Mint Condition

I was driving into Bellevue today, but I never made it. I had a bit of an adventure instead. Early on, my car started backfiring. It was serious backfiring out the exhaust, not at the carb, and it’s only ever done that once or twice, a long time ago, so I was concerned and pulled over. I couldn’t find anything wrong, so I went a bit further down the road, and it backfired again, so I pulled over again and checked some things but still didn’t know what was causing it. I managed to drive a good deal further after that, although it felt like the engine was about to cut out, and accelerating was “chokey.” Then, as I was driving down Avondale, it backfired again and the engine died, so I put it in neutral and coasted off the main drag into a neighborhood.

Right before it cut out, I passed a guy who waved at me. When it backfired, he must’ve merged in behind me, and he pulled up next to me when I pulled off and stopped. It turns out he owns a ’67 Mustang, and he got out and we took a look at my car. Since I hadn’t done anything electrical recently, he guessed it was the fuel/air mixture on the carb. He gave me an address and phone number for a carb shop nearby that gives free carburetor checks, and I thanked him and went to the carb place.

The car didn’t seem to have any problems after that, but I took it easy just in case. At the shop, they checked my carb and points for free, which was really nice. They said the carb sounded great and the fuel/air mixture was good, but my points were getting pretty worn. So I’m hoping that was the issue, and I’m going to buy a Pertronix Ignitor III electronic ignition and Flame-Thrower III coil tonight. Until that arrives, I do have some spare points I can put it.

The other problem I suspect is my mess of wires under the dash. If something was shorting, it could cause the engine to backfire and cut out like that. I have wires for the tach and thermostat that aren’t terribly secured or protected, so I need to go over those and make sure no bare wires are exposed.

I am a bit concerned that after my car died, the tach and turn signals stopped working. I’m hoping it’s a fuse, but I guess it could be a short somewhere. The emergency flashers still work, and the light on the tach still comes on, so I’m not sure what to think about that. Time for some electrical diagnosis I guess!