Ooopppsss I am reposting this from the Street forum, I think it is better here 😅


Hi all you Y-block lovers! I'm new to this forum from Athens, Greece with my '54 Mercury Monterey driver. It has the original 239 with low mileage, manual with Overdrive, 6volt positive ground, the 2140 Teapot and, the ' temperamental' Load-O-Matic..

Before learning that need a SUN machine, way back I tried to adjust the spring weights and really messed it up. I found one in England but it came back and still is no good. I've always had problems and lately it misfires especially in the mid RPM range.


Here are my novice questions for your kind expert consideration:

1. Is there a way I can manually tune the springs without the SUN machine?

2. Are there reliable Load-O-Matic tuners in the states I can send it for proper tuning?my Load-O-Matic for tuning or I just forget about them?
3. Should I simply forget about it and go for a point unit with centrifugal weights like the ones used in the later Y-Block engines? And frankly I would like to keep it as buy now. I ( I can easily do Ted 's vacuum Teapot conversion I read about in this forum) know it quite well
4.
5. I am also open foran HEI distributor that looks like my original and can fit with the shaft length and tang coupling to the oil pump. However there is a question with the wiring of my overdrive's kick down switch wiring on the coil, because I tried the Pertronix unit it way back and it did not work.

That's it, thank you all in advance
Aris

Being a solid pulley in your case is expected to have the TDC mark reasonably close to where it is supposed to be.  The rubber mounted dampers are prone to slippage at the timing marks and that does pose a tuning issue when that happens.

I only mention the rubber damper as it was unknown at the time if the engine had been upgraded to newer parts or possibly even another engine during the last 70 years.  I bring this up due to working on a 1954 Ford Y for a customer that ended up being a 292 with the ’54 timing cover, distributor, oil pump, water pump, fuel pump, etc.  Externally, the engine looked like a 239 without delving into specific block and head casting numbers.  That engine was then upgraded with the 1955 and newer parts to make it more road friendly in the event parts were needed to be replaced during a road trip.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)