acloud

73 Cutlass 350 4 bbl HEI
I think I have the timing at 14 but I really can'r see/read the timing Tang.
0-4-8-12 is this how they are marked ?
Anyhow, when Hot , it turns over sluggishly and sometimes won't turn over enough to start it.
I know Pontiacs are notorius for hard start/heat soak, , , are Olds engines also prone to hard start.
I just rebuilt the E 1405 Carb, new plus, Cap and rotor. Plugs are gapped between 55 and 60 (57ish) Should I re-gap them down to 45-50 ?
Thanks in advance,
ACE
ace-pontiac.com

brown7373

Start with the basics. Are both ends of the battery cables clean and tight, and metal to metal - not metal to freshly painted engine block? Are the connections at the solenoid tight and clean. Has the battery been load tested? A battery that is starting to fail does not have as much cranking power when things heat up. Most parts stores can check it and it is usually free. I'd check those things before I considered changing a starter.

TripDeuces

Also the more initial timing you put into them the harder they start. This is what I'd do: Start with what Brown7373 said about making sure all connections are clean. I'd start with 10* initial and see how it starts. If it's easy starting go up two more degrees and keep doing so until it gets hard to start then back off two degrees and leave it. It's my understanding that HEI's have 20-22 degrees of advance built into them. So if you wanted a total of 36* you'll need 14-16 initial timing. I hope this makes sense.

Rickman48

If those are the original battery cables, change them - 35+ yrs. old!
Make sure your ground wires from the firewall to the engine are there, clean and tight!
Had the exact problem on a '69 442.

oldcutlass

Your spark plug gap should be .040-045. Were you looking at your timing at idle or 1100 rpm? Not being there makes it tough to diagnose, I would rule out a starter issue. But you can drop your timing down a couple of degrees and see if it helps!

acloud

Get back to yall tomorrow. No time today.
Idel is about 800, 14º degrees (I think) I'll ttry to clean the timing tab (so I can read it better) and mark the line on the balancer better.
I did find the Vac can. diaphram was shot and sucking air.
I'll re-gap plugs to .045.
Oh , ground strap from block to firewall was cut (previous owners doing)
Andy

projectheaven

Was this issue ever resolved?

acloud

since it's winter and I don't have a garage the car , and all it involves, is on hold till better weather.Although I did actually drive it today.
I went thru plugs, gaps, timing etc, and still has an inherent miss.
I think i'm buying a buddy's 400 in the spring and drop in it. At that point I would really like to disassemble it and find the problem. I bought a leask-down tester but didn't get a chance to do any tests before the weather (and light) started going away.
I think there may be broken rings or the cylinders are slap out-o-round or , , , .
After I swapped the cam, the compression went from lower in the front cylinders to low compression in the reare cylinders. Can't figure it out !
ACE