Engine sputtering at about 65
Ok, so an update. Timing is still not perfect, but passable and driveable, although I haven't road tested upper speeds, I'm confident that I at least got myself back where I was before the fuel pump R & R, and motor wise, I'm ok.
So, not being 100 percent if it was fuel or spark that was screwing up my idle and poor performance after the new fuel pump was installed and all new plumbing was done, I went and bought a timing gun to be safe. Timing by vacuum was a recommendation from an old timer and he seemed like he was right on the money, at least before the new fuel pump. The old timer said that if the harmonic balancer has slipped or the timing chain has stretched, the gauges won't be accurate, thus their affinity for timing by vacuum (I'm sure that's a debate being had all over the place). After the new fuel pump, however, I was lost.
Anyway, back to the timing, it was badly retarded and way off, but I now have it set at 18-20 initial advance (on the gun) and it seems to run way better (this block is really hard to judge as all the marks say are -10, 0 and 10 and then the edge of the block drops off, so you literally have to guess at anything over 10 - see attached photo).
I then set about making sure electrical was not an issue, reseated every plug and the coil wire. The coil wire didn't seem to be fully seated when I took it off so I spent extra time putting it back on and it seemed like this time it really seated well. I feel like this was possibly a contributing factor although not the whole solution.
Ok, so an update. Timing is still not perfect, but passable and driveable, although I haven't road tested upper speeds, I'm confident that I at least got myself back where I was before the fuel pump R & R, and motor wise, I'm ok.
So, not being 100 percent if it was fuel or spark that was screwing up my idle and poor performance after the new fuel pump was installed and all new plumbing was done, I went and bought a timing gun to be safe. Timing by vacuum was a recommendation from an old timer and he seemed like he was right on the money, at least before the new fuel pump. The old timer said that if the harmonic balancer has slipped or the timing chain has stretched, the gauges won't be accurate, thus their affinity for timing by vacuum (I'm sure that's a debate being had all over the place). After the new fuel pump, however, I was lost.
Anyway, back to the timing, it was badly retarded and way off, but I now have it set at 18-20 initial advance (on the gun) and it seems to run way better (this block is really hard to judge as all the marks say are -10, 0 and 10 and then the edge of the block drops off, so you literally have to guess at anything over 10 - see attached photo).
I then set about making sure electrical was not an issue, reseated every plug and the coil wire. The coil wire didn't seem to be fully seated when I took it off so I spent extra time putting it back on and it seemed like this time it really seated well. I feel like this was possibly a contributing factor although not the whole solution.
