Ok, but how do I set the distributor back to where it was originally set? I have tried that and it stalls out.
Store bought or homemade tape for timing?
- Thread starter GG-1
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Btw, I do know the difference between the mixture and throttle speed screws, thank you, lol.. and I will indeed persist until she is running like a song once again, I swear. Patience is another story I am still writing. I am very grateful for the support!
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Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
If you can't remember approximately where it was, just keep advancing the distributor a little at a time until the engine stops stalling. At this point, your timing should be getting pretty close.
It stalls CW and it stalls CCW, and any place in the middle is low rpms at most 450.. maybe I'm moving it too fast, idk, but it seems very slow to me.
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I agree with Rip in that the help that you've been getting is top notch and I'd mirror what they're saying. As far as what I'd do next is go back to the last thing you had success with and repeat. So get 1 back to tdc on the compression stroke so your timing mark is on the board then take the cap off and aim the rotor at that tower by turning the distributor and lock it down.
Ok, and when turning the distributor "cold" do I move it CW or CCW?
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
Move it clock-wise just a little, start the car; if it stalls, move the distributor clock-wise a little more. Repeat as required, until it stops stalling.
GJS
Senior Member
Ain't it great to have these dudes up here?
Good luck tomorrow, man. This gets sticky sometimes, I'm sure I'll be just as flustered when I fire off Beverly this weekend.
I guess my only advice after a good break is not to be afraid to reset. Everyone is telling you basically the same thing, reset your carb to baseline (gently turn the idle screws to seat then back out 3 turns), Get your timing back to base (TDC #1) and go from there. I often find that if I leave a machine running incorrectly and try to go from there things don't change as there was something (usually stupid) that I missed. Going back to the beginning and paying close attention to the steps forward usually reveals that mistake.
Be patient. When things go wrong, sit behind the wheel for a second and remember why you're wrenching on her.
You're getting there!
Good luck tomorrow, man. This gets sticky sometimes, I'm sure I'll be just as flustered when I fire off Beverly this weekend.
I guess my only advice after a good break is not to be afraid to reset. Everyone is telling you basically the same thing, reset your carb to baseline (gently turn the idle screws to seat then back out 3 turns), Get your timing back to base (TDC #1) and go from there. I often find that if I leave a machine running incorrectly and try to go from there things don't change as there was something (usually stupid) that I missed. Going back to the beginning and paying close attention to the steps forward usually reveals that mistake.
Be patient. When things go wrong, sit behind the wheel for a second and remember why you're wrenching on her.
You're getting there!
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Move it whatever way you need to to make the rotor line up with the #1 tower. I don't know if the last move you made with it was advanced or retarded.
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
rags
Senior Member
okay the car starts. what's the timing set to? if it will hold a steady idle at 450, check and set the timing with your light at that rpm. also when you raised the rpm to 2000 the display went to over thirty, then when you let off the throttle the timing dropped back to 12.8 at idle without touching the distributor. that's mechanical advance. it's supposed to happen. maybe the fast idle cam was stuck. or the throttle was sticky and that's why the idle speed was higher previously. you're not going to adjust idle speed too much by turning the distributor. advance it too far and it'll just idle rough and maybe cross fire. it's my turn to thank rip and matt for helping out. i'd love to see this thing go.
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Point gap doesn't look right. Should be open about twice as much.
It's right.. if you look closely in this pic it hasn't yet traveled up on the lobe.. still sitting flat.. it opens to .017. I set it when it was up on the lobe and open at its widest.
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70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
I agree but I can't see crap anymore without my old man glasses. Hell I have to wear them behind my welding helmet because my arms aren't long enough.
Such an amazing group here! I would like to thank every one who is offering help and encouragement.. I think between everything that's been said thus far I'll be going in well equipped to make good decisions tomorrow. I can't say I won't get snagged up during the process, so I'll be taking you all with me as I go, and will try not to broadcast panick when and if I'm stuck.
Now more than ever I wanna get this done properly for all of you just as much as for my own good!
Now more than ever I wanna get this done properly for all of you just as much as for my own good!
If it helps you keep her running, you can temporarily adjust the throttle stop. You may be fighting more than one battle here... like a choke issue on top of your other problems. I don't mean to muddy the waters now that they seem clear.
The only reason I would even suggest this, is your idle seems very low and she will stall easily at that speed while you are sorting her out.
traintech55
Senior Member
Well everyone I got with Alex again yesterday and after another four hours on the phone, and many pictures sent back and forth we have the ignition system correct and all sorted out.
His car still has issues with the carburetor, as we got it running very well at idle, yet wants to stall and act up again in gear, also engine gets so hot you cannot touch the top of it. The carb was rebuilt before and it was modified and I suspect that this is the culprit, but being 800 miles away does not help.
At this point he has an old times mechanic close to the car and I recommend he has it taken over to him. The distributor is working correctly yet it acts like a very lean fuel condition. Also when the carb does act up is when the engine wants to stall out. We will see what happens next.
His car still has issues with the carburetor, as we got it running very well at idle, yet wants to stall and act up again in gear, also engine gets so hot you cannot touch the top of it. The carb was rebuilt before and it was modified and I suspect that this is the culprit, but being 800 miles away does not help.
At this point he has an old times mechanic close to the car and I recommend he has it taken over to him. The distributor is working correctly yet it acts like a very lean fuel condition. Also when the carb does act up is when the engine wants to stall out. We will see what happens next.
saylor
Senior Member
a bad carb cost me weeks of t-shooting. until I swapped the carb. 2nd carb bolted on and ran out of the box. I was good in the settings the whole time - but the 1st the carb was bad...
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
I've been down this road too. . . Had all kinds of problems with the 383 in my convertible. Engine stalling, rough idle, etc. According to the PO, carb had been "rebuilt" twice. Finally pulled the carb and had a local carb specialist rebuild it again. All the problems went away.
Traintech Bill is an exemplary human being and they need to make more like him. I've already said it straight to him, and so wish to express my gratitude here as well.
Thank you kind sir!
A good-hearthearted guy who did not hesitate to call me and generously offer his time, knowledge, wisdom (and patience!) to troubleshoot and correct my ignition issue, in real time. He called and talked me through set up and procedure for setting the static timing, as well as fine tuning the carburetor to perfection on my 383 big block. Over three hours of Bill remotely, precariously balanced upon GGs passenger side fender via speaker phone as we worked. Oh she was purring along. Vacuum pressure a steady 22"hg. Rpms at 700. Timing finding itself at 12-17 degrees. Temperature good. Amp gauge more on point and stable than ever before.
As just stated, he took me as far as he could from 800 miles away. Worthy of note here is that the entire top end of the engine was untouchably, abnormally hot.. hoses, wires, valve covers, everything, untouchable. With Bill still on the phone, I got in to take GG for a test drive, up to speed, under load, to see how she goes. So I got in, tapped the gas and the idle dropped down lower, uncomfortably low.. when I put her in gear/drive, she dropped down even more and was stalling out without constant throttle manipulation.
I shut her down. The engine was so hot that the rubber from the cork valve cover gaskets was melting and dripping out.
This kind of heat was present before, just when I had uncrossed the #6 and 7 wires and started playing with the timing/distributor; but never before that. I thanked and said goodnight to Bill, and let her cool down for four hours. This time I disconnected the vacuum advance and attached the vacuum gauge(mityvac) to the base of the carburetor(front side).
With one quick turn of key she fired right up. Vacuum read rock steady at 22"hg. Rpms at about 1100 at start up. Once warm and the throttle kicked down, vacuum dropped to below 15 and rpms dropped to 450.
So I reconnected vacuum advance to carburetor and hooked vacuum gauge to manifold.. and vacuum dropped to zero, rpms at 320 with engine struggling to stay running. Then she stalled out.
Without touching a thing I turned the key and she started right up again, but ran poorly. I pulled on the throttle to get rpms up, but the vacuum was pinned at zero and there was a hissing coming from somewhere.. and the heat off the engine was overwhelming.
Concerned of serious internal damage, I shut it down.
By Bill's assessment it must be a carburetor problem.. something in the idle circuit is screwed up, causing it to lean out. I can't argue with that, as the "pro rebuild" was suspect the moment I got it back from the carb shop back in October.
I am scheduling to have her flatbedded to a local shop within the next two weeks. Already talked to the shop owner. A good, fair & honest shop.
I wish there was something else I could do myself, other than wait two weeks for my local mechanic to take her.
Thank you kind sir!
A good-hearthearted guy who did not hesitate to call me and generously offer his time, knowledge, wisdom (and patience!) to troubleshoot and correct my ignition issue, in real time. He called and talked me through set up and procedure for setting the static timing, as well as fine tuning the carburetor to perfection on my 383 big block. Over three hours of Bill remotely, precariously balanced upon GGs passenger side fender via speaker phone as we worked. Oh she was purring along. Vacuum pressure a steady 22"hg. Rpms at 700. Timing finding itself at 12-17 degrees. Temperature good. Amp gauge more on point and stable than ever before.
As just stated, he took me as far as he could from 800 miles away. Worthy of note here is that the entire top end of the engine was untouchably, abnormally hot.. hoses, wires, valve covers, everything, untouchable. With Bill still on the phone, I got in to take GG for a test drive, up to speed, under load, to see how she goes. So I got in, tapped the gas and the idle dropped down lower, uncomfortably low.. when I put her in gear/drive, she dropped down even more and was stalling out without constant throttle manipulation.
I shut her down. The engine was so hot that the rubber from the cork valve cover gaskets was melting and dripping out.
This kind of heat was present before, just when I had uncrossed the #6 and 7 wires and started playing with the timing/distributor; but never before that. I thanked and said goodnight to Bill, and let her cool down for four hours. This time I disconnected the vacuum advance and attached the vacuum gauge(mityvac) to the base of the carburetor(front side).
With one quick turn of key she fired right up. Vacuum read rock steady at 22"hg. Rpms at about 1100 at start up. Once warm and the throttle kicked down, vacuum dropped to below 15 and rpms dropped to 450.
So I reconnected vacuum advance to carburetor and hooked vacuum gauge to manifold.. and vacuum dropped to zero, rpms at 320 with engine struggling to stay running. Then she stalled out.
Without touching a thing I turned the key and she started right up again, but ran poorly. I pulled on the throttle to get rpms up, but the vacuum was pinned at zero and there was a hissing coming from somewhere.. and the heat off the engine was overwhelming.
Concerned of serious internal damage, I shut it down.
By Bill's assessment it must be a carburetor problem.. something in the idle circuit is screwed up, causing it to lean out. I can't argue with that, as the "pro rebuild" was suspect the moment I got it back from the carb shop back in October.
I am scheduling to have her flatbedded to a local shop within the next two weeks. Already talked to the shop owner. A good, fair & honest shop.
I wish there was something else I could do myself, other than wait two weeks for my local mechanic to take her.
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