Ok guys help out a guy that has forgotten basic tune-up 101. I checked the timing on my car on Saturday and it looks way off. I did not right down what it was but it was not anywhere within the scale on the balance wheel. The car idles at about 650rmp at normal operating temp. Not knowing the history of any engine work on the car do I just start from scratch. New points, plugs, condensor, rotor, cap, and then start with the adjustments. It has been a long time for me and I wasn't all that good at it when I did have cars back in the 60's/70's. Any help/advice would be great.

Thanks

yes

do your tune up and replace the parts first.

then do the following.. remove the vacuum line from the vacuum advance and plug it.

then adjust your timing to roughly 8 BTDC and then readjust the idle

then recheck timing.. until you get it around 10 BTDC and the correct idle.

depending on how your engine is setup, you may be able to run your timing higher..

also I recommend that replace the distributor weight springs if you havent done it in 5 or more years.

just been through this!
Quote
do your tune up and replace the parts first.


(i also changed the coil and found that the vacuum advance unit was stuck solid - running on one from a '74)


then do the following.. remove the vacuum line from the vacuum advance and plug it.

(now check the points and dwell)

then adjust your timing to roughly 8 BTDC and then readjust the idle

then recheck timing.. until you get it around 10 BTDC and the correct idle.

(my idle is still eratic - but is still erotic :) carb needs tuning)
depending on how your engine is setup, you may be able to run your timing higher

(running well on 12 and will go higher)



also I recommend that replace the distributor weight springs if you havent done it in 5 or more years.

(will try this)

After all this messing about, Prima Donna is becoming seriously fast.

good luck

David -'71 454 360

David I'll bet the young guys are scratching thier heads trying to figure out what you meant ,when you said POINTS,don't forget "16 new,19 used " and dwell 28to32,OOPS I am letting my age show again

And set the points BEFORE you set the timing. Changing the point gap changes the timing.

Do any cleaning necessary, carb intake etc. You don't want that crud on your new plugs.
Install parts
Adjust points
Set timing
Adjust carb and idle

Drive it!

Here is a link to tech article I used to set my timing up by. It has made my car pretty responsive compared to what it was. http://corvetteforum.com/techtips/viewsubtopic.php?SubTopicID=109&TopicID=3

kstyer said: And set the points BEFORE you set the timing. Changing the point gap changes the timing. Do any cleaning necessary, carb intake etc. You don't want that crud on your new plugs. Install parts Adjust points Set timing Adjust carb and idle Drive it!

ill go further... unless your building a trailer queen take those points and throw them out. replace with hei or pertronix

by the way.. be sure to check the cam lobes on the distributor if your running points.. a worn distributor will make it nearly impossible to get the dwell right.

if the "lobes" are all worn down.. put the dist in a box and install an hei unit. my dist from my 69 was so worn it was practically perfectly round...

I replaced a worn points dist on a 350 (in a 40 ford no less) with an hei unit and the difference was night and day.

I tried and tried to get the dwell right with the points, I really planned to switch to hei anyway but it gave me an excuse to wipe the dust off my dwell gauge. it ran like an absolute dog.. after switching to hei it runs great. there is no fix for a worn dist.

if anyone is considering pertronix, remember that the distributor lobes need to be "sharp" for the pickup to work. pertronix doesnt work well in a worn distributor.

|UPDATED|11/15/2004 10:02:05 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

One more request from Ben/Ken. Could you reprint the the technique for 'steam cleaning the inside of the engine' I've looked for it here but am unable to find it.

Silver69 said: One more request from Ben/Ken. Could you reprint the the technique for 'steam cleaning the inside of the engine' I've looked for it here but am unable to find it.

its really pretty easy..

I usually use something like a 16 oz soft drink bottle..

throughly wash the bottle..

then fill it with water..

remove your breather..

let your engine warm up completely

then rev your engine upto 2000 to 2500 rpm

with your other hand trickle some water into the carb (i usually put my thumb over the bottle and let some water trickle past) the engine will want to bog down some.. let it do so but if it starts to sound like its going to die stop trickling water and let it burn off whats in the engine. dont be afraid to rev the engine up further to keep it running.. (just dont get crazy with it)

what this does is enter the combustion chamber and rapidly expand into steam form, it breaks carbon loose from the pistons & valves. it also breaks loose any carbon in the exhaust system including the heads, manifolds, pipes, etc.

even if the engine dies and you have to start it back up you really cant hurt anything.. it takes some practice to do this but its really pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

there is no hard and fast rule for how much water should be added.. when you start doing this you should see a cloud of black smoke and soot come out of your exhaust.

when the exhaust quits blowing black quit adding water..

you should let the car idle for a few minutes after you quit just to make sure all the water is gone.

ive done this and had nothing come out, ive done this and trickled over a gallon in before the soot stopped.