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Classic/Antique Car Repair/1964 Ford Falcon Stalling

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Expert: Paul Wilczynski - 9/15/2009


Question
I have a 1964 Ford Falcon Futura Sedan with a 170 Cu. In. 6 cylinder auto-trans that I am restoring. When in Park or Neutral it idles fine. When it is in Drive it seems that any time there is a rapid deceleration, the engine dies i.e. braking or coming to a stop. When idling at a stop the "Gen" light will come on and occasionally it will die unless I put it into Neutral or Park. Presently it does not have an an air cleaner housing on top of the carburetor. The sparkplugs have been replaced, a new float was installed in the gas tank, the prior owner rebuilt the carburetor. Can you please help a girl out? As someone who does not know much about cars I am a fast learner.

Answer
Abby,

The problem lies with the carb rebuild by the former owner. There are a dozen things that could have been done wrong, but unless you want a frustrating experience troubleshooting this thing, just buy a professionally-rebuilt unit and install it and your problems with it dying will be history.

--Paul

Classic/Antique Car Repair

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Paul Wilczynski

Expertise

Most questions involving vintage car restoration, mechanical and body, paint and upholstery. Parts sourcing. Extensive experience in wood-bodied station wagons, British and French cars of the '40s through '70s. Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger, Citroen Maserati, VW Beetle, 1955-65 Chevrolet (especially Nomad station wagons), Corvair.

Experience

Wide-ranging and long-term. I owned a restoration shop in the 1970s, continue to dabble in vintage exotics. At one time, had a seven-car collection of contemporary exotics which I had restored and maintained myself. When I was 18 years old, I designed a woodie kit for the VW Beetle, which I developed into a product which was featured on television and in over 100 magazines and 25 books at last count. I still own and drive one of my creations. I owned a design and fabrication consultancy from 1982-2002, specializing in show car fabrication for manufacturers including Ford, Mazda, GM, Subaru, Mitsubishi, etc. Since 2003, I have been a department manager in Industrial Design, and a full-time instructor in automotive design and fabrication at the university level. My students go on to design automobiles as staff designers for major auto manufacturers worldwide.

Organizations
Western Automotive Journalists, Industrial Design Society of America.

Publications
Long list of magazines and books, including Playboy, VW Trends, VW Greats, Hot VWs, and European automotive magazines.

Education/Credentials
I teach design and fabrication at university level. My education is in Industrial Design, University of Illinois (1966-1970).

Awards and Honors
Many awards for restorations in local concours and shows.

Past/Present Clients
Mazda, Ford, GM, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota, Chrysler, Mercedes, Porsche.

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