Just pulled the HEI outa the car and its a 6-22-1977 distributor. The shape of the weights throws me; some weird advance curve?? The lump in the center of the weights bugs me as the earlier unit (and points jobs) are all flat on the ramp. Theres also .053" end play. Not a killer but something ELSE to consider... ws
Now I am blurry eyed from too dang much reading! I was gonna swap the smooth ramp guts out of the busted case in lieu of the ramp bumps on the running unit, but learned that you need to make sure that the dimple on the drive gear goes back in the same orientation (NOT 180* off) or the pick up will be 3* out of phase. Hmmm. I think the running init is going back in with the kit, new diaphragm, and advance cam lockout. Im friggin' fried over this! Make sure the springs are right side up so they don't drag on the rotor and on and on and on... Im drinking beer tonight! ws
Bill, I can't believe how complicated you are making this. Why are you trying to do everything at once? You now have everything you need to measure your advance and to see where it is all in at. Weights and center piece are a matched set. If you change the weights, you need to change the center piece. There is no reason to do that right now. ONE THING AT A TIME. Forget the vacuum advance for now, do not install the Crane unit, do not hook it up to vacuum at all. Work with what you have, then decide if change is necessary. You have that fancy Snap-On light. Use it. Install the 2 yellow springs with the stock weights. Remember, NO VACUUM ADVANCE. Loosen the distributor hold down just enough so that you can just rotate the distributor by hand. Start the engine and warm it up. Hook the light up. I want you to disregard those 2 marks you made, use the factory mark. Turn the advance function of the light up to 32*. Point it at the balancer and see where the stock mark is. It should be somewhere below the 0 on the timing tab. Once you see it. Slowly open the throttle. The mark should begin to move up. Keep increasing the revs until the mark stops and moves no higher, no matter how much you open the throttle. Once you reach that point, note where the mark ends up. If it ends up above the 0 on the tab, the distributor is too far advanced. Retard it by turning it clockwise. If the mark never reaches the 0 on the tab, it is retarded. Move it counter clock wise. Again rev the engine from idle and watch the mark. You want the mark to be below the 0 at idle. Then as you rev it up, the mark should stop right at the 0 and move no higher no matter how much you rev it beyond that. When you have that accomplished, tighten the hold down and recheck. Stop the engine and re install the stock springs. Start the engine and turn the idle down as low as it can go without stalling. Turn the advance on the light to 0*. Point it at the balancer and see where the initial timing is. If the factory mark is on the tab, read the advance. If it is above the tab, slowly increase the advance setting of the light. As you do this, the mark will begin to come down. Keep advancing the light setting until the factory mark is at 0 on the tab. When it is, look at the light setting. That is your initial timing. Subtract it from 32*, and you will have the amount of mechanical advance in the distributor. Do that and we will go from there. ONE STEP AT A TIME.
Thanks Larry... I know I was beginning to overthink this deal and that's when I quit. Its just weird how I have to stumble through this stuff for a few times to get it right. Today the red one is going back together (with a good cleaning!) and back in with the old VA can and new springs only. Gonna go through the steps as 1-2-3 and see where we end up. Vacuum limiter cam should be here today, but that's for later. After this Im gonna kneel bare legged on an asphalt shingle for an hour to atone and repent... beats self flagellation! TIA Bill in TR Howdy to Utica Geoff! Hope all is well!
Figured out that even with Easter being done, that between self flagellation and working on an old Buick goes hand in hand. Theres no future in Flagellation tho... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64PGnMkTmM So today I put the red (from the car) unit back together with new YELLOW springs, and the old vacuum unit. It works and holds the vacuum. So just like the Korean massage parlor, all services include happy ending LOL... The other day I took the clamp off and lifted the unit out of the car; simple eh? Marked everything for a drop in job today... Well today, re-installing it, I encountered some more of the PO's expertise. He didn't understand the concept of getting things lined up and bumping the starter to line up the oil pump drive. Needless to say, the drive tang had a bugger on it that raised heck with the last 1/8". Ive always had good luck dropping the units in and maybe a bump with a screwdriver to get the tang right on. This pump took a Big 'ol screwdriver with vise grips to turn the oil pump. Impossible by hand. Guess whats next on the list??? I finally gave up, and pulled the valve cover to find TDC on compression on #1 and start from scratch... strictly old school daddio! Got it to the point that the O ring was below the deck and still had to gingerly tap it home. Finished hooking everything else up and 3 spins on the starter and it was idling... Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Korea! Had 90 lbs oil pressure; wanted to make sure the roll pin didn't shear with that pump deal, or maybe Im overthinking that too LOL. Let it get good and warm and shut it down for a restart. Noticed a slight exhaust leak sounding deal so I advance the initial and that went away. Too far retarded was firing in the headers and that's what I heard. Restarted and it was smooth as silk. Put the light on it set at zero for an initial check. The OEM mark was close to TDC, and an increase in speed brought the 1-3/4" new mark up to the indicator at around 1600 rpm. Re-set the lite for a 30* advance and gave a re-start. At 600-650, the new mark came up to the indicator and steadied out. Oil pressure warmed up stayed around 75-80ish and water stayed around the usual 150+ gage. Vacuum still good around 20-22" at idle. Now the shoes are off and I'm drinking some coffee. Road test tomorrow if its dry out... calling for rain for the next 3-4 days... Bill in TR The vacuum cam showed up today for free in a boot sized shoe box. Probably cost Summit $10 to ship it...
Bill: Sounds like your almost home. What was your target date to finish? Sometime in April, if I remember correctly. You've earned your rest. Going to rain here until Sat or Sun too. Take care. UticaGeoff
