nickjames138

Tried a few other companies...all on back order. May have to go with a different brand. Cj said they will have it to me by the end of the month. In the meantime my car is in the shop getting a tiny rust spot in the floorboard patched and dynamatted!!! Excited for that! I use premium gas.

When I went to change the spark plugs the 351 spark plugs did not fit and the 302 spark plugs did. So, that means it has 302 heads right?

Barnett, just an update...the timing pointer is on back order from cjponyparts. The dynamat and power windows came, but no pointer. I'll let you know as soon as I get it!

Yes! The mechanic took out the old one and said it wasn't necessary anymore.

As far as the brakes go, I replaced all the brakes as soon as I bought the car. I'm in Los Angeles, so that's a big "Check" on the stop and go traffic. I didn't try a can or pump, but it's too late because a shop suggested I take the brake booster off and put a manual wilwood master on there. I just mentioned the brakes to add that the vacuum was not supplying enough pressure to the brakes. And if I recall correctly when I punched it down the road the brakes would be considerably worse than if I just went slow. SA69 helped me understand why I need to hook up the vacuum hose from the can to the carb instead of the advance. I've been reading a lot on timing, watching vids, and he helped bridge the gap to understand why. So thank you for the explanation. So, like I said the pointer is in the mail. I have a good idea on how to set the initial timing from all your help, Barnett. Thinking ahead, my RPM gauge stopped working ever since I put the new Distributor and coil in. So, will I need additional tools or gauges for readings? I don't have a vacuum gauge or RPM gauge to know where I need to set the advanced timing?

I should also add I used to have power brakes that wouldn't stop on a dime because of very poor vacuum and I had someone set my timing to where it was pulling the highest vacuum, but it still wasn't enough to stop my brakes on a dime. So, now I switched over to manual brakes. All of it has been really frustrating because like I said I have so many people telling me different things. This is why I want to learn to do it all myself or find a shop that's spot on (so far finding a shop has failed me).

As you can see I have the vacuum can on the distributor, the coil, and then there's a pic to show where the hose from the distrib vacuum connects to the spot behind the carb and to show the vacuum port on the carb is plugged. Honestly, I've heard so many different theories from everyone and they all contradict what the next person says. So, I'm up to my eyes in opinions. The guy who helped restore the car said the cam is set at 0 degrees dot to dot from cam to crank sprocket. Oh and a friend had showed me a little backup vacuum cam that's linked to his vacuum hose that looks similar to that break booster can I sent a link to, so I'm just floating in it all.

The guy who I bought the car from put a big cam in it, but I'm not sure what cam it is. It sounds big. It cuts up. As far as it being set to 0. I'm not sure how to say it, but the timing markers that you can adjust to different marks if your cam is set top dead center or 4 marks to the left or right....a friend tried to explain it to me. Wrong canister....I can't find a vacuum advance canister in summitracing's site.

Being that I have a big cam...should I get a more expensive vacuum canister? Like this one? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-5201

I'm not sure if I mentioned this at the beginning, but to be specific I have a 351 (obviously) with 302 heads. The heads are so big they knock on the sidewalls of the engine bay. I'm not sure what kind of Cam it has in it, but it's definitely a big cam. I also have a Vintage Air conditioning unit hooked up. I ordered the pointer and vacuum advance can today. So, hopefully I'll get it soon. Oh and my cam is set at 0. So, I just got the normal pointer. I'll let you know as soon as I get the parts and I'll get at it!!

So here is where I hooked up the vacuum hose from the distributor. If this isn't right I'm totally open to hearing why and the correct way as soon as I get the pointer. But I'm Telling you it's running GREAT all the time now! Every little mechanical problem has been fixed. So, if you're saying it'll run even better after your steps....IM IN!!! Just happy it's not dieseling or hesitating! And it's not as sluggish when I put it into drive.

Please explain. You kept asking where the hose from the distributor was hooked up to. I never had a hose hooked up to the Dist. so I figured when he hooked it up and it started running better that was a good step towards fixing the issue. We played with the timing by ear since I'm waiting on a pointer to arrive via mail and nothing was working. It kept dieseling. Then, once we hooked the hose up and put the timing near the best running position (where it was before) it didn't diesel and it didn't hesitate anymore. So, those 2 issues being gone...I was under the impression that is a great thing.

Ok, update. I stopped by my friends who built his own 73 vette. He helped me tune and we could not stop the dieseling. Then, he grabbed a hose and connected it from the distributor to the vacuum advance and immediately my car started running night and day better! We then adjusted the timing to where it doesn't diesel and it starts right up. Then we dialed in the carb. It's running night and day better now! It sounds so good at idle and when i drop it into gear it sounds healthy. It doesn't sound like it's trying to stay alive when put it into drive like it used to! Barnett and 1969_Mach1, thank you so much for your help! you guys are really awesome for teaching me some things! Just fyi my next big project will be a top end kit.

Perfect. I'll buy the pointer now. As far as the markers go...I know you can't see the marks from the pic, but I can see them without filing down. They're faint, but I can see them however the camera cannot. From the first line which would be -10 I counted 5 marks which would be 0 (I didn't mark it because I didn't want to have 2 lines, but I will put another line), then I counted another 5 marks and put a dot, another 5 put 2 dots, another 5 put 3 dots, then measured for the 4 dots. I can redo it. I'll try to file the damper down more. In the meantime, I retarded the distributor the slightest bit (counterclockwise...yes counterclockwise), took it for a drive, and it did not diesel. It's def idling a bit lower and it's still hesitating. It's starting right up though. Headed back down to the garage to try to scrape the damper.

I put all the dots on the damper, I put a dot right above the damper if you look above it where there's a hole there's a white dot under it, and I don't have a hose that was ever hooked up to the distributor vacuum port.

Ok I found the marks. They were faint like you said. I made a mark for 10, 2 for 20, etc. read with a timing lite and 0 was right above this screw hole. Hope you can tell by the pictures. I tried to take video, but my camera on my iPhone couldn't react fast enough. trim.E6E909C0-8203-4823-B4FC-DED6CD51BB4A.MOV

Ok. I have some fine sandpaper so might take a while. Yes it's still dieseling hard! It's starting right up when it's warm! It also fires right up when it's cold after I hit the gas 2x before starting it.

My damper doesn't have any marks at all! I only found BTC So where do I go from there? There's no markings at all other than that BTC I found and there's a white line much further down the damper that I'm guessing the mechanic drew.

A few questions before I start. How far apart is 0-10 on my tape measure? I don't think there ever was a hose attached to the vacuum on my distributor when the mechanic installed it. Do I need to go get a hose for it for when I'm finished setting the timing?

awesome! I'm gonna go get on it right now!

I don't think i have the pointer. You're talking about the pointer that shows you where to set your timing right? I haven't seen any number marker or pointer unfortunately. I'll check again though.

I think so too! Thanks for the help! This is going to be even more tricky for me doing this for the first time without a timing marker. My buddy who set the timing did it by ear and it was great, but then the mechanic who put the A/C in changed the timing for some reason.

HEYOOO I got it! Stupid me wasn't turning the nut that's closest to the fuel line! So, I got both needles set. There's just enough gas in the inspection hole that it sloshes out when I rock the car! Pretty excited that I just conquered my first task on the Holley...My buddy said Holleys are really intricate to tune on. So, what's next!? I got a timing light.

ill get back at it first thing in the morning. I didn't let it run more than a minute after readjusting the nut. So, I'll keep working at it and keep you posted first thing in the morning. How do I check the needles? Like I said the Holley is brand new. I just bought it a month ago. I'll check the other float as well.

Wow I said counterclockwise. I completely meant clockwise. Sorry. I 100% turned the nut clockwise a few full turns and there is still gas leaking from the inspection screw. I followed your instructions. They were very specific.