230 OMC

Greetings everyone.... been an avid follower of CCfan for some time, first time participant.

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a 77/78 Mustang I bought about 5 years ago. My father and I re-did the hull and the interior over the past couple of years and have her looking really nice. But the engine hasn't been touched besides the carb. The engine is a 230 OMC with about 480 hours on it. It runs great once it's running, but it starts a bit hard when cold, and sometimes won't start at all once it's hot (which has stranded me a couple times with the kids... they hate that, obviously). We put a Holley carb on it about 2 years ago but haven't done anything else.

So, I'd really like some advice as to what improvements might be in order to 1) fix the starting problem and 2) perhaps invest in making the engine solid for the next 20 years. I'm not adverse to having it re-built, but I'd need to have someone do that... let me know if someone in the Michigan area might know of "a guy" that does that sorta thing for this vintage engine. And I'm also not adverse to simply addressing the starting issue and maybe finding out what other folks might recommend for other fixes (like an electronic ignition, etc.) that might keep everything running smoothly that I can figure out on my own.

Thanks in advance to whomever has the time to read this, digest and then respond... much appreciated.

Scott Pryor.

scott@prydesign.com

The cold start issue could be the choke not being properly set.
The hot start could be a leaky carb, sticky points or too much advance.

were this issues present before the new carb? who installed it?

An electronic ignition is a good idea too.

Wow... thanks so much for the speedy replies fellas.

Eric:
The points issue... I've heard countless times that converting to an electronic ignition will help the engine start and run better and I also won't have to adjust the "points" which I have absolutely no idea how to do. So, the EI is the first on my list. Would all of you agree that investing in a new EI distributor as opposed to simply buying a conversion kit is the right way to go?

Luchog:
First, what do you mean about too much advance: the timing? About the carb: we bought then put the new carb on before we ran it too much. It ran "okay" with the old one, but then SEEMED to run much better with the new one. And my dad and I installed it... he's pretty knowledgeable, but we're not mechanics by any stretch.

Grand Poo:
Related to the above, yes, we pretty much tossed the new carb on and adjusted the idle and such and that's about it. So... it's sounding as though I need to dig back into how best to truly "tune" the carb, yes?

after engine shut down, take off the flame arrestor and check is fuel is dripping into the intake, that would tell you if the hot hard start is because of the float level set to high.

Again, thanks. Most of what you're suggesting makes lots of sense, I'm just hopeful I can figure out how to do everything without professional, "mechanic grade" help. I can probably dig into and tune the carb. But, again, I'm not an engine guy. But I can figure stuff out with a little thought and research. You think I can tackle these, or would you suggest I seek some help? New plugs and wires were on my list of improvements too. See, now that I can handle.

I am not an expert like the others that have offered advice and I have no expertise to recommend points vs drop in EI vs electronic distributor. If budget is a factor (doesn't really sound like it is) here is what I did for the same motor (I assume you have the mallory flat cap also) if you do decide to go the drop in route...

mallory espark

When I got my boat it had another brand-x drop in EI. I think it was fine, I just toasted it in trouble shooting another problem. Boat Dr on this site recommended this unit. I put it in a couple years ago and have been trouble free since and have always had fast easy starting.

Scott Pryor wrote: Also, where did you get your chrome header covers? And the body of your engine looks pretty nice for a '75, did you re-paint it? If so, how did that go?

As alluded to in my first response, I pretty much do every thing on a pretty tight budget. The valve covers are easy to find on ebay obviously nothing fancy, but they do dress it up a bit. I was lucky in that my motor was pretty clean when I got it (2004), but I wanted to clean it up. Rather than go original (sorry Pete) I decided to go the 70s muscle car look, hnece the chevy orange. The painting went fine, I didn't pull the motor out to do it, just took off components that were easy to take off or taped them up. Not a professional job like many have done here, but it did clean it up.

(original)

Pete, with E its set and forget, you dont have to sand anything.
i was f-ing with points the other day thinking...man do i hate points, the screws are always f-in stripped, contacts burnt, such a PITA

eric lavine wrote: Pete, with E its set and forget, you dont have to sand anything.

But if that module fails, you'll be looking for a tow! Been there, done that. I love the DUI in my '90 and the BFN... the performance difference they made was really noticeable. However, my Skier with a newer Prestolite points dizzy starts better than anything I own and is my most reliable runner. If everything is dialed in, I see no reason to swap out the points for an EI conversion... unless youre going for all out performance.

TRBenj wrote: eric lavine wrote: Pete, with E its set and forget, you dont have to sand anything. But if that module fails, you'll be looking for a tow! Been there, done that. I love the DUI in my '90 and the BFN... the performance difference they made was really noticeable. However, my Skier with a newer Prestolite points dizzy starts better than anything I own and is my most reliable runner. If everything is dialed in, I see no reason to swap out the points for an EI conversion... unless youre going for all out performance.

Tim,
The point I was trying to make went right over their heads!!

Chris, are you suggesting that in addition to the $100-150 cost to upgrade to EI, everyone should also be carrying a spare? $200-300 sure isnt cheap for the benefits gained.

Points are $10-15!

And I went 28 years on a point set. Never touched them, never had a starting problem, never had a performance problem so I never was stuck out on the lake!

The point being is a point set is reliable and has been for years. A point set can be cleaned up out on the lake - You can't do that with a burnt out module so you need to carry a spare. Electronics can and are problematic. The Protech is a good example.

79nautique wrote: then Tim's Special DUI module that lasted all of a month or two.

Geez Chris, your memory sucks!

Never had a problem with my DUI module. The reason for the spare that went in Mojo's boat was for troubleshooting a no-spark condition (which ended up being a loose wire on the ignition switch). Still running the original modules in all of my DUI's... never had a problem.

The Prestolite EI conversion kit that came with my '90, however, did leave me stranded. First time out in the boat, it died- had to get towed in, and left me boatless for 2 weeks. (I upgraded to the DUI instead of replacing the module.) Points would have kept me boating!

Im not saying theyre unreliable, per se... just that Ive seen one fail on the water, and it cost me valuable skiing time. I also have a boat that came with a dead Mallory e-spark... although there was nothing right with that boat or engine when I got it. Both Brad and Ken have had issues with Pertronix, and both junked them. Ive had a set of points go, but they were very old- and they were cheap to replace! For something thats not an all-out performance application, I just dont see the problem with points. They can be made to run very reliably, start great, and theyre dirt cheap. Just my 2 cents!

agreed but if your not used to wrenching on points all the time because you should adjust them yearly if not more depending on the usage, then, E-distributor is a better choice and requires less work just basicly checking timingeach season, points you constantly have to change as they ware so dwell as to be adjusted and in turn the timing hass to be adjusted then you have to tweek the carb a little, electroinc you verify the timing hasn't changed then a quick idle air adjustment to make sure it's prefect and your done, lot of back and forth using the points.