[Darth Menace]

Originally Posted by nytrainer

Alright now you're cooking. Those numbers look pretty good and as mentioned you can now try bumping it up a degree and test drive it. Listen for any pinging and if it exists then back it back down. Good to see that the mechanical advance seems to be working properly. With the timimg squared away you can now play with the carb. settings.

I would have thought that the idle number was a touch high and the all out number was a bit low, but I will take it if you guys think it's satisfactory and it drives okay.

[PontGuy]

Originally Posted by Darth Menace

I would have thought that the idle number was a touch high and the all out number was a bit low

That is probably correct, but the amount of centrifugal advance built into a given distributor depends on the original application. 18 degrees of advance is not at all unusual, though it can limit the amount of all-in advance you can have without running into starting problems due to having too high a base.

The main goal for now is to make sure that timing is reasonable. Going from 26 to 32 all-in is a big jump that you should really feel. And now that you know a base setting of 14 gives you 32 degrees all-in you can bump it a degree or two at a time to see how it responds without having to measure all-in timing again. Modifying the timing curve can be set aside for later if needed.

What are the issues with the carb? Most of the external adjustments are for tuning idle speed and quality. If the engine is idling good then there's not much that can be done without tearing into it or getting a better carb.

One last thing I would do is put a vacuum gauge on it to see what the engine is pulling at idle. Note the RPM that the reading is taken at and whether the needle is steady or whether there is any pulsing. That will help confirm that the valvetrain is in good shape and also give us a bit of a clue as to how big a cam it has.

Other than that, I agree it sounds like your focus needs to be on all the other stuff to get past inspection.

[Darth Menace]

I had a "lack of gas" thread around the same time as this thread, but both eventually morphed into one as the problems were somewhat similar. In that thread we had resolved that some of the problems I am having are from the car being too lean. I'm hoping a tune can give it that extra gas it needs.

Also, what area do I plug the vacuum gauge into? Any other unique things other than just warming it up?

Originally Posted by PontGuy

What are the issues with the carb? Most of the external adjustments are for tuning idle speed and quality. If the engine is idling good then there's not much that can be done without tearing into it or getting a better carb.

One last thing I would do is put a vacuum gauge on it to see what the engine is pulling at idle. Note the RPM that the reading is taken at and whether the needle is steady or whether there is any pulsing. That will help confirm that the valvetrain is in good shape and also give us a bit of a clue as to how big a cam it has.

[PontGuy]

I found your "lack of gas" thread.

One more thing before moving on. When you pull the vacuum hose from the vacuum advance (when checking timing) does timing jump back and the engine slow down? If so that's good. Just want to make sure that the vacuum diaphragm on the distributor is OK.

The vacuum gauge should be hooked up to any manifold vacuum source. Since you have the vacuum advance connected to the manifold you can tee it into this hose.

Regarding the engine quitting when you put the car in gear- if you have the PVC hooked up properly and there are no major vacuum leaks, timing is set properly, and it is firing on all cylinders then it sounds like a carb problem. Assuming that the Edelbrock has a big enough idle circuit for your cam (I have no experience with Edelbrock) then the idle speed and mixture screws probably just need some adjusting. Having the vacuum gage connected will help with this.

Yes the engine needs to be warmed up and the choke disengaged to get good vacuum readings and to make carb adjustments.

[Darth Menace]

Yah, I think my lack of knowledge has started a debate. To make it worse I typed a reply and it didn't work because my cookies didn't match up. Go figure.

Anyway, to answer your question yes when I unplugged the vacuum advance the idle did slow down. I didn't check the timing before and after i unplugged it though.

Ya, I think it was decided in another thread that my carb is likely gummed up and needs an adjustment. I wont be able to do a highway drive for a while, but can take a cruise around. It won't take much for me to know if the car has improved since I first drove it. When it was a shakey slug

Originally Posted by PontGuy

I found your "lack of gas" thread.

One more thing before moving on. When you pull the vacuum hose from the vacuum advance (when checking timing) does timing jump back and the engine slow down? If so that's good. Just want to make sure that the vacuum diaphragm on the distributor is OK.

The vacuum gauge should be hooked up to any manifold vacuum source. Since you have the vacuum advance connected to the manifold you can tee it into this hose.

Regarding the engine quitting when you put the car in gear- if you have the PVC hooked up properly and there are no major vacuum leaks, timing is set properly, and it is firing on all cylinders then it sounds like a carb problem. Assuming that the Edelbrock has a big enough idle circuit for your cam (I have no experience with Edelbrock) then the idle speed and mixture screws probably just need some adjusting. Having the vacuum gage connected will help with this.

Yes the engine needs to be warmed up and the choke disengaged to get good vacuum readings and to make carb adjustments.