Motor timing 180* out?

A new wrinkle on this, I hadn't had time since my last post to even start the motor since those new, much smaller jets went in. Even smaller than what was in it before the float sank last summer. One of my two day off per year, Thanksgiving I headed out to the garage and with all the foul outs I've had and expecting more of the same I was surprised to find after getting fuel to the carb it idled smoothly. I let it run for about two or three minutes before shutting it off (up 'till now the plugs would've fuel fouled) and pulling the no. 1 spark plug it was clean with just a couple of tan spots on the ceramic surrounding the electrode.
Going to try it again on Saturday (1/2 working day) fill 'er with fuel and check the timing....... IF all goes well.

 

Sounds like you have it going your way. Good to hear.

 

I sure hope so, it's been a long strange trip for sure.

 

Well, it's not so much a matter of patience, than a matter of free time. (7 day working week) not quite back to square one, tried starting 'BB' and after a tailpipe 'bang' she started up and idled. I let 'er run for about 5 minutes (with the same occasional bang) with the double garage door open as well as the back door but it became too much anyway, had to retreat to the front yard. Pulled the no. 1 plug and it was fuel fouled again, but to a very noticeable lesser degree than before.
I'm confident of the float settings as I was using those new digital calipers, and as such I feel it must be something else with this carburator. I've verified ignition and it wouldn't run at all if there was a fault there, and I refuse to believe that this carburator is 'just a bad carb that should be junked' as it ran for over three years without any trouble until that sunken float and the throttle shaft leakage since fixed. What's more since my income is not very good I can't budget for a new carb of any kind, be it Edelbrock, Rochester or Holley.

 

With prompting from other forums I went ahead and started rechecking my ignition system. It was remarked by many that the Motorcraft Module is garbage butit's served me well up until now, I even have that same EEC 1 box in my '81 Ford van and it's never failed. I checked the resistance of the spark plug wires (NOS Accel carbon core) and they all checked out to be within limits for their length, however I found a gremlin had swapped out the no. 2 & 4 spark plug wires which more than likely accounts for a backfire when I most recently tried running the motor. It's been remarked that I should invest in; a MSD 6 module $200+ a set of spiral core plug wires $60+ and updated cap and rotor $100+. The trouble is in these times, despite my wishes I cannot budget for this kind of gear, no matter how attractive for best running and so forth. So I'm going to reroute the even bank of plug wires over the radiator hose as this was pointed out to me, then try the motor again.

 

Well, last night I had a headlight failure on one side so when I came draggin' home in this normal deluge of rain and wind the PacNW is infamous for, I got the carburator mounted up and all the vacuum lines and fuel line hooked up. Also I rerouted the even bank of spark plugs over the top of the motor, and twisted up the distributor wires and sip tied them to stay that way. I'm hoping this'll get this substandard ignition working properly. May try a startup on Saturday so I'm not working in the dark (what with the PacNW overcast it gets dark pretty early)

 

Okay, after taking care of the 2 & 4 plug wires and moving their location to over the intake manifold, and I finalized the carburator and finally a week later I started it up this morning and after getting fuel from the tank to the carb, it idled smooth and strong. No bucking or backfire and no smoke from the tailpipeIf thing work well tonight I'll set the timing and recheck the no. 1 spark plug.

 

Went to check the base timing then dynamic (didn't get that far) and with the dampner mark on TDC the rotor was pointed at 6 o'clock. roughly at No. 3 terminal. I think I'm having to re-orient the distributor.

 

I had a timing issue on my 304. Couldn't find the timing mark. It was under the engine when I found it with the timing light. Monked around and finally realized I was on the wrong cylinder..

FWIW my #1 is where your #2 is as I recall.. Checked and mine is just to the right of yours marked #2, like straight forward on the distributor..

From looking at your plug wire routing I think you need to verify all your plug wires and cylinder locations.

Firing order: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

The driver side is front to back: 1-3-5-7 cylinders

Passenger side is : 2-4-6-8 cylinders front to back.

 

Yep, the wires are correct (I did have 2 & 4 crossed earlier) but the distributor is turned to the point the vacuum advance cylinder is right up against the heater hose rather than pointing forward, so it looks like no. 2. Since the distributor was disturbed I'm going to try reinstallation the re-time it.

 

On mine the vac advance originally was pointed toward the power steering pump or there abouts. Doesn't matter as long as the timing can be set correctly. I have since gone to a non-vacuum advance [electronic] so this isn't an issue any longer.

 

I dig that Zila, I just want to get more clearance for adjustments.

 

hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, kinda misanthrope for my housefrau and I (economy troubles) I did get Christmas Day off as one of my two days off per year. I realigned the distributor and did my best to reestablish TDC using the no. 1 spark plug hole and a remote starter.





Thereafter I tried starting 'er up but I could only keep 'er runing by keeping the revs up to 2000 rpm, otherwise she'd stall out. I'm really coming to my wits end with this damm thing.
I'm leaning toward a vacuum leak but with the thick new carb base gasket a major leak source I know not where, going to try disconnecting the brake vacuum booster as it's one of the few things that have remained untouched since this trip began.

 

Did you ever get this problem solved?? Had the same issue with a .304! After trouble shooting everything, I pulled the distributor and shined a flashlight down to inspect camshaft timing gear. Unplug coil wire and slowly turn engine by the crankshaft pulley, use a 1/2 drive and appropriate socket. Turn and inspect, turn and inspect. Re-torque crankshaft pulley bolt after inspecting. Mine was worn just enough on one side that the gears were jumping time. Simple fix but have to pull water pump and front cover.

The old rule of thumb is, if you have to replace the distributor gear, replace camshaft timing gear too.


Just a thought!

 

I got some vinyl tubing and a funnel and tested the Needle/Seats with the Air Horn inverted (gravity working on the floats) and ran fuel down the line.

The Primary Needle began leaking right away. From the many rebuilds of other AFB's I had a small collection of Needles and Seats




so I swapped out the needle and it held fuel. I don't know if I'm out of the woods yet, but this is just one more thing that was wrong with this 9638.

 

~~~FINISHED~~~​

Took her down to the gas station about two miles distant and not one burp, backfire or any other funkiness!

 

Good to hear... So it was a carb problem all along>??

 

Yes, it was all down to three elements of the AFB carburator,
1. Perforated sunken primary float
2. Fuel leaking from secondary throttle shaft
3. Misboxed needle and seat from NAPA~Echlin

What a great relief that I was finally able to get this going again, especially since I've work to do on 'Black Betty's stablemate, 'Easy Bake' where I have to make some adjustments to the valve train. Going to wait for more temperate weather though as the full (soft) top is sealed away in it's storage bags and it's no mean feat to get it to stretch during the colder temps of winter.

 

WooHoo. Always great to hear them purrrrrr.

 

Yeah, and that throaty exhaust that I'd become accustomed to (that my housefrau hates) has returned.