Pertronix Ignition Help

Not quite. But the distributor is stabbed correctly as far as I know since last time we checked the timing the mark was in the right spot.

 

Seems you had to flip a Pertronix part over/under/180* if it didn't run right after install ?
Maybe a search will turn that up.
Maybe I'm wrong......

 

Have you loosened & turned the Distributor while idling , with your timing light working ? What does the mark do & how does it run ? If the mark moves , let's say ~ 15 degrees or so, , each way, then your Harmonic balancer is gone. If it's already spun 180 degrees, then you should be able to move it back & forth by hand. Engine Off, of course. Just asking 'cuz that's old school Tuning......... By ear & sight.

 

I did initially tune it by ear like that but didn’t pay much attention to how the mark reacted with a light. I’ll try that when I check it again tomorrow.

 

Vacuum tuned our old F100 we just bought...id not tried it before but am now a fan!
i cant find the online site i used but there lots of info out there...Im curious to know whats up with your engine....you will figure it out
keep at it

 

That’s the plan today It’s just turning the distributor until you find the point of highest vacuum right?

 

then backing it off a touch...as high as you can get it without pinging...I was pretty amazed how far advanced I got the truck, and she runs awesome

 

Do I tap into the vacuum line coming off of the distributor that goes into the base of the carb or the PCV valve line on the valve cover that goes to the intake manifold?

 

If I remember right, undo the line for the distributor and plug...then hook up the guage to any port below the carbs butterfly/'s
On the truck there was a port off of the manifold for the automatic...that worked great for me, not sure what your set up is

 

Can I hook it to the same port that the distributor line goes to? It’s the only one I can see on the carb

 

Vacuum Engine Timing | MILEPOSTS Garage (Tech Tips)
I found the information i used...maybe its not doable on your set up...not sure, try it and see. sorry i cant be of more help on this...my knowledge is limited to these instructions and 1 pick up truck
you will get it figured out

 

another thought, when initially hooking up the guage i used a port for the distibuter and got no real vacuum reading...i cant remember if this makes it "ported" or "non Ported...but in the end i had to find a port that showed vacuum while the engine idled. thats where the port below the butterfies comes in. the port for the distributor only shows vacuum when the butterfies are opened to raise RPMs... and that advances the engines timing
If im wrong on this i sure hope someone in the know will chime in! I dont want to lead anyone down the wrong path

 

So I hooked up the gauge and it was running right at 21 hg without even messing with it and from what I can tell that is about where I want to be. Maybe it’s a tad high I’ll have to drive for a week or so and see how it feels. I did a pretty good job at timing it by ear initially haha. So that does mean that the timing mark is still way off though.

 

Ayup. After double-double-triple checking which cylinder the factory considers #1.

 

...and making sure you're on the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke.

 

YEP

 

If you are testing whether the timing marks line up with the pointer, it does not matter if you are on the compression or exhaust stroke. All that matters is TDC on #1.

The distributor will point 180 degrees away from the #1 cylinder if on the exhaust stroke. Unless you've lost the distributor alignment completely, this should be easy to figure out.

 

Yes, good point.