Hey Ryan - Larry wasn't pointing that last post at you .. you've done a good job of digesting what advice was given to you and putting it to action. ... we all didn't fall out of Dad's 'Nads with a timing light in one hand and a distributor wrench in the other. Im just a computer nerd with a cheap set of craftsmen tools, yet over the years - with lots of patience from friends and the ability to open my mind and learn .. and READING the chasis manual several times cover to cover - I've accomplished things I never would have thought I could KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !! :TU::beers2:
Right, I wasn't pointing at Ryan. I was 19 years old with my first Buick. I had no idea what I was doing and made plenty of mistakes. I learned from reading and taking some college auto mechanics courses. I try to help any way I can, but like I said, it can be frustrating. And of course Alan will remember that year in Salem at BPG where he was debuting Big Red. It took a Power Timing by yours truly to bring Big Red into the 12's from the 14's Alan had given up, and threw me the keys and a timing light:grin:
No, there was a 14 second pass where you got out of it because you knew something was wrong. I just remember retarding the timing quite a bit from where it was (once I could see the timing mark). I remember laying on my back under Big Red, on the phone with JW trying to find the mark he had made on the damper. I made my own with a blue sharpie (I bet it is still there)
Okay, I think I may have it now. Rpm 700, seems to like 2*BTDC, dwell 30 Vac 21inHg I'm eating dinner here in a min but I plan to lay down some rubber train tracks in front of Smartins house later. If all goes well then I'll look into PTing it. thanks again all.
Timing is now set at 12 initial, and vacuum advance is connected to manifold source. Idle with vac connected is 760-ish.. No hesitation, and no pinging with the way it is timed now. I had a spare vac advance can that I had modified years ago with IgnitionMan's stop plate, so I gave it to Ryan. There is what feels like a light miss at idle, and there is a lifter or rocker ticking on the passenger side bank. Other than that, the car pulls like a freight train. Thanks for coming out, Ryan! Glad we could iron out some of those details. Good luck with getting the distributor out :laugh:
Adam, thanks a lot for your help.....and the use of your 3 foot long channel lock wrench lol. On the way over I was thinking it's driving better than before and now I feel it's running about the best it can. I can't imagine it pulling any harder than it does now. I'm gonna work on that heat issue.
Yay - glad to hear you got it sorted out!!! Amazing how a bunch of little things add up to more than their sum, huh?
