1974 Dart Swinger

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The Darts been kicking our butts with it's timing and acceleration. We picked up a re-manufactured distributor from Auto Zone and put it in today. We hooked everything up and it ran much better right away. Our test drive was OK until we started back home and the timing seemed to slip and it went back to it's sluggish acceleration and mild backfiring. We bought a timing light as well but when useing it, we don't seem to be able to see the timing mark. I guess I'll ask my mechanic / neighbor for a hand and use his timing light and see where we go from there. I think we're right on the verge of a break-through but my patience is wearing thin.

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Sounds like you have your timing to far advanced. Back it off to get your timing mark back to zero. Then set it around 10-12 btdc. Lock it down good,and re-check the timing.

Double check all your plug wires. Make sure they are all connected in the correct firing order.

There is also a white wire that I dont see connected in your pictures.
It goes to your oil pressure switch. Hook it up, it is a hot 12v wire.
 
Hey Buttons,I noticed your speedo cluster is in shambles!I,m willing to send you one for free,you pay shipping?I have 3,so if your interested?PM me.Glad to see you out showing your hard work!
 
Johnny Dart, we turned the distributor back and forth as far as we could but never did see the timing mark. We never did disconnect te plug wires. We left everything attached to the cap. We never did see a white wire for an oil pressure switch.

Pettybluedart, look for a PM and thanks!
 
Button said:
Johnny Dart, we turned the distributor back and forth as far as we could but never did see the timing mark. We never did disconnect te plug wires. We left everything attached to the cap. We never did see a white wire for an oil pressure switch.

Pettybluedart, look for a PM and thanks!
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Here,s a pic. of 1 of 3 I have,give me some time to price shipping and I accept Paypal.

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The distributors were the same, it's just the way they were sitting there on the rocks, but you are right, one does look longer. That speedo cluster looks MUCH better than ours. Our gauge faces are very hazy as well. I'm attributing this to being a smokers car and 35+ years of sun fade. I guess I'll need the dash area around the radio next.
 
Button said:
Johnny Dart, we turned the distributor back and forth as far as we could but never did see the timing mark. We never did disconnect te plug wires. We left everything attached to the cap. We never did see a white wire for an oil pressure switch.

Pettybluedart, look for a PM and thanks!
Click to expand...

Look at the first pic. There is a wire with a bare terminal leaning against the distributor. Could be white,brown,beige, cant really tell. That is the wire that connects to your oil pressure switch. The male terminal slides right over the top of it.

Do you have the timing mark on the balancer marked with white paint so you can see it ?

You either dont have it marked correctly,or your not holding the timing light right. You should see a mark.

Pettybluedart had a good point about the dist. The new one looks bigger.
 
Found a pic of the oil pressure switch. Looks like it is a brown wire.
Wire terminal slides right over the top.

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Tonight our nieghbor who is a mechanic, (professional versus us the amatuers) came over and helped us with the timing. He used his light while I turned the distributor and what we found out was that we had it way to far advanced. We brought it back down to about 5-6 degree advanced and took it for a spin. It's better but still has a small backfire under accelleration. By that point it was late and dark so we quit for the night. In everyones best experience, what is the best degree to set the timing? I'm guessing 3-4 advance?!?!
 
pettybludart said:
Hey Buttons,I noticed your speedo cluster is in shambles!I,m willing to send you one for free,you pay shipping?I have 3,so if your interested?PM me.Glad to see you out showing your hard work!
Click to expand...

Only here on FABO. Another example of why we all love this site
 
Button said:
Tonight our nieghbor who is a mechanic, (professional versus us the amatuers) came over and helped us with the timing. He used his light while I turned the distributor and what we found out was that we had it way to far advanced. We brought it back down to about 5-6 degree advanced and took it for a spin. It's better but still has a small backfire under accelleration. By that point it was late and dark so we quit for the night. In everyones best experience, what is the best degree to set the timing? I'm guessing 3-4 advance?!?!
Click to expand...


A 1974 318 ignition timing stock is TDC

However us Hot Rodders cant leave enough alone. We like to advance our timing for some extra performance.

So what you can do is advance it a little at a time and test drive it. If it starts pinging on acceleration, back the timing off a bit. The higher octane gasoline you run in your car the further you can advance your timing.

I like to run my 360 between 10-12 degs btdc (before top dead center).I have a pretty mild street motor that I run 87 octane in most the time. This is where my timing is best with this motor and 87 gas.

Every engine will run a little different. Finding the timing that will work for you is not that hard once you get the hang of it. Try advancing it to 10 btdc, I bet the car will like it. If it pings,back it off to 8,etc etc.

A distributor wrench is important to lock the dist down good.

Side note: Did you hook up your oil pressure switch wire ?
 
Johhny Dart, we advanced the timing to 10+ and that did make it run much smoother upon acceleration. There was only twice during our test run of nearly 25 minutes that it lightly "poofed" a small back-fire. That I believe is due to us now needing to adjust the fuel mixture some. This might be a dumb question since you can't actually see and hear the car run, but do you think it might be running a bit rich or lean? I guess tomorrow evening we'll play with the carb some and see how she does.
We picked up a distributor wrench at Auto Zone for $4.99 and a timing light for $39.99, also from Auto Zone. The oil pressure switch is hooked up. Here is what the distributors position looked like at 10+ degree's. Someone on the "engine" DG asked for these pictures.

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Last night we drove the car around the area of town we live in and would stop and lean out, (turn the screws counter-clockwise) the carb in 1/4 turn increments. It got better with each attempt and we stopped at one full turn out, as night fell. This allowed us to nearly "floor-it" without any backfire. We plan to lean it some more tonight to hopefully find the best adjustment for operation.
 
I usually start at 1 1/2 turns out on the A/F ratio screws.

Do not tighten them down tight to start. If you do you will damage the needle and seat.

Only tighten the A/F screw hand tight.

Then back them both out 1 1/2 turns.

This should be just about perfect. Remember, it is better to be a little rich than a little lean.

Remember turning in leans, and turning out richens.

Sounds like your getting it dialed in.
 
OK, here I thought I was leaning the carb by turning the two screws counter-clockwise, as per guidance from someone on this or another thread. Now I'm informed I'm actually making the fuel mixture more "rich" with the adjustments I'm doing.
Johnny Dart, no offense, but are we absolutly sure about this lean/rich issue? I thought this back-fire problem was due to the carb being too rich. But according to you, it wa scaused by being too lean. I just want to know what I'm doing when I turn these two screws.
I must sound like a moron to those of you that have been doing this longer than a day, but like my son, I am learning as we do this as well. It's been a great learning tool for both of us.
 
Clockwise = lean, less fuel at idle.

Counter Clockwise = Rich, more fuel at idle.

The best way to set them is with a vacuum gauge. Adjust for highest vacuum.

I have got to the point where I can adjust by the sound of the motor.

Like I said, lightly tighten them down, and back them out 1 1/2 turns.
This is a good place to start, and wouldnt be suprised if it was close to spot on.

Remember,like I said a little rich is better than lean.

Also I never said anything about your backfire. It could be a number of different things(fuel,ignition,etc). But a lean motor can backfire because its starving for fuel.
 
Hello all,
It's been a while since we've posted since Spring football, baseball season, and soccer have occupied so much of our time. Not to mention going camping and off-road riding on our dirt bikes and ATV's. We did wash up the Dart this past weekend and then installed a Tachometer we picked up on Craigslist for $15. A Sun-Pro, mini-tach that works just fine. I'd like to get a better mount for under the dash but it is OK for now.
My thanks to Joe, (you know who you are) for the fine visors he sent us. They are almost like new and it really makes me feel fortunate to be a member of this forum due to the outstanding help and advise we have recieved. I tell people al the time about this site!!!

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Not the best place for your tach. Looking down is never good when driving.
Your tach is designed to go around the steering column with a big hose clamp.
But with the column shifter that can be a problem.

Here is a idea for you I came up with. Take the second screw out of the instrument cluster,and save it.

You will need to find a bigger screw of the same diameter. Screw it in and your done. Actually works really well here. In perfect sight, without covering all your gauges. 8)

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I agree with Johnny Dart...Especially with a new teenage driver, an added distraction is no good. I put in a gauge cluster in that same spot (water temp., trans temp., and oil pressure), and I have a bad habit of looking down a little too often while on the highway. I was able to build a bracket that utilized a hose clamp, all while hiding the clamp.
 
Johnny Dart that is awesome. I just picked up a tach just like the one you have Button. I was planning on putting it on this week. I like the placement of yours Johnny Dart
 
I like that placement of the Tach under the second screw of the instrument cluster. I think we may try that. Our under dash mount was temporary for now anyways. We just wanted to see what RPM it was idleing at while we attempted to tune the car.
 
Johnny Dart said:
Not the best place for your tach. Looking down is never good when driving.
Your tach is designed to go around the steering column with a big hose clamp.
But with the column shifter that can be a problem.

Here is a idea for you I came up with. Take the second screw out of the instrument cluster,and save it.

You will need to find a bigger screw of the same diameter. Screw it in and your done. Actually works really well here. In perfect sight, without covering all your gauges. 8)
Click to expand...

That's a great idea! Thanks!
 
wow, its amazing how much better the car looks with some tlc. huge difference in the before and after, car is looking good! i can't wait to see more progress.
 
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