Re: '39 Six not running...

Posted by Ross On 2016/12/9 6:20:51

With that hot exhaust, the timing is almost certainly retarded. For the time being, forget about timing marks. Loosen the distributor enough so that you can just turn it. Start her up and and rotate the dist. slowly CW a tiny bit. You should hear the idle pick up noticeably. Keep doing that a little at a time till further turning has no marked effect on the idle speed, then back it off CCW a little and lock it down. If the engine bucks against the starter on the restart, you will have to back the dist off a little farther.

If your timing is as far off as I suspect, you may have to reduce the idle speed as you go along. There will be an adjusting screw on the base of the carb that bears on an arm on the throttle shaft to do that. The other screw with a spring wrapped around it on the base of the carb is for adjusting the idle mixture. If you have success with the timing procedure above, you can tweak that screw in and out as needed to get your smoothest idle.

The new head gasket hints that perhaps the car has just had a valve job. I have witnessed more than one case where the valves were not adjusted either properly, or perhaps at all afterwards. All other work will be for naught if they don't have sufficient clearance. The engine will skip, buck, and stall as soon as it warms and the valves expand. Without looking, I think you need at least .012 on the exhausts, and .008 on the intakes with the engine cold.