Someone want to give me a crash corse in plain english on timeing? I understand the basics like what advanceing and retarding the timeing means, but what are degrees? What is a timeing light and how does it work? After doing the duraspark conversion on the Mav, when I stepped on the gas it would fall on it's face and hesitate. I turned the dist. about a half inch counter clockwise and backed the mixture screw on the carb out 2 turns. This seemed to help, I could litterally just bump the key and the car would fire right up and sit there idleing. But the car still hesitated some when I stepped on it, it made some slight popping sounds when I let off the gas on the interstate or to stop at a red light and my gas mileage was definately suffering. This morning I turned the dist. counter clockwise about another 3/4 inch and turned the mixture screw back in 1 and a half turn. I immediately noticed the idle pick up some and get even smoother. I dropped the idle back down some with the other screw on the carb and now it just purrrrrs and if I step on it churps the tires and it dosen't hardly take any throttle to get it to dog leg around a corner. My gas mileage also seems to be better then ever. Problem now is it sounds like the starter is working harder to start the car, You can hear the compression on each cylinder before it fires up. What do I need to do to get the car to run as good as it is now but make it where it dosen't sound like it's a compression monster? I still need to replace the coil. It could be the original coil from 1974 for all I know...
As bascally as possible, Jamie, each cylinder needs to fire in a specific order regardless of how many of them there are and they need to fire at a specific time during the climb upward toward the top of the cylinder. The spark plug is supposed to fire when the piston is near the top of the cylinder and the explosion forces the piston down and creates the power to deliver to the transmission in the pre designed sequence of the cylinders. Rotating the distributor changes the timing of the firing as a unit of cylinders. When you look at the tune up specs, the timing is stated as 'degrees before top dead center (TDC)'. Degrees are just used a unit of measurement for each cylinder rise. You seemed to be trying to mix timing and carb adjustment at the same time. Obviously, you seem to have stumbled on some sort of a decent mix as you say the car is running well. You really should do one than the other, probably timing first. When you use a timing light, you're trying to see where the degrees are set when the number one cylinder is firing. There are a lot of old school mechanics still around that can set timing fairly well by ear, but it's always better to use a timing light to get it right. There are some that also say that as a car engine ages, you should advance the degree of timing slightly above factory spec to make up for wear on the internals. I'm not sure how I personally feel about this because I've never done that myself on any of my cars and had no issues because I kept them at spec. Hope this helps some. I didn't want to get too technical here as you asked.
Thanks Wes. I know how a engine runs, I've built a few (not car engines), but timeing is something I have never fully understood. I hear about guys talking about changing the timeing so and so degrees and all that stuff and it goes right over my head... But that right there is exactly what I was looking for. I'm thinking about takeing it over to my friend Brents house, who is a certifed SAE (or something like that) mechanic, and let him do the timeing. Are there any consequences of running with the timeing slightly off other then just not as good of performance?
I guess I should clarify. I didn't do them both at the same time. I did one at a time and then drove down the street and listened to how it was running and what it was doing and then did the carb. I just went by gut feeling on how the engine sounded and ran to set them. Right now it seems to be pretty good. I just backed the dist. up another quarter inch clockwise and it seems to start pretty good and run and idel good so I'll leave it alone for now and see what my dad thinks.
Jamie, go to the Fordmuscle.com website and go to the Timing is everything article in the tech site for a very good article on timing. Wes explained it very well but the article has pictures too. lol If you can figure out how to get that 6 banger timed right with the right curve to the timing as far as the advance goes you could probably free up more power. clint
I wasn't trying to dumb you down, Jamie. Just tried to keep it as simple as I could and I didn't know how much experience you already had with engines. The illustrated tech article mentioned is likely the best place to clarify what you need to know. If you decide to advance the timing to enhance the performance a bit, be careful how much. It's not uncommon to develop a spark knock (pre ignition) with too much advance and this could eventually damage the piston heads if it gets too severe and at least it helps develop more carbon deposits which will hurt performance in time with accumulation. I heard that Mopar makes a very good combustion chamber cleaner available at the dealer if this happens, or just to clean the pistons and valves. You just dump it in a tank of gas. I haven't used it yet, but I've heard good stuff about it.
Wes, I was'nt trying to say your mini-tech article was dumbing him down. I though it was very well written. I was just trying to add to it with a good article that has helped me alot in the past. Also as far as the mopar stuff goes for cleaning the carbon, Seafoam does a real good job also. Clint
So, now you're saying Wes' idea about the Mopar stuff is bunk? (Just kidding guys. I don't think anyone is disputing or condescending anyone. Sometimes, we're just too nice around here! )
When I first got the car it was non running and I had to pull the head off and basically go though the whole top end because of some seized valves(theres an old post about it on here somewhere). I cleaned all the carbon out I could get to while I had it apart, except for the tops of the pistons. When I gapped the plugs for the Duraspark ignition the other day, I looked down in the cylinder with a flash light and the carbon deposites didn't look "rough" like they did when I had the head off a while back, it was just a real smooth thin layer of carbon. I've drove about 100 miles since I last touched the dist. or carb and I pulled a plug out today and it's kind of a tanish/purple color. Not sure what that means? I'm going to run it for another 1,000 miles and then pull a few plugs out and see what it looks like then(probably a couple of weeks). Wes, I didn't take it that way. I was just trying to let ya know I'm not a complete novice.
That's not a "mixture screw", it's the idle speed screw. You need to make sure when you install the distributor, that the number one piston is at top-dead-center when the rotor is pointing at the number one cap position. Then mark the harmonic balancer (so that you can see it with a timing light) at where you want the timing set. Each mark represents 2-degrees. The factory setting is 6-degrees before top-dead-center (initial), but with these low-compression engines, you can get away with 12-degrees and you'll have better throttle response at low RPMs. When you are setting the timing, it is a good idea to remove and plug the vacuum line to the vacuum advance canister, for a more accurate reading. Connect the timing light to the number-1 spark plug wire and aim it at the harmonic balancer and indicator (pointer). As you rotate the distributor, the mark that you made will move in the light. Position it where you want it and then tighten down the distributor (not too tight, just snug). Your timing it now set and the car should run great...
if you have'nt done so yet it sounds to me like the timing is advaced just a wee bit. if you back it off a little you should loose the comp. during starting.get it so it starts with no problem then take itto your mechanic freind and have him show you how to set the timing correctly its always better to have an expert show you the proper way.most mechanics are more than happy to help you young fella's out and teach you proper methods at least here they are.
A timing light? What the heck is that? I usually drop the distributor in at TDC on number one to get the engine fired up, bump it ahead until it pings under load and then just back it off a hair. Usually takes a few stops on the road but doing it this way I have never been more than a couple of degrees off (but I prefer being slightly advanced anyways, MORE POWER). Jamie, if it was hard to start when it was hot you were probably also experiencing some form of pinging under load.
It's better to use a timing light. Detonation (pre-ignition) can be happening even though you don't hear it. You should never exceed 38 degrees total advance (around 3000 RPM) on these engines or else damage can occur...
If it was pinging, there no way in he!! I would be able to hear it over my exaust. I need to either replace or just do away with my vac. advance. Yesterday going down to Terrys I could feel the car kind of gain and loose power at times, almost like the timeing was changeing. When I got home, my dad said the vac. advance on the side of the dist. probably needs to be replaced. Would it be ok to just disconnect it? That way once I get it to a point that it runs good, I wouldn't have to worry about what it's doing when the advance kicks in. Right now it seems like any time I run the car hard or run it at high speeds for a long time, it starts to get kind of sluggish and I think it's the vac. advance.
