Spark plugs, etc.

This post catches me up to the current date. The other two posts were written today, but deal with stuff that's happened over the last week or so. Anyway, I got home and decided to tinker. Betty runs OK, but sometimes is hard to start and sometimes idles rough at low speed/low throttle and even stalls on occasion. I had checked under the distributor cap the other day and the points and rotor are new. The spark plug wires are terrible though (mis-matched, different colors, etc., insulation peeling off in places, just bad), so I wasn't sure about the plugs.

I went by Sears on the way home and bought a spark plug socket set, came home, removed the air cleaner and started taking out the plugs one-at-a-time. They look brand new, right out of the box. So for some reason, a prior owner changed the points and plugs, but not the wires in between. I'll get a set of those tomorrow and do it myself.

While I was in there I started documenting some problems I had noticed while at the mechanic earlier. There are hoses that go nowhere, places where there should be hoses that are missing, hoses that go to the wrong places, etc. Here's an example:

On the left you can see I'm holding a hose that comes out of the thermostat that's been cut off. Not sure where it should be going, but it's clearly not getting there. Above that, there are two more hose connections with nothing attached.

Also, towards the right, below the distributor, there's a connection with no hose. I think that one's supposed to have a hose back to the carburetor, but I'm not sure. There's a big hose coming out of the intake manifold that just ends with a bolt stuck in it. There's also a hose coming off the passenger side valve cover that's cut off (sucking air into the engine), and a hose coming from under the carburetor that comes around and goes into the driver-side valve cover through the oil cap. I think the first hose originally went under the carburetor, was cut for some reason and replaced with the second, but it's all very strange.

I also noticed that one of the wires attached to the coil is really lose, just barely touching, so that may be part of my start-up and low-idle problem. I've ordered a Pertronix Ignitor to replace the points in the distributor, plus a new "Flamethrower" coil, also from Pertronix. They should be in tomorrow or Wednesday and should help, especially if I can get the connections tighter.

Anyway, after all of this, removing and reinstalling the plugs, etc., I put everything together and the car still worked! Woo Hoo!