Stupid Distributor Questions

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I'm going on the idea you haven't just re-done everything on your engine.
The oldest Tech artical read from Mopar when you are haveing a missfire problem is to replace the bearing under the distributor. That would be the IDEAL TIME TO REPLACE THE POINTS DIST. TO AN ELECTRONIC UNIT. Go with the Mopar Performance unit. It is tried and TRUE. The bushing below the dist is most often overlooked and cause spark scatter at upper rpm.
Next is to look at the spark plugs after 1000 miles. If the plugs are white then, you have a vacume leak or a really bad lean intake charge.
You must take these problems one at a time or you have NO BASIC IDEA OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING. Many problems mask other problems. If you listen to every tom dick and harry you can run around like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Replacement of the brass bushing will only cost a few dollars. Replacement of the dist with a Mopar Performance will cost you about $150 and this is something that you will profit from regardless so there is no downside to this swap. Mopar Performance Ignitions are good to 7500 rpm at least and will overcome a lot of small problems with your setup.

Just thinking out loud...................


PS: If you buy the Mopar Performance unit, Upgrade to the Chrome Box. The Orange Box has proved to be junk.
 
Yea, and it's lean yet you say to hook up the vac advance knowing it'll add timing to the mix and make the condition worse.
I say set up the distributor with out vac advance then fix the carb and after all that, then experiment with your gas mileage canister.



Lets put our heads together on the same page.

Yes the carb is lean but we`re addressing that as well as getting vacuum advance out of the idle circuit. There are several things that need to be tweaked here. I mentioned that the plugs are too hot , an Autolite 63 would be a better choice. George has the timing up to 38* now ,which for a stock 340 is too much even with good gas. I suggested bringing it down 4* and running at least 93 octane gas. 34* timing may be too much yet, it may have to come down even more if spark knock persists. All of these things will help alleviate the lean condition. These cars stock are meant to run with only 5* initial advance and pick up only another 12* mechanical by 2000 rpm. The vacuum advance will give just enough advance at low rpm to help with bogging and won`t matter at WOT. The car`s a stock 340 and should drive like a street car. I`d like to see George put a good electronic ignition on the car but I know he`s fighting it in an interest to keep things (at least) appearing stock. (Hear me George? Lol!) Another way to go about things would be to start with stock specs and go from there. Champion N9Y plugs with 5* BTDC initial timing ,11.5* mechanical advance @ 2000 rpm, and 8.5* vacuum advance @ 10.5 inches. Your advise is good 3404spdvaliant and I`m sorry if my suggestions clash with yours but we`d both like to help George, we`re just going about it in two different ways.
 
george, please tell us you changed points and gaped them correctly around .020 if your still running that relic.
I don't know why I thought you changed to electronic already, damm it!
Some times we/I assume that the basics are covered, if this is the case it's kinda like why dosen't this lamp work?=cause the light bulb is burnt out....
 
so it pings a lot more under load?

Skinnier primary rods will richen it up.

So you know, if it was an extreme case of lean it would basically start to cut out at a certain rpm like a rev limiter.

Whats f'd is you say you put a new eddy carb and still can't get it to even low rpm cruise, now eddy's are quite lean outta the box
[their calibrated for chevys] but I would only expect a surge at cruise not pop pop pop outta the carb.
Lets work 1 last time on the carb but not the factory mystery carb.
What size eddy is it and if around 600 or so I recommend size 100 jets and .073 rods to start.
The plugs are white with no color even down in the plug= lean
With that comp you need plugs that are 2 steps [at least] colder.

No. It only pings at hi RPM with my foot to the floor.
Where can I buy jets & rods for this terd? Jegs etc?
Longgone told me to replace the plugs to a colder set, but I haven't done it yet. I don't know if that would help the popping though.

George, it sounds like richening that carburetor has helped. You`re getting closer to getting the bugs worked out, now we`ve just got to get a good electronic ignition on there and some colder plugs. 34* BTDC is about all you want to go on a stock smallblock. In the interest of street driving and mpg, I would hook up the vacuum advance. That can also help with the car bogging out of the hole. It sounds like you have very good compression. Are you running at least 93 octane?

I have been running the 87 octane gas.

Are the butterflys opening on those exhaust manifolds?

The heat riser butterfly has been removed.

To check your wires run the car in the dark idling with the hood open and look all around for arcing.

I did that last week. I didn't see any arcing at all.

I'm going on the idea you haven't just re-done everything on your engine.
The oldest Tech artical read from Mopar when you are haveing a missfire problem is to replace the bearing under the distributor. That would be the IDEAL TIME TO REPLACE THE POINTS DIST. TO AN ELECTRONIC UNIT. Go with the Mopar Performance unit. It is tried and TRUE. The bushing below the dist is most often overlooked and cause spark scatter at upper rpm.
Next is to look at the spark plugs after 1000 miles. If the plugs are white then, you have a vacume leak or a really bad lean intake charge.
You must take these problems one at a time or you have NO BASIC IDEA OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING. Many problems mask other problems. If you listen to every tom dick and harry you can run around like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Replacement of the brass bushing will only cost a few dollars. Replacement of the dist with a Mopar Performance will cost you about $150 and this is something that you will profit from regardless so there is no downside to this swap. Mopar Performance Ignitions are good to 7500 rpm at least and will overcome a lot of small problems with your setup.

Just thinking out loud...................


PS: If you buy the Mopar Performance unit, Upgrade to the Chrome Box. The Orange Box has proved to be junk.

I have no idea what bushing you're talking about. I was told that even if I buy a MP electronic unit, it will still need to be set up for the right advance curve.
Worst part of that route would be having to replace the (new) alternator and the (new) voltage regulator which will end up costing a LOT more that $150.
If I cover the carb with my hand, the engine speed decreases, so I can assume there is no vacuum leak, no?
I will pull the plugs and have a look at the color.
Yes the carb is lean but we`re addressing that as well as getting vacuum advance out of the idle circuit. There are several things that need to be tweaked here. I mentioned that the plugs are too hot , an Autolite 63 would be a better choice. George has the timing up to 38* now ,which for a stock 340 is too much even with good gas. I suggested bringing it down 4* and running at least 93 octane gas. 34* timing may be too much yet, it may have to come down even more if spark knock persists. All of these things will help alleviate the lean condition. These cars stock are meant to run with only 5* initial advance and pick up only another 12* mechanical by 2000 rpm. The vacuum advance will give just enough advance at low rpm to help with bogging and won`t matter at WOT. The car`s a stock 340 and should drive like a street car. I`d like to see George put a good electronic ignition on the car but I know he`s fighting it in an interest to keep things (at least) appearing stock. (Hear me George? Lol!) Another way to go about things would be to start with stock specs and go from there. Champion N9Y plugs with 5* BTDC initial timing ,11.5* mechanical advance @ 2000 rpm, and 8.5* vacuum advance @ 10.5 inches. Your advise is good 3404spdvaliant and I`m sorry if my suggestions clash with yours but we`d both like to help George, we`re just going about it in two different ways.
I don't know if I can swing the cost for the conversion kit, plus all the other bolt-on's that it will require in order to install it. Christmas is coming. LOL
It SHOULD run well with the set up it has. It might run better, or get better HP with upgrades, but it shouldn't pop and run crappy just because it has a points dist in it.
My 72 Vette had the stock original points dist in it, and the points/condenser I put in it in 1999 were still in it when I sold it in 2007, and they had 35000 miles on them. Car never made a pop, stumble, hesitation or anything.

george, please tell us you changed points and gaped them correctly around .020 if your still running that relic.
I don't know why I thought you changed to electronic already, damm it!
Some times we/I assume that the basics are covered, if this is the case it's kinda like why dosen't this lamp work?=cause the light bulb is burnt out....

The points are new, the distributor is new, the condenser is new, the cap is new, the wires are new, the plugs are new, and the coil is new.
I set the point gap to 19 thousanths.

I'll pull a few plugs and take some pix for you guys.
Thanks for all the help. I would be lost without this place.

George
 
Here are pix of the plugs as well as some other stuff I thought would be relevent.
My plug WIRES say "Mopar Electronic Supression".
These plugs are pass side..... R to L -- 2,4,6,8.

George

spark plugs 001.JPG


spark plugs 002.JPG


spark plugs 003.JPG


spark plugs 004.JPG


spark plugs 005.JPG
 
The AVS rods/jets are discontinued and no longer available.

If you want to jet that carb up Edelbrock jets will work in the secondaries out of the box without modification. You can run Edelbrock jets/rods in the primaries if you run the flat AFB/Edelbrock rod caps or fill your domed rod caps so they are flat on the inside. The Edelbrock jets/rods are like the old AFB where as they are two step. The AVS rods are three step. You can NOT mix and match Edelbrock rods/jets with AVS rods/jets on the primary side. If you run Edelbrock jets you must run Edelbrock rods together with them.

The bushing the above poster was referring to is the distributor drive gear bushing that is pressed into the block. It sits under the distributor drive gear. That is normally only done during an engine rebuild.

Did you change the fuel pick up filter in the gas tank?
 
I have a complete set up from Performance Distributors if your interested.
Dist,coil,wires.and wire looms with maybe 100 miles on them.
 
George, We got a holiday coming up... I have Friday off. If you think it might help I can swing down and take a look at it. I can tune the Edelbrock, and set the ignition curve up for you. PM me if you want to. You have a very high cylinder pressure (my ceiling is 185psi for pump fuel and open chamber iron heads) so stop running 87. You need to put 91 in it, no exceptions. I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of tuning and doing it via internet aint doing it. Let me know if you want to.
 
Moper!
I have been waiting for your opinion on this!
I would love to have someone come down here and check it out for me. I am not positive I'll have Friday off, but I'll know for sure by Wed afternoon. (Believe it or not, the construction business up here is BOOMING).

I am buying a Mopar electronic conversion kit from Bill on this site. (B67cuda).
I don't know what that kit will contain, but he practically gave it to me. Anyway, I doubt it will be here by Friday, but ya never know. If not, we'll just play with the stock system, which is what I really want anyway.

Moper, thank you SO much for your offer to help. I will get back to you ASAP about Friday. My wife will make lunch/dinner/coffee etc, so come hungry. Dress for indoors too, my garage is heated to 70º.

360swinger, thanks for your offer, sir. I'll get in touch with you if I need it.

340Sfastback-
Thanks for that additional info. I read something similar online last night. I think it was a Mopar Muscle mag article.

George
 
I've been following along this discussion, and there are a lot of good suggestions.

When you cover the carb with your hand, and block all air going in, it should stall. I'll go check this in my dart, but if it stays running could that indicate a vacuum leak? Carb gasket?
 
I've been following along this discussion, and there are a lot of good suggestions.

When you cover the carb with your hand, and block all air going in, it should stall. I'll go check this in my dart, but if it stays running could that indicate a vacuum leak? Carb gasket?

Thats what I've been saying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND GEORGE YOU TOLD ME IT DIES, BUT THEN A COUPLE OF POSTS BACK YOU SAY IT JUST LOWERS RPM!
NOW I LOOK AT YOUR PLUGS ALONG WITH YOUR LAST STATEMENT AND SEE THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BAD VACUUM LEAK ON 4 THROUGH 8.

AND YOUR RUNNING 87 GUTTER WATER??
DUDER COME ON?????????? [not pissed, just stunned]
 
George, We got a holiday coming up... I have Friday off. If you think it might help I can swing down and take a look at it. I can tune the Edelbrock, and set the ignition curve up for you. PM me if you want to. You have a very high cylinder pressure (my ceiling is 185psi for pump fuel and open chamber iron heads) so stop running 87. You need to put 91 in it, no exceptions. I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of tuning and doing it via internet aint doing it. Let me know if you want to.


Thats very cool of you, he needs it.
 
I've been following along this discussion, and there are a lot of good suggestions.

When you cover the carb with your hand, and block all air going in, it should stall. I'll go check this in my dart, but if it stays running could that indicate a vacuum leak? Carb gasket?
If I cover the carb inlet, it will stall. Before I removed the lead plugs from the AVS, if I covered the carb the idle speed would rise.
This is a moot point right now anyway, because I took off the numbers matching AVS, and installed the Eddy carb trying to find the problem. I just thought you would need to know.
Thanks for the suggestion!

George
 
Thats what I've been saying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND GEORGE YOU TOLD ME IT DIES, BUT THEN A COUPLE OF POSTS BACK YOU SAY IT JUST LOWERS RPM!
NOW I LOOK AT YOUR PLUGS ALONG WITH YOUR LAST STATEMENT AND SEE THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BAD VACUUM LEAK ON 4 THROUGH 8.

AND YOUR RUNNING 87 GUTTER WATER??
DUDER COME ON?????????? [not pissed, just stunned]
No, I didn't.
WITH THE AVS CARB, and BEFORE I REMOVED THE LEAD PLUGS, if I covered the carb, the idle speed would go UP some. Once I removed the plugs and adjusted the carb, if I cover the carb, the car will die. There are no vacuum leaks.
Since I did this, I swapped out the AVS for the Eddy carb.

I have been using 87 octane in all my Vettes and they ran well, so thats why I put 87 in the Dart.
Higher octane fuel will help with the ping, but I don't see how that would cause the car to pop through the carb.

George
 
On the contrary,there are several positions that you can install the distributor intermidiate shaft and then move the wires around and it will work properly but there is also several positions where it will NOT work properly,the fsm shows it in a certain position but does not explain "why" the "why is be cause if you bring the piston to tdc on the compression stroke, and turn the distributor to where it is just starting to open the points or approach the pickup on electronic ignition setups,what do you do if when you place the rotor on and then the cap into place and check it and the rotor is halfway between two electrodes???? guess what....you have to turn the intermidiate shaft a tooth so that all three are in time with each other,I just explained the basics of having the piston at t.d.c. the points just starting to open and checking one lil' thing to make sure.because of what?????experience. it happens on dodge chevy and ford,you can do your own lil' experiment on your vehicle or on an old engine laying around the shop,I didn't say anything contrary to what anyone else was saying.I just stated the fact that if the rotor button is between two electrodes on the distributor cap when you install it that you have to turn the intermidiate shaft back or forward 1 tooth so that they are aligned properly,just try it before you call me an idiot,I've been doing this for 27 years now and I don't own any fsm's nor am I a dealership mechanic.I offered up some credible advice to help a fellow member.I didn't ask to get shoved under the bus.you should do the experiment and you will see a way to make sure your engines fire to life and make horesepower right out of the box,everytime!
I agree....HUH?????? the reason its in the position that the FSM states is for the boneheads that were in the factory so there was one way to do it. technically speaking for any distributor run car, you can bring it up to #1tdc and drop the distributor anywhere you want. #1 does NOT have to face any exact position. the factory did it so the dealership mechanics and the guys at the factory would have only one way to put things. it also helps with plug wire routing. It has NOTHING to do with one tooth off.
 
it really does not matter where the intermediate shaft slot is pointing to...you just bring engine to tdc #1 firing...drop distributor in no matter where it points too..turn distributor to line up with rotor...and start putting plug wiring starting with where #1 is and follow firing order...

now...i prefer to install or move intermediate shaft to the correct position as shown in the fsm....but it does not have to be.....
 
On the contrary,there are several positions that you can install the distributor intermidiate shaft and then move the wires around and it will work properly but there is also several positions where it will NOT work properly,the fsm shows it in a certain position but does not explain "why" the "why is be cause if you bring the piston to tdc on the compression stroke, and turn the distributor to where it is just starting to open the points or approach the pickup on electronic ignition setups,what do you do if when you place the rotor on and then the cap into place and check it and the rotor is halfway between two electrodes???? guess what....you have to turn the intermidiate shaft a tooth so that all three are in time with each other,I just explained the basics of having the piston at t.d.c. the points just starting to open and checking one lil' thing to make sure.because of what?????experience. it happens on dodge chevy and ford,you can do your own lil' experiment on your vehicle or on an old engine laying around the shop,I didn't say anything contrary to what anyone else was saying.I just stated the fact that if the rotor button is between two electrodes on the distributor cap when you install it that you have to turn the intermidiate shaft back or forward 1 tooth so that they are aligned properly,just try it before you call me an idiot,I've been doing this for 27 years now and I don't own any fsm's nor am I a dealership mechanic.I offered up some credible advice to help a fellow member.I didn't ask to get shoved under the bus.you should do the experiment and you will see a way to make sure your engines fire to life and make horesepower right out of the box,everytime!

uhhhhh???
 
HUH??????? First off, I never implied you were an idiot. Secondly, you can just turn the distributor. to get the rotor to point at a certain electrode, since the base will turn and not the shaft where the points get opened and closed from. #1 can be wherever you choose it to be, but since the engineers based plug wire length off it being setup like the FSM, that is how it gets setup most of the time. I have seen mechanics put #1 at pretty much every position on the cap. The engine does not care where #1 is on the cap.
Once again, not implying you are an idiot. How you choose to do things is fine, I am just stating a fact about engines, regardless of make. Your input is always welcome. I called the dudes at the factory "boneheads", since most were high school dropouts(although there were some smart folks thrown in there) and would do some dumb ****. My old boss worked at pontiac and told me the horror stories.
 
In theory you can install the intermediate shaft in any position. In practice you can deviate maybe a tooth (one way or the other) when installing the intermediate shaft. I think what waggin`s getting at is that if you don`t try to get it timed the way the fsm suggests, you can end up with the vacuum canister hitting the firewall or manifold before the car times right.................George, I`m glad to hear moper is coming down to help you. He`s a good mechanic. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
 
No I was not talking about the vacume canister hitting the firewall or the coil,and I am just stating that it DOES matter,when at t.d.c. the points should be just starting to open,correct? and the rotor button should be pointing to the #1 electrode on the distributor cap,correct? what if the rotor button is pointing in between two electrodes?then it will either be lazy even though a dial timing light will show the engine to be in perfect time it will not be,or it will be a "ping monster" and when you get the engine timed where it will run good it will ping like crazy and be hard to start(laboring the starter)because the intermiediate shaft was either a tooth advanced or a tooth retarded,the bottom line is that it takes about ten minutes or less to check it and it doesn't cost a penny to be sure thats not the problem that's all.so if you have some spare time one day just try it and you will see,I'm not upset or anything and just hope it will help you guy's out in the future because it is important that the rotor not be inbetween to electrodes,and no Ive never seen a twisted intermiediate shaft on a mopar,nor a twisted distributor shaft on a chevy. just pop off the cap and give a look see.what could that hurt?
 
If the rotor is in between two electrodes at TDC you loosen the distributor hold down clamp, turn the distributor, and now its lined up. What am I missing?
 
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