[Vintage-race] Power Loss

[burkheimer at earthlink.net]

I had a similar problem with an older Mustang. It did not want to rev, would run great when cold, but the longer it ran, the worse it got. I could let it sit and cool for 20 minutes and it was fine.  We changed carbs, fuel pump etc. Finally turned out to be a faulty push-on connection at the coil primary.

-----Original Message-----
>From: Roger Sieling <Roger.Sieling at telesistech.com>
>Sent: May 23, 2007 7:55 AM
>To: Rich & Liz Stadther <stadther at comcast.net>, vintage-race at autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: [Vintage-race] Power Loss
>
>Back in the early 70s, we had a Mk2 Cortina GT for our everyday car.
>Around town it ran fine, but on certain trips, it would slow and loose
>power, even at times dying completely, only to start back up a few
>minutes later and be fine. I was sure it was a fuel delivery problem. It
>still had a mechanical fuel pump and I had tried opening the tank cap in
>case there were a blocked vent issue. It all became a moot point when
>another driver made a left hand turn in front of us and it instantly
>became a recycling problem.
>
>So check your fuel pump and vent lines.
>
>That also sounds like an awful lot of ignition advance. I run 30-32 on
>aa much higher revving motor. I can't comment on the reversed coil,
>since I'd my friends would never let hear the end of it if I hooked one
>up backwards.
>
>Roger
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: vintage-race-bounces at autox.team.net
>[mailto:vintage-race-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Rich & Liz
>Stadther
>Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 9:29 PM
>To: vintage-race at autox.team.net
>Subject: [Vintage-race] Power Loss
>
>Listers,
>
>This past weekend I ran the SVRA event at Road America in a Dulon
>Formula Ford.  The car was completely refreshed with new wiring, engine,
>coil, etc.  It started out great, going very well, running within 3 to 5
>seconds of my fastest time at RA.  In later sessions, it had a hard time
>getting to 7000 RPM.  The engine builder happened to be at the race, and
>he was quite concerned, so he went over valves and just about anything
>that may cause the problem.  The next session, the car started out quick
>and slowed down.  Further checks found the timing was off a bit, and it
>was reset to 38-40 degrees total advance.
>
>In the race on Sunday, although I had qualified dead last, the car
>easily passed a few of the cars in front of me, but on the second lap it
>started to slow.  After 3 or 4 of the 4-mile laps at RA, I could see no
>one in front of me and no one behind, so I quit.
>
>The engine builder of course was quite concerned and again reviewed the
>engine he had built.  Timing was good, valves were fine, the plugs
>looked great, the exhaust pipe had a nice color, and during the race the
>engine sounded great.  But it did go slow.  Sometime after the race, the
>engine builder noticed that I had hooked up the coil backwards.  He said
>he'd never heard of that causing this kind of a problem, but I am
>wondering if it caused the coil to heat up and the engine to lose
>performance.
>
>Has anyone on the list experienced a dumb mistake like this, and can
>that be the cause of my diminishing performance lap after lap?  Over the
>winter, everything was refreshed on the car.  It had a new Lucas coil,
>which is now become a Bosch Blue.  The distributor is a late-model Lucas
>from a Formula Ford builder.
>
>Does anyone have any ideas what may have caused my slowly decreasing
>power?
>
>Rich Stadther
>1970 Dulon LD9
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