Brians1

Update.....new balancer is on. I did not take a side by side pic....got in a hurry...but I did put them side by side to see how far off they were....just a hair under 1/8 of an inch...didn't look like much but I guess that enough to get the timing off?

In the morning I will take off the value cover and then turn the balancer until I see action on both valves of #1 come to a close AND I see TDC on the balancer....then I will put the dizzy in pointed at #1...sound accurate ??!!??

jotto

With timing set at 12 degrees, she should run without sounding like a bag of spanners, even if the timing mark was out by 1/8th of an inch.
I was expecting you to say it was several inches off!

Before all this started, wasnt the car running well? I seem to remember some threads saying how well she was running after the carb rebuild.

If she was running well, have you changed anything?
Hope you get it sorted soon!

Brians1

Ok need help...did everything I was supposed to
TDC on #1, dizzy lines up pointing to }1 from #1 plug and the rotor also pointing to #1.....won't start I get this.....

Suggestions ?!?!?

Amorget

Is your dizzy loose? What I normally do is have someone else try to start it and then I twist the dizzy by hand while it is trying to start. Generally you can tell if you are going the right way because the engine will turn over faster if you are headed the right direction. Remeber to keep away from the top carb in case you get a backfire or something.

Just to note, I normally throw a battery charger on the battery while I do this. It will drain the battery pretty quick normally if it isn't starting right away. It also gives you a higher voltage to the starter and the ignition for better spark.

Brians1

Reading my mind....my father in law will be over in a few hours....hopefully the second set of hands will get it done...and yea I killed the battery, it's on the charger now

Brians1

Ok new update....got it started....but it's running like crud ...here are the details

Had to go old school and use a finger on #1 plug to find TDC, did it 3 times and every time the mark on the balancer was about a half inch below the timing tab ( is this concerning?) we decided to trust that so set the dizzy in and she fired right up .

Now the odd part to me.....I set the timing but I had to go counter clock wise...turning the dizzy towards the driver seat, I got the revs up and timing to 12......I could have sworn before the swap I had to turn counter clock wise to set timing....

I did an internet search and found this on chevyhighperformance.com
"A distributor is capable of setting a timing point that is advanced by two independent methods. First, a Chevrolet V-8’s initial timing >> must be set at idle by rotating the distributor clockwise for retard or counter-clockwise to advance. "

Ideas or Thoughts on why my balancer mark and TDC are so far off ?!?

Brians1

One more update...was talking this Am with a co-work who owns a few GM muscle cars and a 69 GTO....filled him in on this weekends activities and he is leaning towards the ECM as well based on everything I did. ECM being bad/no longer accurate as the base timing without CCC involvment allows for a very smooth idle, good strong rev up, etc. and once the ECM is plugged back up...runs like a dog, wants to stall, very rich smell to it, etc. I grabbed a ECM from a fellow forum member (hes shipping it today - 40 bucks out of my pocket so im ok with the gamble, and I get a spare worst case)

** Also he confirmed that my TDC mark being about an inch below the timing tab is ok, since it fired up and I was able to set the timing, he said I was most likely just a bit past the stroke, and Yes counter clock wise for advancing the timing...he did not have an idea as to why i had to previously go clock wise ...the PO/Bubba was def at work there i guess....

Amorget

Have you had the ignition control module tested? I can't remember the status of that, but I had one fail on me that sort of acted the same way. Timing was all over the place.

Brians1

All of the guts in the dizzy are brand new...as follows:

• Accell Ing. control module - 7 pin version of CCC dizzy
• Duralast pick up coil
• MSD Cap
• MSD rotor
• MSD Coil
• MSD 8.5 mm wires

Brians1

** I do have my "non performance" Ingition module (duralast brand from Autozone) I can swap out and see if the issue goes away as well....

Amorget

I'd say if you get bored waiting for the ECM it's something to try since it's basically free

Brians1

- I will try it tonight

qwank

I don't trust anything from Accel, chinese junk. all my ignition parts are ACDelco.

Brians1

I even called MSD direclty and asked them....why cant I find a 7 PIN module - they said they dont make it. I then asked is the Accell "ok/compatible" to run with the rest of the MSD setup I had...MSD gentlemen said Yes no issues....will see tonight what happens

** Also the car smelled so rich last night when I cranked it...I reaked when I walked in the house...had to take a shower. I wasnt too sure if it was from the multi key cranks to get it to TDC and the fuel dumping in (doubt it as the fuel bowl in carb should fill up/stop) and it just needed to burn off..OR if the damn ECM, even with no error codes is just running it rich, adding to the timing be off, etc.

** if the ECM I get this week doenst fix it, along with ,my other trouble shooting...it may be time for a vacuum advance dizzy and a Holley carb...I want to drive, and enjoy my car ** and not stink after getting it it or around it LOL**

qwank

the only thing I would replace my CCC with is EFI, might want to look into going that direction too.

LannyL81

I think the distributor may be off a tooth. Is the distributor position such that each pair of opposite plug wire contacts are in-line / straight across or parallel with the firewall? (I sure hope this makes sense.)

With balancer showing TDC, the rotor will not be pointing at #1 plug contact, it will be past #1, almost half-way to #8 since the plug fires BTDC.

Just need to be sure that the engine is on #1 cylinder compression and not exhaust....yes I know...requires taking the valve cover off...again and watching those rockers.

Brians1

I'll take a pic tonight and draw some lines on it...see if that helps with your Q...
I just remembered last night when I took it around the block....only one headlight came up...low vacuum?!?!? That indicate anything ???

Brians1

Ok so I'm I'm Dad duty tonight, after I got my son to bed I went out and started it up...
I have not done anything else but I did take this video to let you hear what happens when I hit the gas...it does an almost immediate stall then recovers.....does this indicate anything ?? Timing off? Other ?

Amorget

Low vacuum can mean the timing is off. One way to set your timing at idle is to hook up a vacuum gauge and find the point with the most vacuum.

Brians1

So is that what the video sounded like ... Low vacuum? As you could see when I hit the gas it wanted to stall but recovered

I did not check timing...just took the video so timing is at about 10 BTDC