318 runs real load and shakes like crazy

Thank you all for the very thoughtful comments and suggestions. I won’t be out where the car is stored until Saturday but, have a lot of items to check:

Timing: There is a clearly visibly timing mark that we used to mark TDC and then our firing order. I’m fairly new to all of this and will need to revisit our wire ordering to the distributor. We did get a new distributor cap and new wire set (when I changed the spark plugs). Car has a ‘75 five pin ignition plug so, I had to buy a new ‘75 model year ignition control module. (Which, I’ve read the newer ones are truly hit or miss). I do think switching the intermediate shaft 180 might be worth a shot. I assume, I’d need to redo plug wires when 180 the shaft, right? I’ll also try adding more marks to see if they start showing where we have the distributor advanced to.

A few mentioned the timing chain. Would that symptom present itself while cranking? I’m attaching a video of before we got it running. There were intermittent times where the engine seemed to struggling more than usual to crank. The rough crank symptom would sometimes last about 3-5 seconds and then the starter would be able to move everything normal again. I’m attaching a video from before we were able to get the car to start. I thought it was an electrical resistance issue more than the timing change. Note; battery is also getting tired in the video but, even when fully charged there would be some rough patches where the starter could barely move the flywheel.




Will try a fresh oil change and let it run.

Gas is brand new. New fuel tank, new rubber lines and new clear Wix filter shows fresh fuel direct to carb.

Valve lash/rockers. I’ve never done this before and it’s been on my to do list for my /6. I’ll take a look and see if any rockers are loose or anything looks awry under the valve covers.

I am 100% doing a compression test and will post the numbers. I can crank electrically while getting the numbers, right? Or, does this need to be done with a cheater bar on the crank and someone watching during compression stroke?

Vacuum leak: Car seems over carbureted to me. I wish I knew more about the previous owner and their intentions. The intake and 4 bbl sound very similar to vacuum leak problems I’ve encountered when failing to properly plug all of the ports on a carb or not properly sealing the carb. I have it snug and properly plugged but, having the set screws and curb idle be utterly useless has me baffled.

Distributor does have a reluctor. I have never serviced one before. Is it similar to gapping points?



Thanks again all!

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