Here we go again...

[oneowner71]

Alright... so I get the new elect ignition setup all installed tonight (amid a huge storm with hail and all that jazz... have you ever noticed how these trucks don't really fit in a garage, and so you back it in so you can work on it with it all in the garage, then your @#% gets hit with hail stones cause you're bending under the hood while it hails outside... i guess i could have died from CO inhilation... I digress).. Anyway, after getting it up and running, I have made the low end backfiring out of the carburetor worse, and if you work it too low in the rpm range, it struggles really bad. As I ask this, keep in mind I don't have a timing light... so. Which way should I turn the distrib to get it to reduce that as much as possible and have a better low end. I've been going CCW and the RPM's have been picking up, but the vacuum port is just about on the coil... any suggestions?? I can't remember which direction adds to what.... Help!!! Makes me pretty eager for that new intake and carb to help out that vacuum leak issue.

[wideblock]

sounds like you might have stabbed the dist a tooth off, is that possible??ccw advances the timing, the more you advance the better it runs, but your running out of room due to the coil, sounds like a classic one tooth off to me.

[MountainMoparRobin]

Clint,
Trey seems to have hit the nail on the head, your going to have to retime, the engine, unless you can move it one tooth without retiming, see if you feel comfortable with bringing the rotor around to the #1, you may want to pull the #1 plug so you can tell when its top dead center then look at the rotor to see where it is, keep in mind their is a compression, and exhaust stroke.

[cowboy]

Clint , clean around the plug hole , pull the plug out , becarefull , put the end of a rag in the hole , somewhere in this area pull the coil wire , just bump over the engine the rag will shot out , thats one or the other , comp/ exhaust, if not sure redo it , after you think you have it , put a 3-4 in screw driver in , you should be able to touch the top of the piston & you roter should be aming in that direction, good luck
8)

[wideblock]

clint, keep in mind also that the dist gear is spiral shaped. so if you line it up perfect, when you insert it the rotor will twist slightly making you a tooth off. if your good you can pick the dist up till it just clears the gears and rotate the rotor ccw just one tooth. it takes a feel to get away with this, but it makes life easier then finding tdc.

[oneowner71]

Anyway, as far as the one tooth thing goes, I am not entirely sure what you mean by that, other than that I don't think Imeesed with it. The only part of the old distributor I pulled out had the flat piece on the end, as did the new one I put in... this only leaves you 180 degrees off as a possibility... in which case, it wouldn't run at all (and I know I wasn't that far off... BUT WAIT, it gets better.

In the spirit of quality workmanship, I bought a timing light to kind of help me out with it all, and this is where it gets weird. I hook the timing light up to #1 (which is frontmost drivers side corner) and look for the mark... no mark,... so I shut it down, find the mark, paint it white... light it again, still no mark... so while its running, I run some sand paper over it to hopefully make the mark even easier to see... still no mark. By this point I am feeling like a complete idiot, so I move the inductor pickup to #2 cylinder, and the mark appears, about 25 degrees clockwise of the end of the degree indicator plate... so at least I know the light works. Hook the light back on #1, crawl under the truck, and fint that the timing mark is at about 4 oclock (looking at the balancer from the front).. so I'm a little concerned.

So I get creative... to save on moving the distributor a tooth (as I am not sure how to) I move the plugs around the cap 1 slot to gain me back some of the adjustment to the timing I needed, effectively moving it a mark or 2 the correct way. Tuning by ear, I get it running where it should... idling about 750 and all... runs better than it had before. So I hook on the light, #1 again, and no mark on top.... I crawl under the truck and the timing mark is now at about 7 oclock, or close to 180degrees from where the indicator plate is on the block. This is where the motor runs the best and smoothest.....

So, what the hell is going on???... I'm so confused, but it runs like it should. How can the timing be that far off and still have the motor run at its best??... did I pick the wrong cylinder to test with?... I have one of the basic lights without the advance capability, so it's not that... I'm lost. Let me know what you guys think....

[Hobcobble]

Yep... get the #1 on the compression stroke and check your rotor position.
Like the guys have mentioned, when you pulled out the old distributor, the
gear may have pulled up slightly and fallen back a tooth out of place. Be
sure that you gapped the magnetic contacts at .008" with a brass feeler
gauge too. They're supposedly set at the factory but I just installed my
electronic set up yesterday and the gap was .014".
John

[MountainMoparRobin]

Clint,
when you pulled the distributor, not knowing, the gear that the distributor sets into, must have came up with the distributor and went back down after moving over a tooth or two, you have discovered however that you can make the engine run regardless of the markings, you have a couple of choices, you can retime the motor, which means you'll need to pull the valve cover off over the #1, so you can make sure its at TDC, or you can leave it alone and drive it the way you have it, and setting your carb and timing with a vacuuam gauge!

[wideblock]

clint, another thing that i have run into over the years is the harmonic balancer. im not sure about the la motors, so someone please chime in if im wrong, anyway, over the years the rubber between the inner and out ring gets worn, and will let the outer ring rotate, thus moving the timing mark from where it should be. you need to find tdc on number one, look at where you rotor is, then look at where your timing mark is. if it aint on the 0 mark of your tab, paint a new one on there at 0. then use the new one for timing. and by the way, your are right, there is no gear on a 318 dist, so your in right or 180 off. find tdc, note rotor position and place your wires accordingly, and make a mark on the balancer for where your new #1 is for future timing procedures. also, are you doing your timing with the vaccume advance unplugged?? if not, theres why your mark aint lining up with the light.

[MountainMoparRobin]

Trey the distributor sets into gear that has a slot for the bottom of the distributor to sit in, for neither the small blocks, nor the big block distributors have gears on the shaft! but both sit in a slot in the tom of a gear.

[JJ]

How was your truck running before you swiched ignition systems? I've ran into several balancers where the rubber has slipped giving false readings on the timing. Find TDCenter on #1 and remark the balancer. The other possibility if the truck has a lot of miles is that you might have jumped a tooth on the timing chain. They will run a tooth off but not very well and will pop fart and backfire. Also check to make sure you don't have crossed plug wires. It's always the simple stuff that eats my lunch.

[oneowner71]

Hey JJ, welcome to the site. I never had a timing light before the carb swap, so I have no idea where it was. I have since given up on worrying about it, as it tunes pretty much as well by ear, feel, and foot. Right now it runs really good once you get it warmed up. I suspect it has a choke adjustment due and some buildup in the lifters that keep one from filling until the oil pressure raises up high enough... (also probably the compression discontinuity). At any rate, thanks for the advice, and keep the posts coming..

[wideblock]

hey clint, whats a timing light? is that something you need to tune these trucks? i figured you just moved everything till it had the right lope at idle, and boiled the tires when you put the pedal to the floor?? the timing advance is one degree btdc under the point that it knocks at full throttle and the carb setting is a idle 50rpm just above where it dies at the light, and a half turn below where it huffs black smoke when you stomp it!
mines totally tuned from a vaccume gauge, i dont even own a timing light
just remeber this, "youll only squeeze so much juice from an old berry!" but even on 4 dead cylinders it will out run, out haul, and out last a chevy did you ever get all the bugs worked out?

[oneowner71]

Yeah, Trey, I'm at about that method for mine as well... but I still have a timing light sitting around in case I come up needing it later. Most of the bugs are worked out... it runs real well most of the time. I can throw out a good bit of black smoke when I stomp on it at highway speed, but not most of the other times. It has developed a metal-on-metal whining that makes me think some of the crank bearings are getting worn in a bad way, plus it leaks oil out of both ends of the crank (dirty black oil out by the balancer, and a nice bit of oil out the rear, which does wonders for the clutch). I just haven't decided to put her down long enough to tear into it enough to figure out what exactly is going on... if it's anything like my usual luck, I'll get in there and have about 7 more problems resurface, which will cost a good bit of money to have put back together correctly. Been driving her on the weekends anyway, so its doing pretty good.

[wideblock]

wanna buy my 66? im seriously selling it

[oneowner71]

I'm on a strict "no more vehicle" diet. Sounds like it may be a good time to find that Dad and his ratty little kid to sell it to... they seemed excited.