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Save that Delco-Remy original condenser for a "side of the road" spare.

Thanks Don and Ross for the info. I've never done anything with a distributor until this car, so I don't know what is normal and what isn't.

And good suggestion Paul. I will hang on to the old condenser.



I got up early today to put in a few minutes on the car before work. I had #1 cylinder on 6 degrees BTDC and set my points gap at 0.016", both according to the Motors manual. Then using a multimeter to test continuity (one probe on the inner plate of the distributor, and one on the post going to the coil), I rotated the distributor with rotation of the rotor first, then back against the rotation until continuity was lost (points just barely open). Then tightened down the distributor at that point.

I started up the car to test, and it sounded much better than it had before. Checking the timing, I was surprised to see that it was sitting consistently at about 15 degrees. I then realized I had the vacuum line hooked up to the advance, so maybe that's why? Does it normally advance that much at idle? Seems a little excessive to me.

-Kevin

Quote:

Hang on to spare points too. There seems to be a batch of cheaply made points floating around, leaving many a classic car owner stranded.

Kevin:

The carburetor is designed such that zero vacuum is available at idle throttle position. The extra advance could be one of 3 items;
1.) Static timing is wrong
2.) Idle speed is excessive and the centrifugal advance was ‘in-play’, or the centrifugal advance is responding early.
3.) Throttle position was sufficient to provide vacuum to the port and the advance is due to the vacuum advance.

For years the manufactures of carburetors used the same design of ‘NO VACUUM AT IDLE’, but that didn’t stop us from disconnecting the vacuum chamber tube/hose every time. It’s now your turn to keep the custom going for the next generation.

While watching the timing marks accelerate the engine and confirm the centrifugal advance is responding to the change in engine speed. If the engine was still on high idle, because the choke reset the high idle cam, then the centrifugal advance may have been in-play, and explain your results. If the centrifugal advance is at its maximum limit near idle then more investigation is in order inside the distributor.

If you missed the static timing by a bunch I would expect a labored start, meaning the ignition occurs so far before TDC the starter has to overcome the torque that results from combustion. The process you used to set the initial timing is as good as it can get, so that’s not likely the cause, but you can repeat just to confirm.

This time you can hook-up your meter and roll the engine until the continuity is lost, then note the number of degrees of advance.

dp

David - I lean towards both 2 and 3 being culprits. I need to borrow a friend's tach meter to see what the idle speed actually is. My guess is that it is high. High enough that it is pulling a vacuum. If I disconnect the vacuum line to the distributor I can feel a vacuum in the line if I put my finger on it.

The engine was also not warm at all. I literally started the car, hooked up the timing gun and checked the timing. It was on for maybe 1 minute, then it was time to get ready for work. So the choke was not open and engine was probably on high idle.

-Kevin

I think I got the timing dialed in. I checked the idle speed with a tach and I was way over....like 800 RPM. So I dropped it down to about 450, then twisted the distributor until it was right on 6 BTDC. Vacuum advance unconnected for this, with vacuum line plugged.

Took a test drive without the advance connected. Felt great. Connected it and test drove again and also felt nice. No more stumble on light acceleration, or any acceleration that I could tell. Overall it ran and sounded much smoother.

Temperature is still creeping up. I'm gathering up the last of the parts and will drain/flush the coolant system, new thermostat, new cap, maybe a backflush. Hopefully that all will help.

-Kevin

What tire pressure are you guys running? Factory manual says 24 front and back, but I'm assuming that's for the old bias-ply tires. I'm running Diamondback radials now.

-Kevin

Probably one of those things where there are several different opinions. For what it is worth this is Diamond Backs recommendation as stated in their current catalog.

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I have 16" Diamondback Radials at 50 lbs.

Kevin, I had a set of Diamondback whitewall tubeless radials on my 55 Clipper. The tires used were Coopers, I think. Anyway, I don't recall inflating them more than 35 lbs and probably had them a bit less.

Joe, 50 lbs sounds to me like way too much pressure. The Diamondbacks I had on my 37 Six were inflated to between 35 and 40 lbs. No problems running them at these pressures.