1944 Clark Plane Loader with F6209 Continental

teched · Oct 6, 2021

Just picked up this old beast. It has been sitting in a barn for approximately 50 years. I changed the oil and filter, ultrasonically cleaned the carb (not original Holley 1909). New plugs and cleaned up the points. Had to pull the head to unstick a couple valves and of course I broke one, but that's all fixed now. Installed a new head gasket and adjusted the valves. Got it to fire up and run, but skips and pops awful when its cold. It did not have a thermostat so it takes awhile for it to warm up. Once it has warmed up it runs much better. It will idle smooth and take fuel, but when it cold it sounds like a popcorn popper. I would like to change the distributor cap but is has a Flat Top Cap and I cant one one to fit my dizzy. It has a Delco Remy 1110060 0A19. Any other thoughts...It seams to be getting a lot of fuel down the carb. Wondering if its flooding when cold.

Gene Davis (Ga.) · Oct 6, 2021

The old flat head engines like this Continental have a thermo-syphon cooling system, no water pump or thermostat which made them slow to warm up unless they had shutters and thus did not vaporize the gasoline very welllike a warm intake manifold will. I have a couple of them and they are rough runners till the get warm. I put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to act like a shutter and it warms up faster.
Gene Davis Tennille, Ga.

teched · Oct 6, 2021

This engine does have a water pump and is suppose to have thermostat. Its an odd type that has a ring like bushing retainer that is driven up in the inlet. It is not a pressurized system as the radiator has internal catches instead of external like in a pressurized system. I was wondering I could put in a standard type thermostat. I'm still thinking its just getting too much fuel when its cold. The carb is from a 1960's Ford by the number I found on it. It has a jet in the base but I can screw that all the way in and it does nothing.

teched · Oct 6, 2021

Here is video of it running poorly

teched · Oct 6, 2021

Here is a link to a video of it running https://youtu.be/FdcxaivGU0s

warbaby · Oct 6, 2021

That carburettor is probably too small, or jetted too lean for that engine. That and those Nixon Administration era sparkplug wires...

Mike in Mn. · Oct 6, 2021

Those old Continental flatheads were really cold blooded, I have one in a Massey tractor. They definitely need a thermostat and there is a heat riser valve in the exhaust manifold, make sure it's set to hot, I can see it in the video. Set the timing and dial the carb in, if the valves are good it should run nice. One thing that helped mine out was electronic ignition and a hot coil, made a world of difference.

teched · Oct 6, 2021

I have been running it on a plastic fuel tank since the original is full of Gunk. It seams very thirsty. Like it 1/2 gallon every 10 minutes. I have tried to apply some choke while accelerating and it just skips and pops. Once thoroughly warmed up it runs ok. As for the plug wires I would love to change them and the cap and rotor, but I have not found a verafieable replacement. I would prefer the cap with the wires out the top...this thing is pretty squirrelly looking.

Steve@Advance · Oct 6, 2021

Have you gone through the distributor? Those through the head distributors run hot, which dries the grease out and makes the shaft sloppy loose and dries out the centrifugal advance. You might can take it apart and clean/lube it. If it's loose, electronic ignition is more forgiving than points.

The flat top distributor caps were used for hood clearance. If that is not an issue, a standard cap and some 90* wires will work.

I suspect that carb has a rubber power valve diaphragm inside that is long rotted away. Did you put a kit in when it was apart?

You've got to get the idle down to the 400-500 range for the mixture screw to have any effect.

Only if the compression is good will it be able to idle down properly. It may improve with some run time if the rings are sticky.

Check for vacuum leaks.

teched · Oct 6, 2021

When warm it idles down very well. Not sure what the RPMS are but very slow and steady. Will usually take fuel when it running well. Shut it off and come back an hour later and it might start..it might not...,it most likely will skip and pop and it definitely wont take a fuel. Give it about 10 minutes of running like dooky and it will start to get better and better until its back to idling smooth and taking the fuel. I did not put a kit in the carb, i know i should have

sandcastle1 · Oct 6, 2021

I have a continental F245 gas motor in an old Clark wheel loader, it burns a little over 2 gallons per hour when working. They built a lot of these motors and getting the correct carb should not be hard. Google fork lift service dealers, Clark and make some calls, you will be surprised what they have on the parts shelf.

teched · Oct 8, 2021

Just to follow up. I removed and cleaned the distributor. The mechanical advance was seized. I got that freed up and greased. Wire brushed all the rusty parts and put i all back together. It fired right off like it was fuel injected, idled and took fuel like champ. I guess the mechanical advance or possible a rusty connection was to blame. Thank you to everyone who had commented.

1944 Clark Plane Loader with F6209 Continental

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Gene Davis (Ga.)

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Mike in Mn.

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