Issues at idle

[Dave Neptune]

Timing marks.

Edward and all, as for those adapting a mark or set of marks on the acc'y drive or the flywheel due to the inaccuracy of each individual attempt the mark will still be a baseline for your engine. What is importatn is how the distributor is working IE the advance mechanism.

Any depth type gage will work as far as indicating goes. You just need one that you can attach or mount solidly on the head. Just roll the engine in the direction of rotation until you reach max height of the piston and note the position or value on the indicator then roll around again and stop as you are approaching "the value'" and continue to roll slowly until max height is achieved on the compression stroke. Once TDC is achieved stop, if you go past rotate the engine again (720 degrees 2 rotations) do not "roll back" to the TDC position as you will be including the slop in the rod bearing.

Jerry, yes you are correct, before TDC is the advanced timing direction and after would be backing off the timing or retarding it. The marks would allow us to advance or retard the timing in desired increments not guessing as in power timing.

Dave Neptune

[thatch]

"We're making progress"

All,
Thank's for coming on board in the attempt to create some useable timing marks. Regardless of how it's done, having the ability to come back to a previous "good" timing setting is what it's all about. Being able to remove a distributor and service it on the bench and then getting it re-installed at it's previous setting is always a good thing.
Tom

[thatch]

"The pulley"

Dave,
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. The outside diameter of the accessory drive pulley is 3.80" or slightly over 3-3/4".
Tom
P.S. Call when you have the time, no rush.

[ndutton]

Seems like we need to get Neil in on this discussion if coils and timing are in play?

I'm watching with genuine interest but there's nothing I can offer beyond what's already being discussed. I was power timing for maybe 10 - 15 years before I owned my first timing light so I'm perfectly comfortable doing it old school.

That said, I'm working on adding an aux drive pointer to observe the proper operation of the flyweight advance system and to be able to set my engine at TDC without a dial indicator in the future. In fact, I'll make marks on my auxiliary pulley 180 degrees apart so I have an accurate mark for each cylinder at TDC. I'll take a peek at the rotor to determine when a particular cylinder is on its compression stroke and use the pointer to fine tune. This is primarily in consideration of future valve adjustment. I'm thinking of a different color for the advance mark.

[TomG]

Not to distract from the more interesting discussion on timing, but just wanted to report that I removed and disassembled the carb today. The inside was pretty clean, but it felt like the idle port was clogged. I poked, prodded, and blew compressed air through all the ports and the reassembled and reinstalled. It took a few minutes to get her running, but I finally get her to idle very smoothly at 800 RPMs. And there was much rejoicing!

Thanks for everyone's help!

[Dave Neptune]

Oh yeh!

Tom, good to hear that you found some resistance in the idle circuit. That was the problem and it is good to hear you made some progress.
Did you have any problem adjusting the idle once the RPM's dropped?
Progresss is progress!!!!

Dave Neptune

[smosher]

Awesome !!!!!!!

[Administrator]

I'm thinking that a skinny wood craft dowel may be enough. Just slip it thru the #1 spark plug hole and let it set on top of the piston. Then watch/feel it go up and down as you wiggle the crank until you find TDC.

Wouldn't the dowel rest on top of a valve, rather than a piston?

Bill

[thatch]

"Oops"

Bill,
My sincerest apologies to those that I may have led astray. You will indeed hit nothing but block or valve if you try to check piston movement through a spark plug hole. Apparently I did my checking before replacing the head.
Tom

[edwardc]

Wouldn't the dowel rest on top of a valve, rather than a piston?

Bill

I''m talking about a REALLY skinny dowel, going in at an angle.

If I recall correctly (and what are the chances of that!), at one point, while dealing with my whole water-in-the-cylinders/cracked-block fiasco last year, I was able to insert the skinny plastic tube on the can of WD-40 through the spark plug hole at an angle and get it into the cylinder, not just resting on the top of the block.

But maybe the tube had to bend a little to do this? Anyway, it seemed that something similar would work to "feel" the piston position on #1.