No-Start with New Ignition

Would be nice to have a vacuum reading on the car. I would still like to see mid teens for initial.
Lot of places for vacuum leaks on that old girl.
 
Holy smokes, checked timing and it was at about 5 degrees btdc, turned it up to 15, never seen that car run so nice, the secondaries came in perfectly, sounded amazing, really woke it up
 
77newyorker440 said:
Holy smokes, checked timing and it was at about 5 degrees btdc, turned it up to 15, never seen that car run so nice, the secondaries came in perfectly, sounded amazing, really woke it up
Click to expand...
Now your getting the hang of it.

90% of carburetor problems are ignition related.
 
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Set your total. Remove the vacuum advance hose from carb and cap the port at carb, run engine up to 3000 set your total to 36 for a starting point. Then check timing at idle, see what you have.
Go for drive check for hard start, pinging. If no ping or hard start go to 38
On a big car I would slow the vacuum advance with Alan key. Your new distributor might have come with instruction sheet on the timing set up and advance adjustment.
 
Boydsdodge said:
Set your total. Remove the vacuum advance hose from carb and cap the port at carb, run engine up to 3000 set your total to 36 for a starting point. Then check timing at idle, see what you have.
Go for drive check for hard start, pinging. If no ping or hard start go to 38
On a big car I would slow the vacuum advance with Alan key. Your new distributor might have come with instruction sheet on the timing set up and advance adjustment.
Click to expand...
I agree with this, but baby steps.
First see if you can get it to advance with the light on it and understand what's happening. Don't change anything yet
 
Okay, so I drove it to school yesterday and today, and it is running beautifully (plus the guys at school really like it). Tonight I will see if I can get it to advance as I rev it up. Just to be sure, what does pinging sound like? I have never heard a car that pings so I am not quite sure what to listen for.
 
77newyorker440 said:
I also have yet to attach the vacuum advance, should I?
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Yes, will give you better mileage, burn cleaner, and we can breathe better because of it.
One caveat to be aware of is if it starts to surge at cruise with vacuum advance connected you will need to slow it down, with the Allen wrench in through the nipple. I have seen a couple of these aftermarket distributors have no tension on diaphragm in the canister.
 
70bigblockdodge said:
I have seen a couple of these aftermarket distributors have no tension on diaphragm in the canister.
Click to expand...
I found that out when I did my 440 swap. Ran like crap so we went to time it, purred when I took off the vac advance. Hmmm. Quick adjustment and it was much better.
 
If you have a hand held vacuum pump/ gauge (Can also be used to bleed brakes) and your timing light you can check it against spec.
Your service manual should have a vacuum advance spec in the ignition section. At a certain vacuum it will tell you the number of degrees it should advance. Pinch off the vacuum hose to the carburetor and hook a hand held vacuum pump directly to the vacuum advance canister. As you add vacuum you should see the timing mark advance. It will also tell you if your vacuum advance diaphragm is ok as it should hold a vacuum.
If it is within spec leave it alone. If it is out of spec the little allen screw can adjust it. I think I had a thread on this for my '68. Maybe different specs, but I go through the process.
 
Also, be SURE your rotor isn't slipping! I had a slightly crooked cap on that caught the rotor, breaking the little tab that holds it in place on the shaft, and it made symptoms AMAZINGLY LIKE WHAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING!! After about 30 minutes of hair-pulling, I pulled the rotor, saw how it was broken, got another one out of my horde, got one of Ray's fresh clips on the distributor instead of the dangerous obscenity the former owner had rigged, and it started the first try! VROOM! I've had the rotor 180 degrees out of phase also. Mind you, I persist in using Kettering ignitions, but geometry is the same.
 
Here is an update for you all.
It ran beautifully for about a week, but then I had to park it as the hazards are stuck on. When I turned it on, it was backfiring at idle. Not very loudly, but you can hear a consistent detonation of fuel within the exhaust system. I checked and timing is still solid at 18 degrees btdc and it did advance nicely. My dad was watching and he said the timing did jump up slightly immediately after letting off of the throttle. Is this a carb issue perhaps? I haven't gotten a chance to put the vacuum advance on since it wasn't running, but I doubt that is the problem.
Thanks,
77newyorker440
 
It is miss-firing, you have plugs that are not firing and the raw fuel is burning in exhaust when it gets to a hot spot. If you are on points (I can't remember/old), they are burned or loose condenser. Burned is having transferred material from one side to the other, leaving pits or bumps. Loose condenser is self explanatory.
Also look at spark plugs wires.
 
70bigblockdodge said:
It is miss-firing, you have plugs that are not firing and the raw fuel is burning in exhaust when it gets to a hot spot. If you are on points (I can't remember/old), they are burned or loose condenser. Burned is having transferred material from one side to the other, leaving pits or bumps. Loose condenser is self explanatory.
Also look at spark plugs wires.
Click to expand...
I have electronic ignition, should I pull the plugs and send you all pictures? Maybe a loose rotor as @Gerald Morris brought up?
Thanks for all the help,
77newyorker440
 
77newyorker440 said:
I have electronic ignition, should I pull the plugs and send you all pictures? Maybe a loose rotor as @Gerald Morris brought up?
Thanks for all the help,
77newyorker440
Click to expand...

If your rotor is loose, then the retaining tab is sheared off from a ham fisted job with the cap. That CAN happen. Just look at the rotor. If the rotor is good, look at how the distributor is seating in the slot of the shaft that drives it and the oil pump. I had a nasty experience just yesterday reminding me of that possibility. Now, how's your TIMING CHAIN? If all is mechanically and electrically WELL with the distributor, then you must face the prospect of the timing chain being OFF. I hope not. Zero your damper to TDC, make sure the rotor points to the #1 plug. There's all sorts of FUN waiting for you if you don't get that motor to run with what you have soon.
 
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