southcarolina803

well tomarrow the parts i ordered to tune up the car should b comin in. so hopefully my neighbor/ the guy who is teachin me how to work the car, will b home to help me out, also next week i am ordering the new intake manifold to change my 2 barrel to a 4 barrel holley 600......then after i get it running right i will b ordering the seat belts b/c the guy who had it prior to the guy who sold it to me didnt put them bac in...then its on to the brakes and suspension....

Oldsguy

Don't want to rain on your plans but I would do brakes first. If you get it tuned up and want to "test it" you may end up in a jamb if your brakes need work too and you leave them to the last.

southcarolina803

ok so we installed the new distributor cap and rotor and plugs and wires and pcv valve, couldnt change the oil cuz the car sits too low gotta get some ramps and i forgot the points set so we are doing all that tomarrow, so first of all the car wouldnt turn right over it took a sec, then it started right up, IDLED PERFECT, i pulled it out the drive way and with no hesitation took off, i gased it a bit just to see the difference and boy was there one, then i come home turn it crank it again , cranks right up, so i let it set for a couple minutes come bac out , crank it up, and it starts idling funny again, i pull out and it has that damn hesitation....UGH...but im cool as the other side of the pillow b/c why shouldnt i expect this, we didnt set the timing, btw, any one got any good ideas, my neighbor first told me we could do it by ear, then he said oh jus take it too a shop they can do it and it wont cost much, what should i do? and what the hell someone explain what a " feeler " for the points are ..i think...advanced auto looked at me funny...and gave me a gap guage for the spark plugs, which i now know how to gap plugs..lol.....give me suggestions

rocketraider

You COULD set the points with a flat blade feeler gauge (not a wire spark plug gauge) but you SHOULD set them with a dwell meter. Much more accurate and easier. You want between 28-32 degrees of dwell at specified idle speed, and 30 is just about perfect. You do it with a 1/8" allen wrench thru that window in the distributor cap. Just make sure you don't hit anything else in there or you will knock the crap out of yourself with a high-voltage shock.

Once you get dwell set, then you set timing. Distributor vacuum advance disconnected and plugged, idle set to spec, then you loosen the distributor hold-down clamp and rotate distributor till timing marks line up where you want them, using a timing light. Idle speed will probably change as you rotate the distributor and you may have to reset it once you have timing set and locked down.

See you're Navy. Does the base have a shop you can work in? though they probably don't have old school tune-up equipment anymore.

I can tell that right now you're excited about learning old car. Just don't get discouraged and lose that enthusiasm. There'll be times you want to roll it off a cliff, but other times things will go well and you'll see results from what you've done.

Olds64

If your neighbor said to tune the car by "ear" then he is a doofus. They make tools specifically for tuning the car.

You can go to the auto parts store and rent all of the tune up tools you will need. Get a timing light, vacuum gauge, and dwell/tachometer. You will also need a set of feeler gauges.

First, take your distributor cap off and set your point gap with the feeler gauges.
Second, reinstall the cap and start the car to set the dwell.
Third, use the timing light to set your timing.
Fourth, adjust your fast idle with the dwell/tachometer.
Fifth, use your vacuum gauges and set your idle mixture screws to maximum vacuum.
Finally, reset your fast idle since it might be a bit off after adjusting your idle mixture screws.

southcarolina803

well i didnt set the points with the gap guage i set the spark plug gaps, i coudnt find the "feeler" as my neighbor caled it, so i need to look for a dwell meter huh? well also i dont have a timeing light, i can look some up on the net tonight. and yes we do have a shop but pretty much right now all i have is my neighbor and he is an in and out type of guy our schedules collide really i dont see him till later on in the after noon after the shop is closed.

southcarolina803

hey olds 64 thanks lol i didnt know i couldnt rent all those parts but i will tomarrow and i will let u guys know how it goes, any advice on why i keep breaking down lol.

southcarolina803

and thanks rocketraider both u guys helped out

Oldsguy

Watching to see how this turns out. I think a tune-up with equipment will really help. And I don't even think you have to rent the tools, just the stall. It is really cheap and another good "benny" for serving.

Bluevista

Good luck with the car, brakes are really important for test flights. I would throw away the points and buy a points conversion kit. By the time you get all the stuff together to do it and the problems inherent to points ignitions it's a no-brainer. Get a cheap timing light and that's about all you need for ignition work, you got a plug gauge. The conversions are around 70-125 bucks and take less time to install than points by the time it is all said and done, no dwell or gaps to set, maintenance free. Mallory Unilite points conversion unit in my GTO for 14 years and never skipped a beat, there are plenty of different brands.

just my two cents woof,

Allan

southcarolina803

thanks i will start looking now

southcarolina803

and the brakes feel fine doesnt feel like a rough stop but i havent visually inspected them and just for my sake im going to do a complete brake job

southcarolina803

OK SO today i got some new vacuum lines , 1 to the vacuum canister and another some where around the back of the carb i dk i will tell ya later, btw my carb is loose but thats ok b/c i am gettin the holley 4 bbl and intake manifold next month, anyways i take it around the block and pull in and the radiator leaks out i dk if its empty or not but for just goin around the block the car is pretty hot, 2 wks ago i flushed the radiator but i did it the fast way draining it with the bottom hose so i dk if it was loose but IM 99% sure that i tightend it enough......also we check the fuel filter it looks good......hmmmm...will bb when i check to see where this leak it comin from, and IM HOPING ITS NOT A RADIATOR LEAK....

Olds64

If your carburetor is loose then you need to tighten it. A tune up won't make a difference if there is a vacuum leak.

southcarolina803

i have to take the whole carb off huh ? and tighten it from the bottom? something like that?

Olds64

There are four bolts that keep the carburetor on the intake manifold. They are on each of the four corners of the carburetor base plate. You can tighten them with a 3/8" ratchet, a 6 inch extension, and a 9/16" socket. Just take the air cleaner housing off before you try to access the bolts.

southcarolina803

ok i will chec it out tomarrow wheni get home from work and i do have the air cleaner assembly off due to the fact im out there messing with it every day i will let u guys know how it goes, and i do belive that my radiator leak was bc of the fitting on the hose slipping off a bit but i tightened it and tested it and it didnt leak again so i will chec it out again tomarrow afternoon