help with tri power setup

i have a '65 ford galaxie for those of you who havent been reading my posts in the FE section i will go ahead and list what all is done to thhe motor so you can get an idea of what i am working with
it is a 1962 406 bored sixty over with a 428 crank i think thhe total ends up being about 440ci it has 10.5:1 compression a Holman-Moody solid lifter cam with .290 duration and .526 lift. i also have an original ford 3X2 setup. i think this is where my problems are coming from. the motor was in a 67 fairlane and it was running a 13.2 @ 106mph then the motor was pulled out in favor of a built 427 and the carbs had the fuel drained out of them and were set in storage. they prob. sat for like 10 months then i boughht the motor and bolted it all together. im pretty sure i blew the power valve bc i back fired when ifirst tried starting it anyway i pulled the primary carb apart and replaced the power valve (it was a 3.5 so thats what i put back in it) and the thing just wont run right. i bought the $20 manual on the carbs from HP Trends where the carbs were purchased and followed all of the pre-startup and running adjustments but no luck it will idle and great and run great under full throttle but just running around town on just the middle carb it hesitates on take-off and while your going down the road the whole car pulsates and feels like it is jumping forward and back. the thing wont make any power at all unless all the carbs are wide open. i just cant figure it out i have rebuilt the center carb and cleaned it 2 times but no luck. i can make it run better by advancing the timing it seems the more i advance it the better it runs but the timing is not right there is a mark on the balancer where thhey had the timing set before i cant remember where it was but the thing ran fine on that mark. i ws the one that helped them time it there at the track that day and i made the mark but i cant remember what it is at. anyway my theory is if it ran before when it was timed there then it should now but like i said the only way i can get it to run is to way advance it. hopefully someone can help me
thanks guys
Tyler

I hesitated to post a reply, since I don't fool with Blue Oval stuff much. But, since noone else is trying I wiil.

Sounds like a lean surge to me. I had a 350 Chevy do that. If the carbs sat up without being cleaned, the jets may have varnished up. The power valve should not affect your cruise condition. I have 3x2 on my 46 so I know pulling the center carb can be a pain, but I would clean it out if you haven't done that.

As far as the timing issue goes, if any of the internals that affect timing have been replaced(cam,timing chain and gears) then the marks you made before tearing the engine down might not line up exactly. Manufacturing tolerences would be the culprit here. If the distributor is one tooth off, it could cause this also. I say let the motor tell you what it wants, if it runs better with more timing and doesn't have ping or detonation then run more timing(within reason of course).

Mike(who is in no way a FORD expert)

i never took the bottom end apart or pulled the cam out the only things to come off the motor were the heads and intake. i have cleaned the center carb 2 times but today i noticed something when i looked at the fuel filter it wasnt filling up all the way and there were air bubbles sucking through it. whenever an air bubble would pass through the tone of the motor would change. that makes sense the pump wouldnt be pumping as fast at low rpm such as coming off idle so if it is sucking air that would be a big deal but at full throttle the engine is spinning a lot faster and the pump could compensate for sucking air this might explain why it is running fine a full throttle. im just basically thinking out loud

Sounds like you may be on the right track.

Check the fuel lines and hoses on the suction side of your fuel pump. If everything checks out there then the diaphragm in your fuel pump may be bad(if its a mechanical pump).

If the pump diaphragm IS leaking, gas could be leaking into your oil pan too. I had a friend have that happen. The engine ran fine, but it diluted his oil pretty bad before he caught it.

Good observation on your part by the way. Diagnosing engine problems without all the info is tough.

Mike

yah im pretty sure the pump is fine but if fixing the fuel pump lines doesnt fix the problem then i will check the fuel pump to see if its ok. but the whole fuel thing pretty much explains all the symptoms. after this im all out of ideas the thing has been cleaned 2 times to no avail. i mean is should make decent power running around town on the middle carb.

You're right about making decent power on the center carb. I usually remove the front carb on my setup and install a block-off plate when I'm tuning on it. Makes getting to everything a lot easier. Unless you punch it you can't tell any difference in performance.

Hope you get this sorted out.

Mike

thanks for the advice im gonna go home and bust on it

My fe's always liked 38 degrees total on just gasoline. In the70's I had a
390 that ran in the 12's @4000 lbs. Don't kill this thing beating it up when
it's not running properly. If the P.V. blows it will smoke heavy rich and the
plugs will go away
good luck, hope you figure it out before it's gone
Ron:whacked:

yah thanks by 'bust on it' i was talking about going home and busting a** working on it. i havent been running it much just up and down my road just trying it out and i tood it into town one time to get something. i just have to get it fixed soon bc its my daily driver and right now i cant drive it anywhere

The old gas line pick-ups down in the tank will get pin holes in them too.
Fill tank completely full,I mean every drop that will fit into it and see if this takes care of the bubles in gas line and if it does you have pin holes inside of the gas line in the tank.:D

the gas tank is brand new i had to make one myself and when i did i put a new sending unit in it from auto meter i checked checked the lines going to the back of the car and they are all in good order i am at school right now but i am going to go home and check the lines on the pump i hooked them up late at night so i may have done something dumb and left them loose