DUI distributor install - TIMING ISSUES

So here's an update on recent activities with my 66 CJ5/V6:
1. New battery
2. New battery cables
3. New Fan Belt
4. New fuel filter
5. Replaced all fuel lines around the filter - old lines splitting and leaking
6. Changed oil and filter
7. Adjusted toe-in front passenger side - with a great deal of help from the forum!
8. Replaced rear and bottom gaskets on the transfer case - both were leaking badly
9. Sealed around Intermediate shaft with Right stuff silicone to stop oil leak there per a forum members recommendation - I now have the transmission/transfer case oil leak down to a fraction of what it was!
10. Today's project - the toughest by far, replaced the original distributor and wires with new DUI and livewires. Installation description below.

The Performance distributor folks advise there could be some "interference" issues with the installation of their distributor - and there were I had to grind nearly half of the outside intake manifold bolt and some manifold metal below to get that thing all the way down, and once installed, wired up ect. we had a devil of a time trying to get the timing adjusted. Turns out the tight installation was so tight that the cap could not turn as far as we needed it to turn to get the timing right. Between the air horn and the radiator hose, the fan, and the block, there was just no way to position the cap in the right place to get the timing right. The distributor cap has four ears with the hold down clips or whatever they are called, and the final adjustment we needed to get the timing right had that ear hitting up against the block at the manifold I called the performance distributor guys and they said "do what several hundred of our customers have done, shear that ear off the outside of the distributor cap and you'll be fine". To which i responded OK, but at the end of the day if this doesn't work, i'm going to send this thing back to you and you're ging to refund my money right, and he said absolutely. That worked and we started her up and adjusted the timing to where we thought it was right - 12 degrees?? But then the rotor was tapping the inside of the cap and not making me very happy. We finally pulled the hold down clip off the opposite side and that made the noise go away, but now i have the distributor cap held down by two out of four only. Thoughts on that guys? Pull it back off and seal it with silicone?
Anyway, the motor is mighty peppy now, but after driving it out on the road, the timing is clearly off, lots of engine knock when i get on the gas. Is there a correct setting or are there to many variables, higher voltage, older engine, etc.? Anyone have experience with this, and suggestions on where that timing should be set.
As a side note, the whole engine compartment looks much better having organized the new wires, removed the unnecessary electricals - looks pretty good!
Told my wife i have finally figured this out - we like these things because we like to work on them, and as you work your way down the list of things to do, you eventually have to go back and start over again because the first thing you fixed on the list now needs work again, and so forth! At least on the second go round i have some idea of what i am doing R)

 

i just did mine and had the same problems exactly you dont need to ruin the cap you just have to keep pulling out the distributor and moving it one tooth at a time until you get it to where you can set the timing. Mine hits the heater hose but not enought to make a difference. 12 degrees sounds kind a high I set mine at 8. also you can get your wires one terminal off and it wont run well. it will run but not quite right mine was sluggish and would backfire once in a while I found a site that told me where the wires should be I believe # 3 was right above the vacuum advance if you need to know I can run out and make sure or take pics.

 

We tried all that, moving it all around, but just too many obstacles! i think we have the wires right - after a try or two.... I'll check to see where mine ended up as well. Runs smooth, no backfiring, no dieseling, etc. just the knocking when i get on it. Did you have to do all that grinding?

 

yes i did, I was wondering if it was worth it but now that its done it runs great!

 

Ya might want to back your timing down a bit. Till the knocking goes away during acceleration.

 

Should either 0* or 5* BTDC, depending on whether you have a California engine or not. CA is 0*.

 

I don't know if this will help,but when I put an hei dist in mine it was advancing was too much on acceleration. Wound up mounting a stop on the advance mechanism to limit advance to about 34* I was getting as high as 43*

 

thats a good idea ! i was just getting ready to buy an adjustable, mines unhooked right now.

 

So I got back to it this afternoon and adjusted the timing down to about 5 and that took care of the engine knock but now it's seems to hesitate a little when first hitting the gas and it's still dieseling a little when I turn it off, (it was doing that regularly before i swapped out the distributor. What should the idle speed be when i am adjusting the timing - it might have been idling a little to fast? I did warm it up completely before doing anything this time. Should i need to adjust the 2G carb with the new DUI distributor?
Thanks for the help guys!

 

Idle @650 rpm. I would take the timing down to 0* and see how that runs. Mine is a CA Dauntless and is set to 0*. The DUI's advance curve is set perfectly for the engine, you should need no adjustment there. The carb is a whole separate issue.

 

I had to grind my bolt and intake to install my HEI, and lopped off one hold downs off the cap. I remember I had a hard time getting mine worked out.. it was a PITA. Did you re-gap your spark plugs ? I gapped mine at .045 and run NGK XR4 spark plugs.

 

Why block the HEI? Its not a source of vacuum, and there's a bellows inside that blocks it from the inside of the dist.

 

I'll take the idle down a bit and then reset the timing to 0 and see what that does, although mine is not a CA, at least not that I know of - how do you tell? I did re-gap the plugs to .055 per DUI instructions. Think they need to be pulled back to .045? I'm running NGK Iridium XR4's.

 

My dist was out of a 76 buick oddfire motor and I gapped the plugs to that car's specs.. which was .045, and I'm also using the stock coil and dist parts.. so, I'm guessing the DUI people know their stuff better than I do.. so I would stay at .055.

 

I think I set mine to .055. As far as the CA thing, I've been w/ Pete since he was new, so no guessing. I think the only way is by the core support labeling which is long gone from Pete. Others may have a better answer.

 

Chuck whats the part number on the E3s? Been wanting some of those myself.

 

Now have timing set to about 2 degrees and it runs great but I am still getting that dieseling when i shut it off. The motor keeps trying to run and then does a shake and gurgle thing, the vacuum wipers go across the windshield and then it shuts down. Ideas? That is still a timing issue right?