this engine sit since the 80s. i primed it up with a drill and oiled the valve stems before i started it. after it started i found that a lifter was not pumping up (at least that is what i thought at the time), later discovered the lifter was bad. the more i ran it the more sluggish it got. i ended up changing the timing chain, lifters, and cam. after that it fixed the lifter issue and had no noises in the engine at all. it was very sluggish and i got looking and thought i had the timing gear off by 4 degrees. i just took it back apart and re-timed it strait up to 0. i started it and it is the exact same. list of new parts

JM 22-25 10 cam
AC 45 plugs @ 35
plug wires
cap
rotor
lifters
edelbrock roller timing chain set at 0
plugs read at a chocolate brown

i did not change the points but they looked new and set at 30 dwell also run a file through them

i added 5 gallon of fresh gas to it. i didn't think there was any gas in the tank.. i am wondering now if maybe there was and i have a bad gas problem?

when you step on the gas it is very slow to rev up.

the exhaust blew out a ton of mouse nests, maybe restricted exhaust?

i have no idea where to go next. i will likely drain the gas first. any thoughts?

 

Check the weights in the distributor. May want to pull it out and tear it down and clean it.

Maybe bad fuel pump
clog pick up in the tank
sludge in the carb

Distributor is my first thought.

Gene

 

Have you tried feeding the fuel pump out of a 5 gallon can sitting next to it? That'd be the first thing I do...it'll tell you right away if it's a fuel problem. If it sat since the '80's I'd assume there's water in the tank...condensation and what not. Start with the easiest and work your way into the harder things.

It's running, so my first guess is fuel...either bad gas in the tank or carburetor gummage

 

Pull the exhaust loose at the manifold ends where it connects to down pipe to eliminate clogged exhaust. Carb could also be giving you fits if it's slow to rev(been there done that). If you need a test bed for carb issues I have a fresh rebuilt correct year QJet I can bring out for you to test with. I always thought when an engine is slow to rev it means it's restricted on either fuel or air or that the timing is off excessivly. Checked fuel filters? My 71 had one on carb and then it had a hidden bowl down low back towards frame kinda hidden causing my 71 to run like crap. You could eliminate the distributor or points causing it by dropping in a HEI real quick.

Just some ideas since I went through the same things with my 71 and the 70 I got from you.

 

Eric,

When i hear

Usually that sounds like bad timing (either not enough advance, or too far)

 

Also, did you dial or degree the cam in or did you just TDC everything and swap? Depending on the cam in there prior it could have been off and if you just put existing to TDC and swapped you may have just swapped a wrong position cam for a new cam in wrong position. Not likely considering the car and the history but you never know. A cam could be off a degree or 2 very easily. Again, just some thoughts.

 

You stated that your cam is set 0, and your dwell is at 30*. No where do I see where your ignition timing is set?

 

thats what i said! sorta

 

Now that I look again, yes you did, sorta. LOL!

 

my balancer is still true and i had timing set anywhere from 6 to 16 and it still don't fix the problem. today i put the hose to the fuel pump into a fresh gas can and added a new filter. it didn't help. now i have the distributor back out and looking it over, i found a screw stuck into the vacuum advance to keep it from moving. it is something someone put there to keep it from advancing. i have a box full of distributors, i will just grab another one and put new points and condenser on it and install it. i did change the coil and no help. if another points and distributor don't help i am going to change the carb but i feel sure it is not that. i sure want to believe it is ignition.

 

lol, i remember poking fun at my friends for trial and error when they worked on there 3 and 4 wheelers. now that is what i am doing. this shouldn't be this hard.

 

Is your timing advancing when you increase rpm? It may be a stuck advance plate. Thats a lot of trouble to deactivate a vacuum can, they could have just removed the hose. You'll figure it out.

 

can you grab a video?

 

What carb is on this? Qjet? Are the secondaries opening?

 

i was starting to get mad at it so i stepped away from it tonight. i loosened up the collectors on the headers, changed the distributor..both were advancing good, changed the points...(i thought i had new ones but i don't, i had another set of used ones) i will install new ones tomorrow.

the secondaries are opening. but at this point i will likely change the carb because i know the points are not going to fix it. i am having a hard time believing this is carb issues.

i timed the cam to 0 and know i didn't get it a tooth off. i had called Mondello just because it was there cam. he said not to worry about degreeing the cam, he said to put it on 0 and good enough. i wonder if the marks on the timing set are off? how far off would it have to be to make it sluggish?

 

Typical response from mondello.
Just an FYI. I've had cam and chain set combinations off over 10 degrees. That'll make it lazy for sure.
And when you're referring to 0 I'm guessing you mean the 0 dot on the crank gear?
By the way, that's a fair amount of cam, what's your cranking compression?

 

don't laugh to hard. it is a low compression engine. i only used this cam because it was new and what i had laying around. i have 150 psi and all the cylinders are even. the thing is, it was sluggish before i changed the cam. i just thought it was because of the bad lifter and others not pumping up good. it runs the exact same way it did before i changed the cam. also the same as it did at the 4 degree advance mark.

it almost seems to be getting worse. i wonder if i have new defective plug wires? i have checked the firing order about 10 times. i goofed that up on the green 442.

after work tomorrow i will change to carb just to rule it out.

 

i feel like an idiot, maybe i am, lol. it was the carburetor the entire time. i had a good one off of a 350 i tried just to see how it would run. it revs great. i know the affects of time and gas and how it is never a good thing. i know this all to well in the off road market but just couldn't convince myself that was the problem here.

now to put everything back together and take it for a drive. after all this... i hope i didn't hurt the new flat tappet cam. i have a pint of lucas cam brake in lube in it with the moly on the lobes.

 

i just ran it for another 20 minutes at 2000 rpm. stayed cool the entire time and ran great. i took it out in front of the house and it will roast the tires much easier than i thought it would. even with this cam i didn't think it would run this good because of the 8.5 compression. it spun so easy i hope someone didn't change the 3.23 gears out of the rear end.

thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

Great to hear you got it running.

Where the pictures at? You can't leave us hanging like that...

 

i have another thread going for the car with pictures. i will post more soon.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...0-project.html

 

Yeah i know, i was hoping for some engine stuff though.

 

i will be posting some on that thread when i get them. i didn't paint anything so it looks like an engine bay that is old.