Pulled the Mess that was my Timing Chain....
Okay. So, I got to spend the better portion of 4 hours on my car today with my dad, my teacher, and the former auto shop teacher who is much more familiar with the older mechanical engines than anything. All three, including me, are absolutely stumped. All cylinders are producing spark, and at the right time. Carburetor is producing gas, but not dripping fuel, it's a mist. We plugged up all possible sources of vacuum and that seemed to help a little bit, but still nothing majorly improving. We did a smoke test; there is minor leakage around the base of the carb where it hits the gasket (brand new gasket, a thick one from Fel-Pro). No leakage coming from manifolds or anywhere else. The former shop teacher says it sounds like either a crossfire, or a fuel issue. Timing marks all line up. There are, however, some interesting clues that may point to a larger issue(s).
First, the distributor: This is a little odd. It never spins out 180, it is always in the correct spot when we take off the cap, but no matter how much we advanced or retarded the timing with both the primary advance and the secondary (the little fine-tuning screw on the flip side of the distributor), it never backfired. Always either: Never fired in the first place, would try to start but never really truly start, or start up, run like 3 cylinders were misfiring, and then die and shaky death. But no pops or violent flames. And they played with at least 30 degrees. Another thing; the rotor IS hitting the top of the cap, as seen by the destruction of the carbon tip at the top of the cap. This was proven again by buying a new cap, and after only 6 or 7 starts, it was already halfway rubbed off by the rotor. The shaft, holding the rotor, also has about 1/8 of an inch of play vertically. You can move it around up and down, and this was a brand new distributor as of 3 months ago.
The carburetor: Is giving fuel. Sometimes it didn't. I forget when it didn't give fuel, but the problem here is definitely not because it's too lean. Fuel pressure is unknown, thinking of buying an in-line pressure gauge just to get a reading. I did not mess with the float upon getting it, only to raise it up to make sure it hit the needle and seat. I cleaned the needle and seat. Choke opens when starting. I tightened the idle screw by 2 1/2 turns, ended up not improving so I backed it back out the same turns. No spitting of fuel, no mist, no backfire. There is this weird little hole on the carb (maybe it was for another port?) by the throttle shaft.
The ONLY time it ever fires up, without even a split second of thinking, and runs good, is when we have had the fuel line disconnected from the carb and hooked it back up after whatever period of time. Then, after about 10 or 15 seconds, it sputters, chokes on itself, and returns to either the crappy idle or just shakes and dies. Always ends up dying. With that crappy idle, if you hit on the gas (or merely tap it), it sputters, shakes, and suddenly dies. If you do that during that "golden moment" of the 15 seconds, it just surges, and then suddenly cuts out and dies.
Coil is getting surges from 9-11 amps when bumping the starter.
I am giving out as much as I possibly can. I hope this helps, because I am trying to put the tiny pieces together.
EDIT: Oh, and I grabbed a quick pic of my ballast resistor. Is this really the wrong one?
Okay. So, I got to spend the better portion of 4 hours on my car today with my dad, my teacher, and the former auto shop teacher who is much more familiar with the older mechanical engines than anything. All three, including me, are absolutely stumped. All cylinders are producing spark, and at the right time. Carburetor is producing gas, but not dripping fuel, it's a mist. We plugged up all possible sources of vacuum and that seemed to help a little bit, but still nothing majorly improving. We did a smoke test; there is minor leakage around the base of the carb where it hits the gasket (brand new gasket, a thick one from Fel-Pro). No leakage coming from manifolds or anywhere else. The former shop teacher says it sounds like either a crossfire, or a fuel issue. Timing marks all line up. There are, however, some interesting clues that may point to a larger issue(s).
First, the distributor: This is a little odd. It never spins out 180, it is always in the correct spot when we take off the cap, but no matter how much we advanced or retarded the timing with both the primary advance and the secondary (the little fine-tuning screw on the flip side of the distributor), it never backfired. Always either: Never fired in the first place, would try to start but never really truly start, or start up, run like 3 cylinders were misfiring, and then die and shaky death. But no pops or violent flames. And they played with at least 30 degrees. Another thing; the rotor IS hitting the top of the cap, as seen by the destruction of the carbon tip at the top of the cap. This was proven again by buying a new cap, and after only 6 or 7 starts, it was already halfway rubbed off by the rotor. The shaft, holding the rotor, also has about 1/8 of an inch of play vertically. You can move it around up and down, and this was a brand new distributor as of 3 months ago.
The carburetor: Is giving fuel. Sometimes it didn't. I forget when it didn't give fuel, but the problem here is definitely not because it's too lean. Fuel pressure is unknown, thinking of buying an in-line pressure gauge just to get a reading. I did not mess with the float upon getting it, only to raise it up to make sure it hit the needle and seat. I cleaned the needle and seat. Choke opens when starting. I tightened the idle screw by 2 1/2 turns, ended up not improving so I backed it back out the same turns. No spitting of fuel, no mist, no backfire. There is this weird little hole on the carb (maybe it was for another port?) by the throttle shaft.
The ONLY time it ever fires up, without even a split second of thinking, and runs good, is when we have had the fuel line disconnected from the carb and hooked it back up after whatever period of time. Then, after about 10 or 15 seconds, it sputters, chokes on itself, and returns to either the crappy idle or just shakes and dies. Always ends up dying. With that crappy idle, if you hit on the gas (or merely tap it), it sputters, shakes, and suddenly dies. If you do that during that "golden moment" of the 15 seconds, it just surges, and then suddenly cuts out and dies.
Coil is getting surges from 9-11 amps when bumping the starter.
I am giving out as much as I possibly can. I hope this helps, because I am trying to put the tiny pieces together.
EDIT: Oh, and I grabbed a quick pic of my ballast resistor. Is this really the wrong one?
