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Lean out under load?

Had some free time at work. Was thinking, It got better after I had moved the dist. around. Was the next day but still. :)
So sorry had to spend some more money on it.
New Cap and Rotor.
I thought about it. I didn't buy new ones of them when I got the dist. I went back and checked all my recipes. No cap or rotor

Guess what. Works fine now. Got it at 800 rpm idle. 15" vac. 12* on the timing. No backfire at any rpm. Just needs a little fine tuning and put the 6.5 pv. back in.

When I get paid on Thursday. I'm going to finish changing stuff on the dist.. Was used when I got it. Might as well make it like new.
 
Had some free time at work. Was thinking, It got better after I had moved the dist. around. Was the next day but still. :)
So sorry had to spend some more money on it.
New Cap and Rotor.
I thought about it. I didn't buy new ones of them when I got the dist. I went back and checked all my recipes. No cap or rotor

Guess what. Works fine now. Got it at 800 rpm idle. 15" vac. 12* on the timing. No backfire at any rpm. Just needs a little fine tuning and put the 6.5 pv. back in.

When I get paid on Thursday. I'm going to finish changing stuff on the dist.. Was used when I got it. Might as well make it like new.

Cool. Its sorted. Only 60 post to do it???
Gerry
 
lol. I know.
Thank you everyone. :)

Glad I didn't take it to a shop and find that out.

Again Thank you everyone.

Just a thought. A good shop may have got and fixed the problem in less time than you think. It may have just worked out a lot cheaper in the long run
G
 
Just noticed that Oino is 35 or so. This just might be his first time having to really tune an engine and carburetor. I can remember back to the days when we had to tune the cars every fall and it seemed like rebuild the carbs every couple of years when the cars started getting high miles; which back in the 60's and 70's was less than 100,000. I still need to get a vacuum gauge and timing light so I can tune mine when the time comes. Been reading how to do it and; it's still just like we did back then. Memory is refreshed; now just waiting for the weather.
 
Damn. I didn't even look in the cap. The rotor looked ok I guess. Some black stuff on it.

The black stuff is from a worn coil connection located in the center of the cap. Chances are the tip of the rotor is also very pitted. Replacement is needed. Install the original power valve if it is not blown (easy check, place your lips on the round metal side and gently blow against the diaphragm, if there is resistance it's okay). Give the engine a proper valve lifter adjustment, check the plug wires for electrical leakage and check the spark plugs for fouling caused by the poor conditions they have been under, clean and re gap or replace as necessary. If the valve lifters are on the tight side, after adjusting them to 1/8 turn tighter after clatter stops you will most likely have to back off on the idle speed screw as the engine idle should have increased anywhere from 50 to 200 rpm. You may also have to readjust the idle mixture screws too.

Back in the day I owned a speed shop and a tune up for an sb Chevy with hydraulic lifters started with a valve lifter adjustment.

Al
 
Al, what about the vacuum advance. Should he hook that back up? Might as well. Then adjust idle speed accordingly.

Oh I already hooked that back up.
Even test drove the car around the block 3 times. :)
Its got balls. Just a little icy here so I had to be careful.
 
Oh I already hooked that back up.
Even test drove the car around the block 3 times. :)
Its got balls. Just a little icy here so I had to be careful.
Great. I'm glad its starting to run like a normal car (that weighs 1700 lbs. with 300 hp). Imagine what your car would be like with a big block that had double the horsepower and double the torque.
So, after you set the timing @ 12* btdc with the vacuum disconnected, with the vacuum reconnected how many degrees before top dead center did you now have @ an 800 rpm idle (trick question) ?

John
 
Isn't it fun when we overthink things and forget the simple stuff?LOL
 
Great. I'm glad its starting to run like a normal car (that weighs 1700 lbs. with 300 hp). Imagine what your car would be like with a big block that had double the horsepower and double the torque.
So, after you set the timing @ 12* btdc with the vacuum disconnected, with the vacuum reconnected how many degrees before top dead center did you now have @ an 800 rpm idle (trick question) ?

John

I think you know the answer to that question. Good post about vacuum advance units, but how many of us have a properly marked balancer to make the proper adjustments? Back in the day I had a distributor machine so all I needed was the factory timing tab and some time on the machine (iit was the only way a Mallory dual point four lobe V8 distributor could be properly set up).

Al
 
I think you know the answer to that question. Good post about vacuum advance units, but how many of us have a properly marked balancer to make the proper adjustments? Back in the day I had a distributor machine so all I needed was the factory timing tab and some time on the machine (iit was the only way a Mallory dual point four lobe V8 distributor could be properly set up).

Al
Al, ideally, putting the dist in a machine would be the way to go. Then you could check everything and know exactly when the advance started, what the advance rate was, when you had full centrifugal advance and all specs for the vacuum advance cans and how much total advance you had @ what rpm. I really don't know what the true answer to my original question is but by simple deduction and knowing the part number of the vacuum can , i can get pretty close. All bets (or deductions ) are out the window if it is an off shore dist. Then to truly know one would have to put it on a dist. machine to find out the true specs and adjust accordingly. IIRC Oino's dist was purchased used from a junk yard. So in all probability it is GM . If he would supply the part number off the vacuum canister, we could get a lot closer to figuring total timing. Look on the chart at how many different cans there are for different applications. It seems that for Oino's engine that 48-50* total would be optimum, but only above the rpm the centrifugal advance is fully in (say 3000 rpms). Oino might be missing out on advance degrees because of the vacuum can that he has. Might mean the difference of a mpg or two. Tuning is a step by step affair.

John
 
An old Guy years ago taught me how to set my timing, and it works great for any engine I have found... Drive the car and about 30 MPH step on the gas and the engine should ping about twice before down shifting, (if you can hear, if not carry the Wife to listen for it) then your timing is correct for that engine... Oh by the way, do this at normal operating temp... I only use a timing light to set the engine up for first start, gotta be in the ball park then. Numbers are not important, gas quality is what determines the amount of lead you can run... :)
 
Ted,

Your method is exactly how I time any pre-computer engine. (And, don't forget to do it with fresh gas of the type you expect to burn.) However, once the almighty ECM is introduced, life becomes a whole different ball of snakes.

Corley
 
Ted,

Your method is exactly how I time any pre-computer engine. (And, don't forget to do it with fresh gas of the type you expect to burn.) However, once the almighty ECM is introduced, life becomes a whole different ball of snakes.

Corley

Yes you are probably right on with that news, I do see a lot of fellows with the new style engines, I guess I am from the old school and still like the old school look... Unless I can hide it somehow, I will stick with the older engines for the looks I like... :)
 
:)
Thank guys.

On the dist. cap. the rotor bushing that pokes out the bottom. Should it have some spring in it or should it be solid?
Mine is solid. I was thinking it has a spring on it shouldn't it be springy.

oh any and time I open the carb. Should I be replacing the gaskets? (ie: bowl and meter block gaskets)
 

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