Thanks for the response. To be honest, I'm not really sure how to adjust the idle. I read that you have to mess with the knobs on the carb, but I'm not familiar with that at all. We set the timing at TDC for cylinder 1 at zero degrees. The rotor was pointing towards cylinder ones post on the distributer cap. We hooked the gauge up to the vacuum advance line on the distributer because it's supposed to be unhooked to set the initial timing, right? Could be a faulty gauge, its old. I actually read that thread a few times last night. I've only got a few more hours before I have to go to the airport and back home so we're going to try gapping the plugs to .030 and see if that helps.
We worked on it this morning and it runs much better now! We gapped the plugs to .030 and raised the initial timing to 12*. We put the vacuum gauge on the brake booster line and it was working correctly, showing 18 in. vac. As soon as I unplugged the line you could hear the air being sucked in and noticed a change in the engine operation. I messed with the dials on the carb and got the vac up to 19 but that was as much as we could get. Keep in mind we don't really know what we're doing with those knobs. I do know that the old plugs I pulled out were BLACK so it's probably running rich. Is the line that goes to the vacuum advance supposed to pull vacuum at idle? Idle RPM was about 520 and dwell was still 30. We were even able to drive it around the neighborhood a little, which is the first time the car has moved under its own power in several years. All and all we are pleased with how it turned out and the we accomplished more then we had originally planned on! Thanks for all the help from you guys!!!
What I would do is set the idle speed at 700 rpm in park and then put the car in drive with the wheels blocked... Tune the idle mixture screws on the fron tof the carb untill highest vacuum is seen on gauge... Before you do this turn both screws in all the way lightly then back them out 2.5 full 360 degree turns... Make this your base line and try both turning them in and out in 1/4 turn at a time till you see the smoothest idle in gear and highest vacuum readings. Also be sure to wait about 30 seconds after making an adjustment since it takes time to take full effect most times.... Also be sure to lower the idle speed if required (put it in park and see what the rpms are)... As you get the tune right the idle speed will go up.... Expect about 700 rpms in park and 650 in gear.
Great job on the engine. Nothing better than spending quality time with Dad and the family! Keep up the good work.:TU:
Good to hear you got it running & are sorting things out. I second Sean's suggestion on the idle speed, etc. As for the plug gaps, most GM plug gaps from that era were .035" or .040", which is why that clerk at the parts store told you that gap, but Buick always did have the shorter gap (.030" is correct, like you found out). That dwell amount sound right too. When you double-check the timing, it should be with the engine warmed up, and the vacuum advance line removed from the dist., and the line plugged (you can slip a small screw into the hose to plug it). I think stock timing for that year is either 4 BTDC or 6 BTDC. The 12 degrees that you have may be a little too much timing. I always put mine at 8 BTDC and it seemed to be the "seet spot". If you have too much advance it can cause hard starting and overheating. --Chris
Thanks for all the details you are doing in your work. It looks beautiful. I have a four door as well and Im trying to do some things to it. I want it to look classic with a little modernization. Good luck in your work and keep us up to date with any more work.
Thanks for the advice! I know it's been a long time since I responded to this thread but remember I live 2000 miles away from my Skylark. I was back home this week and we adjusted the timing down to 8* BTDC. Hey, you are welcome! Thanks everyone who had helped me in this thread for all the advice and pointers! My goal had just been restoring it to original but now I'm thinking about modernizing it a little. I can't find cast manifolds anywhere and my driver's side one had a crack in it. Also the exhaust pipes are rusted and the muffler is bent. I may end up going with headers and an aftermarket exhaust just to fix the leak and the other issues. Same for the points ignition. This weekend I also wanted to replace the battery tray with a new one that I had purchased from OPGI because the old one was all rusted. Well it turns out that the bolts are also rusted on and the body under the tray is rusted through in a few places. The has very little rust for its age but it has enough that it needs to be addressed. Especially in the trunk and under the battery tray. Also there is surface rust on the exhaust, frame, and other under parts. I'm wondering how hard it would be to lift the body off the frame to clean up the underside and coat everything before it gets worse. Anyone done this?
