Lost power all of a sudden. 273 commando.

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txstang84 said:
Was this the same carb you had on before when it ran as well as it did? If not, it may need some more tuning or the throttle pressure linkage may need adjusted.
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Yes it is the same, only had it one for a couple of months but it ran like a champ one week ago. I dont know if it is the carb, but that one is relatively new to me.

I dont know if I can get more work done on the car today, I'm gonna need a friend to help me out to check some things. But I will post back what ever diagnosing and results I get asap. I hope I can work on it some more tonight. It sucks to have this kind of trouble, but at the same time I'm learning some stuff about trouble shooting. I don't want to go and by new parts to throw on there and hope for the best.
 
Alright, some updates. My total timing of 35 kicks in around 1800 rpm. Here is a picture of one of the plugs. The spark was fine.

I have ordered a kit of seven springs for the holley carb. When I take of and has got up to a bit of speed I can totally feel the secondary open with a kick. I only had three springs that came with the carb, it's the same with all of them. Could the heat outside affect this!? Thats the only factor that has really changed.
 

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The red color on the insulator looks like some additives in the gas, but the timing looks way too fast to me...usually all in isn't until somewhere closer to 2500 or higher.

Edit: has the timing always been that quick?
 
txstang84 said:
The red color on the insulator looks like some additives in the gas, but the timing looks way too fast to me...usually all in isn't until somewhere closer to 2500 or higher.

Edit: has the timing always been that quick?
Click to expand...

I have a little led additive in the gas. The plugs are about 2 years old.

I have not messed with the timing for about two years until these last days. I was under the impression you wanted the timing full in before 2000 rpm. I'm thinking of ordering a mopar electronic conversion kit from mancini. Something I have been wanting to do for a while even before these resent headaches. When looking at the marks with the timing at idle the "move" around some. It's hard to get a correct reading. Could be the gun, could be the pertronix I have a pretty steady idle at about 800 rpm, I have a pretty big cam for a 273 though.
 
Well, timing is what the engine needs and based on your whole combination. But, if the timing comes in too fast, the quick ignition lead will actually make the engine fight itself against the combustion going on inside the cylinders. And if it's jumping around at only 800rpm, I would actually think it's a little too quick. But that's just my opinion. Have you checked to see if possibly one of your counterweight springs isn't popped off?

Some engines run locked out timing above 30*, but that's usually because they run large cams that don't generate much cylinder pressure at idle, so they have to offset that with increased timing lead.
 
You may not need to order a new distributor...just some different advance springs or just shave your counterweights to slow them down a little.
 
Just wanted to let you know that this cured my problems. Pertronix ignitor II, new distributor, taylor wires and champion plugs. I also indexed the new plugs while I was at it. Thanks for the help everyone.
 

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