[63 bomb]

As y'all know I've finally got this engine running, but it's still not quite right. I think the distributor may be a tooth off... Before firing it for the first time I spun the engine with the plugs out and used the timing light to line it up on top dead center but that ended up being way retarded. I noticed that the previous owner had marked the distributor to housing location with a chisel mark but in order to make it run somewhat correctly, the marks are not even close to lining up and the timing light shows the mark on the balancer to be off of the scale (to the advanced side) on the cover. My question is this: What would the symptoms be of the distributor being a tooth off?

Here is a video to show what's going on. Thanks in advance!

Warm start and idle

[66sprint]

May need to check the balancer to see if the outer ring has slipped

[63 bomb]

It's brand new but it is a Chevy balancer. Before installing that one I lined the two up with a long woodruff key and the timing marks are off a little bit, but no more than 5 degrees. Before the engine was installed and everything was set to top-dead the new balancer showed 5 degrees retard on the scale.

[sprintbird]

Tighten your manifold bolts and nuts before doing any adjustments. I think you have a vacuum leak by listening to your video.

[63 bomb]

I'll check that tonight, but I'm pretty sure they're tight... Unless they loosened up a bit after the initial break-in.

[694.1]

I have sen this with Pertronics...

[63 bomb]

Still running points.

[sprintbird]

Originally Posted by 63 bomb

I'll check that tonight, but I'm pretty sure they're tight... Unless they loosened up a bit after the initial break-in.

They do loosen after the first few cycles of running. I have built a couple of these, believe me.