Thanks John and Mark,
I looked at the timing tab in our 73 Chevy truck and they both appear
to be in the same place and the car runs a lot better now than it did.
I will check it this Sunday as Ken Pletcher of Datser fame is going to
come over and help me out.
Thanks again
Daniel Neuman
Oakland CA
69 2000
At 12:00 AM -0500 12/12/03, Mark Sedlack wrote:
>Daniel,
>
>Ditto what John said - might be that the builder used the wrong tab. First
>step is to confirm if the 0 mark is inded TDC. Take an old spark plug,
>hammer out the electrode and ceramic. Then find a bolt that fits the hole,
>grind the head off it to a full round and epoxy (or braze) it into the old
>plug to make a piston stop. You want the bolt to stick out about an inch on
>the electrode side.
>
>Pull off the driver's side valve cover and pull the #1 plug. Disconnect the
>power wire from the distributor and remove the cap. Bump the engine around
>around til the rotor is pointing to the position of the #1 terminal on the
>cap and then check the rockers on #1 to be sure your on the compression
>stroke - both valves should be closed. If not, bump it around again to the
>#1 position. Screw in the piston stop you made, and manually turn the
>engine forward til you feel it stop. Make a mark on the balancer that
>corresponds to zero on your timing tab. Rotate the engine in the opposite
>direction and make another mark. The two marks should be approx. equal
>distances away from the single mark on the balancer. If they're not even
>close, then you've got the wrong timing tab. If its right, then suspect the
>distributor.
>
>I would guess that the Jag's 350SBC has an HEI distributor ( most
>conversions use it)? If so, and it was that advanced, it very possible that
>the weights for the mechanical advance have worn into elongated holes. The
>older generation of HEI were notorious for this. Crane has a kit with new
>advance plates, weights, bushings, and an assortment of springs for a
>reasonable price. I know Advance Auto carries it, and I think Autozone does
>as well.
>
>If you're looking for performance, here's a timing/tuning link
>http://www.73-87.com/garage/hei.htm
>I've got the Crane adjustable vac. adv. unit he talks about on both my Chevy
>motors.
>
>A good place for HEI pieces parts http://www.kendrick-auto.com/ignition.htm
>
>A good book which has a section on rebuilding an HEI is "How to rebuild your
>small block chevy" by David Vizard - amazon has it for $14, or you could
>probably find it at a larger library. Has complete chapter with lots of
>step-by-step photos for r&r' ing an HEI. If you have a hard time finding
>it, I could scan the pages for you, but you'd get some greasy fingerprints
>along with the text.....
>
>Mark Sedlack
>ZROC
>Cuyahoga Falls OH
>66 1600 http://www.mildevco.net/chevypowereddatsuns/
>77 280Z http://www.mildevco.net/chevypowereddatsuns/
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <JOver4X4@aol.com>
>To: <neuman@RadOnc17.UCSF.Edu>; <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 11:01 PM
>Subject: Re: Super advanced timing?
>
>
>> Daniel,
>>
>> Chevy used several different harmonic balancers. Different diameters too!
>> You need to find the correct timing tab for your balancer. They make an
>> aftermarket universal scale where you zero it out at TDC. You will have
>to find top
>> dead center, mark your harmonic balancer and then align the "0" to your
>new
>> TDC mark and go from there.
>>
>> If you need info on finding TDC just holler. I'd be glad to guide you
>> through it.
>>
>> Good luck.
>>
>> John Over
>> 68 2000
>> 67 1600
>> 46 Willys Jeep (small block Chevy)
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