Distributor help needed urgently PLEASE

[BarryK]

Studiog

yes, i agree 100%. I'm going for the 2nd opinion route now.
enough throwing good money after bad

 

[BarryK]

Sounds like it's time to move on to a new Mechanic...No disrespect intended.

Were talking about 60's tech..Points & basic timing set up. Any good mechanic should be able to figure out this problem with this simple 60's tech ignition if he is familiar with a points type system.

The motor must be diagnosed in the proper order to eliminate other items that could be causing the problem. There is a valve trane to consider also as well as other items. I think your on the right track with county corvette..

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. I'm sure we would all like to know what the final problem was for our own future troubles.

Hi VNV
I know your name from the other site

yes, i'm going to try County Corvette next week if their schedule can fit me in. I never figured a 60'd technology should have been so difficult which is why I decided to post and ask opinions about why we haven't been able to get this fixed yet.
Speaking of the valvetrain, can the tightness of the valves affect this problem? my mechanic mentioned from the first time he saw the car that he thought that the valves may be adjusted too tight. We haven't looked at them yet, but with the solid lifter motor he said there should be more "clatter" coming from them but they are too silent so they may be too tight.
We haven't tried to check them yet though.
I'm trying to do things one at a time simply because of the money issues at the moment (recently laid off work), which is why the amount I've already spent so far and gotten nowhere hurts even more.

Barry

 

[Sting Ray]

This is going to sound strange, but have you checked the valve lash, that might make it feel like it was missing somewhat, I believe you should have solid lifters and they need to be checked almost monthly.





Tom

 

[BarryK]

This is going to sound strange, but have you checked the valve lash, that might make it feel like it was missing somewhat, I believe you should have solid lifters and they need to be checked almost monthly.

Tom

Tom

Yes, the 365 does have the solid lifters but we haven't checked them yet.
he did think they sounded too tight because they weren't clattering enough but we haven't gotten to them yet.
I didn't know the valve adjustments could affect timing.

They have to be adjusted every month??!! :confused
I heard they should be checked about every oil change - once a month sounds a bit excessive doesn't it?

 

[Hrtbeat1]

a few things to think about

As a former owner of a '68 327 Camaro I know a little about these motors. Not saying that an some expert mechanic or anything but with the newer engines a lot of things have changed. Maybe your mechanic is just not as familiar with the way things used to be.

From reading through this post one thing I would check if I were the mechanic would be the timing chain lash. If the timing chain has loosened it will be almost impossible to get a good timing set. It is a easy thing to check take the distributor cap off and with a breaker bar rotate the engine via the crank shaft till the rotor starts to move. Once it moves mark the harmonic balancer near your timing pointer then rotate the engine the opposite way untill it moves again, mark this and get a measurement of how many degrees of slop you have. This could be a reason for the distributor to be set a "tooth off." Like I said I'm no expert mechanic but this would seem basic to me.

One other thing to think about is the older Chevy motors are bad for "wiping cams" in other words the lobes on the camshaft get worn down and not properly lifting the valves. I have experienced this twice in older Chevy 350's one in a '70 model and one in a '79. What it leads to is basically your motor is not running on all cylinders its pretty obvious as the exhaust is very rich. The '79 of mine would run fine and had power but it burn fuel like it was going out of style (LOL which it is.) When I got around to pulling the cam I found three of the cylinders had almost no intake or exhaust lobes. Was probabally the reason it was so hard to set the valve lash on them LOL.

Hope you get everything straightened out.

A hui hou

 

[BarryK]

Hrtbeat

thanks for the info. It's more areas I'l try to make sure the "new" shop takes a look at.
I sure hope it's not a cam issue as the motor was just rebuilt during the cars restoration which was completed just before I bought it. If they rebuilt the motor using a worn out cam i'm going to be p***ed, besides wondering just how stupid someone can be!
Yes, it gets pretty bad gas milage but I'm not really sure if it's typical for the motor or worst than it should be as this '65 is really my first Vette and my first "old" car. Without any comparison to go by except my new cars I can't tell if the gas milage is normal or worst than it should be.

At this point I guess i'm kinda stuck on everything now until I can get it into this other shop hopefully next week

Barry

 

[Tempus_Fugit]

more suggestions

Here is how I set up distributors. I have done this many many times.

you need to get #1 cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke. This has nothing to do with the distributor. Have some one tick it over while you have your finger over the plug hole. When it starts to compress you need to bring it up to the top, this can be difficult but if you do not trust the damper you need to slip something long and thin into the hole and feel when the piston hits the top. You will need to rotate engine manually without the starter, it might be easier with the plugs out. On a car with a good (non slipped) damper the marks will line up at 0.

Paint a nice white stripe on the damper mark, which is hopefully very near the adjustment teeth. If the mark is no where in sight, paint your own mark at 0 until you can get a new damper, it will not be 100% accurate, but it will be close.

Now you need to set up the dist so the rotor is slightly past the #1 terminal. This is because of the the cylinder actually fires prior to the piston hitting tdc. Note here that you can't really be (funtionally) a tooth off. You could put position the distributor housing any place you want and you could still line up #1. However on your 365 (like mine) you have to hit the right tooth on order to get the vaccum pod between the coil and the intake and still have a good range of adjustment.


As an ex wrench I would say that half the calls I get from friends for help is in setting up distributors. On monster garage one time I watched a "pro" struggle with this a long time. This is becoming lost art like carbs and points.

Don't be quick to dismiss dealers. There atill some old timers at dealers who know c2-c3s inside and out. Walk in the back door and look for old guys, ask them the right questions. If you are satisfied with their experiences, have them write a work order. It will probably cost 50-100 bucks.

 

[AVR75]

HOW WAS THE VEHICLE RUNNING BEFORE YOU FIRST WENT TO HIM? IF IT WAS RUNNING O.K. THEN HE WORKED ON IT AND MADE CONDITION WORSE,I WOULD THINK HE MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONDITION IT IS IN. EITHER WAY HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM MORE THOUROUGHLY:eyerole MAYBE THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALER MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN SUCH A BAD IDEA???????

Hi

I have the 327/365 in my car.
i'm not very knowlegable on distributors and engine repairs so please excuse me if this post seems a bit disjointed or confusing but it's the best I can explain it.

When I bought the car a few months ago I was told the distributor needed to be recurved. I took it to my mechanic - he is the only one who touches my car so far and came highly recommended from a friend who also has a '65.
After replacing the points and trying to recurve and redo the timing my mechanic said he couldn't get the timing set properly because the bushings were worn. As I understand it that means as the timing was changing constantly because of the movement of the shaft because of the worn bushings?
Anyway, since I had the cataloges from the Vette suppliers we went through the Long Island Corvette cat and bought the following:
new shaft (the hi-perf one for the 365hp motor)
springs and weights
baseplate and wire
vacume advance
tach driven gear
lower gear and lower gear pin
upper shaft bushing and lower shaft bushing

Two days ago he rebuilt the distributor with the new parts. Again he said he can't get the timing set correctly. On the first try after setting the dwell (with some meter) and than setting the timing with the timing light we drove the car and it wouldn't get out of it's own way and it sounded really bad. He immediatelly said it seemed as though something on the front of the engine "slipped" (maybe a harmonic balancer - I'm not really sure or can't remember what he said exactly) but that he could probably get the timing set by ear and by driving the car.
After almost another 2 hours of playing with it it's SLIGHTLY better than before we started with all the new parts but barely. Previously, the car would rev to 6000rpm than the engine just wouldn't go any further. Now it will go to about 6300rpm but still no further. Also, low end torgue is not what I think it really should be.
I really don't rev the engine up very hight when i'm driving it but I DO want everything to be right and everything set correctly regardless.
Now he tells me we need to get a new "vibration dampener" and that will allow him to properly get the timing set correctly.
Does this sound correct???

The first time I took the car to him was for the distributor recurve (and a few other things). That was $300 and I still left without proper timing. Than I got the parts which cost me over $200 from LICS and than the labor charge again the other day of $270. I've already spent almost $800 and it's still not right and calling around locally this "vibration dampener" runs about $70 and it will be about 1.5 hours labor to install for another approx $112.50.
Am I wasting my time (and more importantly my money!)? What's going on here?
Please Help!

Barry

 

[jerrybramlett]

Checking for timing chain slop is a good idea, but don't let the results scare you. After only a few thousand miles a new chain will have about 4 distributor degrees of slop. A chain with 50,000 miles of wear might have twice that much. I would still use the stock spark timing with a worn chain.

Valve lash has nothing to do with spark timing. It has everything to do with low speed power. Rockers set too tight will kill the off-idle response of the stock 365 hp cam. So will any non-stock magic/mystical settings that may be recommended by valve train fanatics. Use the .030/.030" setting recommended by GM. Yes, you can set them cold with the engine off. No, you don't need to check them every month. Every 5,000 miles when you change plugs is plenty.

You can do a quick check to find out if your valve lash has been set too tight. Just see what intake vacuum you have at an 800 rpm idle speed. If it's less than 12 inches of vacuum, your lash is probably too tight.

 

[BarryK]

Here is how I set up distributors. I have done this many many times.

you need to get #1 cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke. This has nothing to do with the distributor. Have some one tick it over while you have your finger over the plug hole. When it starts to compress you need to bring it up to the top, this can be difficult but if you do not trust the damper you need to slip something long and thin into the hole and feel when the piston hits the top. You will need to rotate engine manually without the starter, it might be easier with the plugs out. On a car with a good (non slipped) damper the marks will line up at 0.

Paint a nice white stripe on the damper mark, which is hopefully very near the adjustment teeth. If the mark is no where in sight, paint your own mark at 0 until you can get a new damper, it will not be 100% accurate, but it will be close.

Now you need to set up the dist so the rotor is slightly past the #1 terminal. This is because of the the cylinder actually fires prior to the piston hitting tdc. Note here that you can't really be (funtionally) a tooth off. You could put position the distributor housing any place you want and you could still line up #1. However on your 365 (like mine) you have to hit the right tooth on order to get the vaccum pod between the coil and the intake and still have a good range of adjustment.


As an ex wrench I would say that half the calls I get from friends for help is in setting up distributors. On monster garage one time I watched a "pro" struggle with this a long time. This is becoming lost art like carbs and points.

Don't be quick to dismiss dealers. There atill some old timers at dealers who know c2-c3s inside and out. Walk in the back door and look for old guys, ask them the right questions. If you are satisfied with their experiences, have them write a work order. It will probably cost 50-100 bucks.

Thanks for the great info

I nnever figured this was going to turn into such a big deal. I always assumed setting up timing and such was a fairly basic thing.
If I could get this running correct for only another $50-$100 i'd be very happy.

 

[BarryK]

HOW WAS THE VEHICLE RUNNING BEFORE YOU FIRST WENT TO HIM? IF IT WAS RUNNING O.K. THEN HE WORKED ON IT AND MADE CONDITION WORSE,I WOULD THINK HE MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONDITION IT IS IN. EITHER WAY HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM MORE THOUROUGHLY:eyerole MAYBE THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALER MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN SUCH A BAD IDEA???????

no, i wouldn't say it's running worst than before he worked on it, but knowing it was off to begin with and than already spending as much money as I have and replacing all the worn parts I expected it to be running better now than it was previously.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Barry again sorry for your troubles.

Have you met any local vette owners or collector car owners who do there own wrenching?
Maybee you can get with them to help you sort things out.Around me I have some collector car owners and they help me with my problems and I help them with theres.Its terrible to say but there are not too many real mecanics working in shops these days they all seem to be parts changers with no real diagnostic skills if the computer is not showing a code they cant fix it.You need to get with some old school people to help you through this.I am luckey because when I get in a real jam I have my brother inlaws who were trained by me deceased father in law who are REAL mecanics.

Good luck and you really need to get to square one,I would suggest having the distriputor proffestionally rebuilt and tested (dave feilder TI specialties and others) then working away from that.Wants been sucessfull for me is working with folks who have collector cars them selfs.

Good Luck and I do understand your frustration I have been thu it my self with my computors at work not being able to correct the problem my self and trusting a SO CALLED mecanic to fix it only to find out they just own the tools they are actually not a mecanic.

 

[coves4me]

Barry,

I have used the following methods to time many engines and it has worked for me very successfully. Assuming the engine is still assembled with the distributor installed, pull all of the spark plugs except the No. 1 cylinder. On a Chevy, it is the forwardmost cylinder on the driver's side of the engine. With the transmission in neutral, and using a breaker bar or long socket extension handle and properly-sized socket, rotate the crankshaft by hand using the crankshaft bolt inside the crankshaft pulley. Rotate the engine in the direction of normal travel and feel for resistance on the bar. When resistance is felt, you are on the compression stroke of the No. 1 cylinder. Since balancers can't slip, the timing marks on the pointer and on the scored line on the balancer should locate top dead center (TDC) for you even if there is some wear in the timing chain. Once found, and with the distributor cap still installed, find the No. 1 plug wire and put a small mark on the side of the distributor housing directly below the No. 1 plug wire location on the cap. Now pull the cap, and view the relationship between the rotor firing tip and the mark you just made. If they line up, your timing is close to being on target. If they don't, you need to pull the distributor and rotate it until it drops in so that the rotor and the marks line up. You may need to rotate the oil pump driveshaft below the distributor that interlocks with the bottom of the distributor shaft to get the distributor to drop in. Once in, install the hold down bolt, install the cap, install the other plugs and check to make sure the plug wires are correcly installed per the firing order, and then see if it fires. It should, and you should then be able to set your timing correctly. Also, remember that point gap affects timing, so make sure that your points are set to 28-32 degrees dwell with the engine running. Once set, recheck your timing at the crank. I hope this helps.

 

[BarryK]

Valve lash has nothing to do with spark timing. It has everything to do with low speed power. Rockers set too tight will kill the off-idle response of the stock 365 hp cam. So will any non-stock magic/mystical settings that may be recommended by valve train fanatics. Use the .030/.030" setting recommended by GM. Yes, you can set them cold with the engine off. No, you don't need to check them every month. Every 5,000 miles when you change plugs is plenty.

You can do a quick check to find out if your valve lash has been set too tight. Just see what intake vacuum you have at an 800 rpm idle speed. If it's less than 12 inches of vacuum, your lash is probably too tight.

Ahhh, than maybe my valves ARE too tight. I've never driven another C2 with the 327/365 before buying mine so I have no comparison to go by but i did expect a bit more low end torgue from the car. i'm not saying it's really bad, just that I kind of thought it would have more considering it's a 60's "muscle/sports" car. It's not that I drive the car hard - I usually baby it around actually - but unless I really hit the gas all the way and pretty much pop the clutch I can't even get it to break the tires.
Overall, with the way the car is right now I think i'm losing low-end torgue and power, mid-range power seems pretty good to me, but than the upper range RPM's die out on me where I'm told these solid lifter, higher reving motors are supposed to be good at.
Even though I drive her easy and don't want to do burnouts at every traffic light or race down the street at 7000rpm I still want to make sure the car is set up and running correctly as it should be. I figure by having it correct all the way around it will run better even for the easy driving I give her.

 

[BarryK]

Barry again sorry for your troubles.

Have you met any local vette owners or collector car owners who do there own wrenching?
Maybee you can get with them to help you sort things out.Around me I have some collector car owners and they help me with my problems and I help them with theres.Its terrible to say but there are not too many real mecanics working in shops these days they all seem to be parts changers with no real diagnostic skills if the computer is not showing a code they cant fix it.You need to get with some old school people to help you through this.I am luckey because when I get in a real jam I have my brother inlaws who were trained by me deceased father in law who are REAL mecanics.

Good luck and you really need to get to square one,I would suggest having the distriputor proffestionally rebuilt and tested (dave feilder TI specialties and others) then working away from that.Wants been sucessfull for me is working with folks who have collector cars them selfs.

Good Luck and I do understand your frustration I have been thu it my self with my computors at work not being able to correct the problem my self and trusting a SO CALLED mecanic to fix it only to find out they just own the tools they are actually not a mecanic.

I just joined my local Vette club last month so don't really know too many of the people in it yet to know who works on their own cars and so forth but I'll make some calls.
There IS a guy around the corner from me who is a real Vette fanatic I met once thru a friend. This guy has owned 43 Vettes!!. He has a seperate additional garage at his house with a lift that he does his own work but after spending all the money I already have I hate to go to another "unknown" and still not be any better off than I am now but be poorer.

I know what you mean about real mechanics and people who just own tools (i'm neither! LOL) and your comparison to the computers. My wife is a sales manager for a local computer reseller store and they also do their own computer repair service inhouse. We have a lot of computers here at home and i'm pretty good at any probelms that crop up. Her stores repair techs are also very good but I never take our computers to them for repair - in fact they have actually called me asking questions about repairs a few times. ( and before anyone on this forum starts asking me tech questions about your own computer problems I ONLY use and work on Macintosh, not PC's. LOL. Very few problems with the Macs anyway. When I had PC's they were nothing but problems and I won't touch them )

 

[Rowdy1]

By Who?

In your very first post here, you said you were told your distributor needed to be recurved, by who, the seller? And "if" so, what led him or her to make that statement? You say the engine was rebuilt just before you bought the car right? There's a whole lot to be said for the newer technology in distributors as opposed to point ignitions, especially dual points. I'm puzzled by a few things you say also regarding the low end and the high end. A small block isn't known for it's low end torque but it is for it's ablity to rev, BUT, unless you have an aftermarket cam, 6500 is your redline for that or any other small block. I had a dual point in my 62 and changed it over to unilite after about a month for $105.00 and shortly after that, I went with a total MSD ignition and I don't regret it a bit. Keep us up on what you find and if you want a pointless Mallory distributor with the tach drive give me a shout.

 

[BarryK]

Barry,

I have used the following methods to time many engines and it has worked for me very successfully. Assuming the engine is still assembled with the distributor installed, pull all of the spark plugs except the No. 1 cylinder. On a Chevy, it is the forwardmost cylinder on the driver's side of the engine. With the transmission in neutral, and using a breaker bar or long socket extension handle and properly-sized socket, rotate the crankshaft by hand using the crankshaft bolt inside the crankshaft pulley. Rotate the engine in the direction of normal travel and feel for resistance on the bar. When resistance is felt, you are on the compression stroke of the No. 1 cylinder. Since balancers can't slip, the timing marks on the pointer and on the scored line on the balancer should locate top dead center (TDC) for you even if there is some wear in the timing chain. Once found, and with the distributor cap still installed, find the No. 1 plug wire and put a small mark on the side of the distributor housing directly below the No. 1 plug wire location on the cap. Now pull the cap, and view the relationship between the rotor firing tip and the mark you just made. If they line up, your timing is close to being on target. If they don't, you need to pull the distributor and rotate it until it drops in so that the rotor and the marks line up. You may need to rotate the oil pump driveshaft below the distributor that interlocks with the bottom of the distributor shaft to get the distributor to drop in. Once in, install the hold down bolt, install the cap, install the other plugs and check to make sure the plug wires are correcly installed per the firing order, and then see if it fires. It should, and you should then be able to set your timing correctly. Also, remember that point gap affects timing, so make sure that your points are set to 28-32 degrees dwell with the engine running. Once set, recheck your timing at the crank. I hope this helps.

thanks for the info!
Since I don't do my own work and don't even have the proper tools to attempt it I'm still going to have to take the car to a mechanic to have it done. But I REALLY appreciate the detailed info that you posted (along with a number of other people).
If I can't find a decent, reliable, competent mechanic around here I may be forced to buy tools and learn this stuff myself so with help like this it ALMOST (but not quite) seems do-able. I AM going to print out yours and the other peoples advice and methods to keep as reference in the future in case I am forced to take that route. I actually wish I did know how to do all this stuff and had the tools to do it. I envy all the people I read about on here that fix all their own cars and even do all thier own complete restorations and rebuilds. Oh well, for now I'd be happy to just get her running properly and enjoy driving her.

 

[BarryK]

In your very first post here, you said you were told your distributor needed to be recurved, by who, the seller? And "if" so, what led him or her to make that statement? You say the engine was rebuilt just before you bought the car right? There's a whole lot to be said for the newer technology in distributors as opposed to point ignitions, especially dual points. I'm puzzled by a few things you say also regarding the low end and the high end. A small block isn't known for it's low end torque but it is for it's ablity to rev, BUT, unless you have an aftermarket cam, 6500 is your redline for that or any other small block. I had a dual point in my 62 and changed it over to unilite after about a month for $105.00 and shortly after that, I went with a total MSD ignition and I don't regret it a bit. Keep us up on what you find and if you want a pointless Mallory distributor with the tach drive give me a shout.

Hi Rowdy

Sorry about your confusion. As I stated at the beginning I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff so I can only try to explain things as it's told to me and I can try to comprehend it or remember just what I am told. I do realize this makes trying to get correct answers more difficult


yes, the seller of the car told me it needed to be recurved. I bought the car from a very well respected Vette specialist and repair/restoration shop in MD. Although they weren't the ones to do the previous restoration on the car they knew when they got it the distributor needed to be recurved (or so they told me). I assume they knew it needed to be recurved from being told by the previous owner they got it from OR by driving the car and determining it themselves - I don't really know.
I do realize that with only a 327 i'm not going to get huge low-end torgue like a BB car but it just feels like it should have a bit more than it currently does. It's just my impression and I could be wrong.
As for the electronic conversions, I'm not totally against them and I may still go with that option but I really just wanted to get her running and set up correctly going all stock first so i knew everything was right. As i've mentioned, I didn't want to have the electronics seem to fix something but an underlying problem is still there but just being masked by a higher performance electronic package. I don't know much about the Mallory unit, but I had looked at a conversion kit by Lectric Limited that is a one wire kit. It fits inside the stock dist. cap and with it installed everything still LOOKS completely stock and there is not extra box I have to mount also. Even though I don't do NCRS judging I prefer to retain the stock look.
I know my redline is 6500 but I wasn't even getting that from the motor. I have been told by a number of people that although redine on my 365 is 6500 these solid lifter motors usually love to rev even higher and getting it to 7000-7500 is not unreasonable - NOT that I wish to abuse my motor at all and I have NO intenetion of pushing it that hard but just being able to get to the 6500 cleanly would be nice just so I know it's running correctly. During my normal driving I never get the car past approx 5000rpm and that's really pushing it for me most of the time. Like I said, I really do usually try to baby it.

 

[vettefinderjim]

Vacumn Advance??

First off Barry, You have so many posts here this must be very confusing by now. Jerry Bramlett has given great advice, as others, but that advice is for you as a new mechanic to take on.

This is not a hard item to learn, but there are three items in timing that must be understood.

Basic timing, vacumn advance, mechanical advance and then the total advance or all items added together. In the old race days, we set 40 degrees total advance at 3000RPM......and these little 283 and 327 motors ran fast. real fast. All three of these items must be checked for your car to run properly

You may have a vacumn canister that is not correct for this engine........it may be that simple.

You may have a camshaft that was not installed correctly, but as Jerry says, this can be compensated for.

You may have a bad camshaft,with worn lobes. Still working, but opening the valve late.....and closing it early. That means the gas/air mixtures entering the cylinders is lean of fuel......and no POWER or TORQUE comes out of the motor.

Believe it or not, your CHEVROLET dealer has good techs that can do a complete ignition and timing check on your car. And I will guarantee you that the restorer with 43 cars can also. If i were you, I would start from the beginning. ONE HOUR should completely check and repair minor timing problems. The almost $1000 you have invested could have replaced a camshaft !

Sorry for the grief......once corrected and you drive a good 365hp car, you will lust for many miles of continued smiles. Those motors.....set correctly were very powerfully.
Jim

 

[BarryK]

First off Barry, You have so many posts here this must be very confusing by now. Jerry Bramlett has given great advice, as others, but that advice is for you as a new mechanic to take on.

This is not a hard item to learn, but there are three items in timing that must be understood.

Basic timing, vacumn advance, mechanical advance and then the total advance or all items added together. In the old race days, we set 40 degrees total advance at 3000RPM......and these little 283 and 327 motors ran fast. real fast. All three of these items must be checked for your car to run properly

You may have a vacumn canister that is not correct for this engine........it may be that simple.

You may have a camshaft that was not installed correctly, but as Jerry says, this can be compensated for.

You may have a bad camshaft,with worn lobes. Still working, but opening the valve late.....and closing it early. That means the gas/air mixtures entering the cylinders is lean of fuel......and no POWER or TORQUE comes out of the motor.

Believe it or not, your CHEVROLET dealer has good techs that can do a complete ignition and timing check on your car. And I will guarantee you that the restorer with 43 cars can also. If i were you, I would start from the beginning. ONE HOUR should completely check and repair minor timing problems. The almost $1000 you have invested could have replaced a camshaft !

Sorry for the grief......once corrected and you drive a good 365hp car, you will lust for many miles of continued smiles. Those motors.....set correctly were very powerfully.
Jim

Hi Jim

thanks for the reply.
the problem as I see it right now is that i'm dependent on what other people and mechanics are telling me.
You are right, I feel the approx $800 spent so far on this issue is been WAY too much and it;s stil not resolved.
We replaced the vacumn canister with the distributor rebuild the other day and I ORDERED the correct one listed in the LICS catalog but other than that I wouldn't know by looking at it if it is truely correct or not.
If the problem involves a bad or worn camshaft or anything that major I guess I'll just have to live with it a while because I sure don't have the money right now to have somebody take the whole engine apart to replace items like that