if I stop to get gas and then start it up it will act cold. The car idles at 900rpm in park and 600rpm in gear.
I'm back to points for ignition thanks to Accel garbage burning up my Pertronix ignitor. I recently flushed my transmission and put a new gasket/filter on but the problem is still there. And I've sprayed starting fluid all over the engine especially around the intake manifold and nothing happens. Although, if I spray starting fluid directly into the carb, it will bog down instead of revving up.
Any ideas on this situation would be greatly appreciated.

What did you hook the choke to and are the floats set?

Did you use a vacuum gauge to set the carb? I don't know for certain but I'm feeling 600 in drive is a bit to low for an idle. Did you verify timing after the ignition changes? Was the advance disconnected when timing? Are you using a ported vacuum source for the vacuum advance?

Check timing.