Ted, what do you think of our California 91 octane fuel? Will a octane booster improve my chances of keeping this engine happy? If it turns out to be a weekend play toy I can live with that. As long as I smoke the tires whenever I get to enjoy a ride. I will ask a few more questions when I see John next.
I know a 9" is in my future but it's not in the budget at this time. Rolling burn-outs are the plan till that happens. Thanks for ALL the input I am getting. All advice and helps are appreciated.

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

The flashy bottles of octane booster tend to be misleading.  They often say something like increases octane 10 points!  So you think your 91 octane is now 101 octane.  Not even close.  Read the back and it will say that 1 point = .1 octane number, so 10 points is only 1 octane number increase and you now have only 92 octane.  If the engine is already unhappy, that probably won't be enough.  I think there are some that can genuinely increase it by 5 or 10 numbers so just make sure you read the bottle and understand what it means.



Lawrenceville, GA

It is together Charlie, waiting on a new vac adv for the distributor and a few more minor external parts. Otherwise, ready to go. I will just have to wait and see at this point. You will ALL be kept in the loop as I do respect the opinions I receive here. I am looking forward to comments after the dyno run. Till then .........

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

Rowen.  Dynometers can be helpful in sorting-out your engine, but may leave a fair amount of vehicle drive-ability 'things' to deal with as you put your Crown Vic on the road.  I'm sure that the T-5 will greatly increase your driving pleasure.  Rear end gearing and tire size coupled with your engine's low speed performance (low speed torque, engine vacuum, and throttle response) all complicate what will work GooD.

The sorting-out and dialing-in of your vehicles variables can be elusive, time consuming, and frustrating.  Detroit (the o-l-d days) spent a lot of time determining jet sizes, distributor advance curves, transmission gearing, rear-end gearing, and tire sizes (to mention but a few items) dependent upon vehicle weight and engine size.  Again, the previous list is not exhaustive in identifying variables.  Even if it was, geographic altitude can affect many of engine performance variables, too.     

In looking at your choice of 4 barrel carburetors on hand, consider looking at the primary throttle bore and primary booster venturi sizes.  For stop-and-go low speed street driving, carburetors with smaller primary throttle plates and booster venturi-s should help IF you're using a camshaft with more valve overlap and a lower LCA number.  The opening of the secondary throttle plates can be 'tuned' using different value springs in the vacuum controlled diaphragm so the flow capability of the carb is not critical as long as you have adequate size.

Many early Mustang owners with 289 engines find that the Autolite 4100 carbs with the 1.08 venturis perform better on the street than the 1.22 venturis units.

Best Wishes!     


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Wow Charlie, Soooooo much information coming thru!! Being a carpenter and NOT a "mechanic" (shade tree at best) I can see I will have a serious learning curve with this project.i have already learned a lot just by starting the process. It will all start with the engine being in the car. At this time I am going thru the process of re-wiring from the dash forward (rear is in great shape) and converting to 12v. Lots to do before it actually hits the road. Once in the car and running I am sure I will send a few more $'s at John to get the optimum tune. Thanks so very much to you and all who have offered your sage advice. I will try and take as much in as my old brain can handle and put it to what I hope will be good use.

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

That's a beautiful car, Rowen.
Great color combination, perfect stance and above all; the black walls on black wheels with the factory hub caps really look great. Don't change a thing on the outside!!


"FREE SAMPLE"

Not all United States 91 octane fuel is equal and that is simply due how the octane value is calculated. To calculate the 91 octane number, the Research Octane Numbers (RON) and Motor Octane Numbers (MON) must be known.  The advertised octane is then the result of the average of the RON and MON numbers.  It’s because these numbers vary that the quality of the gasoline varies even though the octane ratings may be the same.  Gasoline from two different sides of the street can be significantly different even though they have the same octane ratings.
 
And then there’s the ethanol content as the amount of ethanol that’s present must also be taken into account.  The BTU amount of ethanol is considerably less than that of gasoline and as a result ethanol runs leaner when simply substituting ethanol laden fuel in place of what was 100% gasoline.  The carburetor jetting and/or fuel mixture must be increased accordingly in which to compensate.
 
Performing an ethanol check is reasonably straight forward and takes only a minute to do with a minimum of testing materials.  I do that on a regular basis on fuels run on the dyno here at this shop simply to confirm the ethanol amount and insure the engines are tuned for the gasoline that’s readily available.  As a general rule, the premium fuel in my area has no more than 5% ethanol and on occasion still find gasoline with less than this.  The lower grades of fuel do max out the ethanol content at the advertised 10% amount.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks Ted, this process will be frustrating, laborious, and many other adjatiaves I cannot think of right now I am sure. However the process will also be fun, exilerating, and rewarding as well. I am in no hurry and have time to get it "right".
Lord Gaga, thank you very much! I happen to agree with you and have NO intention of a color change. Those are stock colors and actually a little rare. The paint job is 35-40 years old and pretty darn good shape as is the interior as it was done at the same time. I love the cars look just want a hot rod for a retirement toy. And it will ALWAYS have a Y-block under the hood. No one will get this car till I croak.

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

Hi again guys, just got a call from John @ Vintage Hot Rod Design and the engine goes on the dyno tomorrow. He fired it and broke in the cam, lifters, etc today and set the lash. He says he's very happy with it. tomorrow will tell the video tale. So if I can't get it to post here I'll get one of my kids/grand kids to help me post to U Tube. Wish me luck.......

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

COOL! Looking forward to it!

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID