starting a slant six for the first time in 15yrs ???
......... 1972 dart swinger
So I can get it to fire up and make noise just fine, but I cant quite get the idle to settle down without dying.
Most likely you left a vacuum hose loose (off) or the carb is gummed up and needs to be cleaned
I tried to set the dist to 10 deg but I need re plunge it a tooth over. One thing I did notice is that I could not get it to rev up without way more advance on the dist.
Not sure why you are messing with timing. If it was running then, it should run now. Just gapping the points a tad wide will advance the timing a bit. To do a "quick check" spring the rotor against the advance mechanism (cw) --it should spring right back. If not it's rusted up
If you can't get enough "swing" to time it, there's the adjustment slot at the engine, and a second one up under the distributor, like this:
http://imageshack.us/a/img585/623/ilq2.jpg
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Another thing is if there is no suction on the crankcase will it smoke a little to moderately out the valve cover?
And the last question is do the slant's rattle when they rev up
I would say crankcase smoke is normal for now. "Rattle." They do make lifter noise. Properly adjusted (mechanical) tappets should have a smooth "buzz" sort of sound. One, two, or more "clanking" means out of adjustment. I would CHECK THEM regardless. Engine hot, .010" intake, .020 exhaust. "Some people" insist you set them running. I never have. I use the "EOIC" method which works on any poppet valve 4 stroke. It means.......
Rotate the engine until the EXHAUST just starts to OPEN and set the intake for that cylinder
Rotate the engine until the INTAKE has opened and is nearly CLOSED and set the exhaust for that cylinder.
If you get it warm, determine that it "hits" on all six, run a compression / leakdown test and determine that it's worth running, I would waste no time changing the oil.
Don't run it long without a ballast resistor. You'l burn up the points or coil, one or the other. This car should have a simple 2 terminal ballast resistor on the firewall, and you should be able to connect one end of that so that you'll have the proper ballast in place
The fact that there's no "water" or coolant is a little troubling. Is there evidence it's been drained, or a hose rotted out? It might be that someone parked it with WATER and that it froze and broke the block. I assume the oil looks "black"? No sign of water / coolant?
