SpiderLovesBeer

Hey everyone.
I bought a 1956 Oldsmobile 88 324 with a Rochester 2GC power jet.
after a basic tune up (plugs, wires, points, condenser, cap, rotor, coil, oil change, rebuild Jetaway) my Olds drives beautifully. I’ve been driving Her everyday, everywhere for the past 3 weeks. A couple of days ago I was coming home from work and she started to sputter. I thought I was about to run out of a
gas. That’s exactly how it felt. I have a full tank of gas though. I get home and start wrenching. 1st I took the glass bowl off the fuel pump and the gas was clean as can be. Then I took off the old rubber hose between the fuel pump and the hard line then replaced it with a new one. But 1st I blew the hard line back into the tank with my compressor. Drove her around the block and the same problem is happening. I came back home then Rebuild the carburetor fully. Went for a drive and the same thing is happening. I bought a vacuum gauge then unscrewed the vacuum advance hard line then hooked the gauge there. I don’t think that’s the correct spot because when I turn the engine on, the gauge didn’t move. If I rev the engine up, it feels like it wants to die but if I give it enough gas, it’ll level out about a 1/3 of the way in the throttle.
my question is, where can I hook up my vacuum gauge so I van figure out what’s wrong with this old Gal???
or does anyone know what’s going on ? Why would she just start sputtering like that? Please help me out. I don’t know what else I can do at this point.
thanks

4+4+2=10

Sounds like a weak fuel pump..

Sugar Bear

^^^ x2

SpiderLovesBeer

Ok I just installed the new ethanol safe mechanical fuel pump. Runs better but still has a miss.
I changed the plugs again, new plug wires, timed at 5* BTDC, new points gapped at .016, new condenser, new cap & rotor, ballast resistor, rebuilt Rochester 2GC power jet carb, 2 new fuel filters (1 between fuel pump & carb and 1 about a foot off the gas tank) both installed right, I blew air from my compressor from the hard line back into the gas tank.
what more can I do before going deeper into the engine??? Any advice would be great. I’m going crazy over here. Thanks

boese1978

Get a dwell meter and insure you have 30* dwell rather than relying on a .016 feeler gauge.

oldcutlass

You can hook your vacuum gauge to any manifold vacuum port on the engine that has vacuum at idle. I would disconnect all vacuum lines and plug the ports and check for vacuum leaks. Adjust the carb a/f mixture screws for the highest vacuum on your gauge or use the highest rpm gain with a tach.

Vintage Chief

Quite frankly, you just threw parts at your car. You did not perform a basic tune-up i.e. exactly what aspect of 'tuning' did any of those parts accomplish?

To perform a tune-up you must perform the following steps in exactly the following order...absolutely nothing contrary to these three steps:

(1) Establish Dwell (specifically at the level & RPM as stated exactly in your CSM - most generally 30° @ 1100RPM - i.e. read your CSM or fan shroud tag;
(2) Establish Timing with a timing light (specifically as described in your CSM); and, finally
(3) Adjust your A/F mixture (this is best accomplished via a vacuum gauge).

Regarding your vacuum gauge hookup Eric has provided you with where to hook up the gauge. Most of us will use a "T" in one of the vacuum lines. But, let's make certain of one thing in particular - there is no amount of adjusting and fine-tuning the A/F mixture with a vacuum gauge that is going to ensure you have a proper tune-up unless you follow the above three steps exactly in the order listed. That is rock-bottom essential before you even consider adjusting the A/F mixture. Therefore, do it again properly if you haven't done so already: Dwell>Timing>A/F

OLDSter Ralph

30 degrees dwell is 30 degrees dwell at all RPM's (with a contact points distributor).
Timing does change with RPM and that is prescribed in CSM or under the hood. Timing is set at a specific RPM.

Vintage Chief

Ooops. Good point. I was typing a little too fast trying to unload what was in my head for the next sentence. Yes, timing is set at the proper RPM. Thanks for that.

SpiderLovesBeer

Ok maybe what I did isn’t called a tuneup but just a replacement of parts.
ok so after replacing everything from the gas tank to the carb and everything in between (that didn’t do anything for my problem) I decided to replace the intake manifold gasket. When I was removing the manifold, the hard line going from the carb to the vacuum advance almost just fell off..... I know you guys know where I’m going from here.....
I continued to take off the manifold then clean all the mating parts then put down the gasket. I reassembled everything then torqued it down (22-26 pounds) and I tightened that vacuum advance hard line. Wouldn’t you know, I did all that work and I’ll I needed was a 1/4” turn of that little 3/8” bolt. Oh well, I learned a lot from this whole troubleshooting process. I know how to gap my points, set the dwell, time Her 5* BTDC, rebuild a power jet carb, rebuild a starter, rebuild a generator, rebuild a fuel pump and a few more things. I can look back now and laugh but the passed 2 weeks was a living hell for me. Thanks y’all for the help.
now it’s time to go for a long cruise.

If you pray for rain, you have to be ready to put up with the mud 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

droldsmorland

After a break to let the top of your skull reattach from where it separated and blew off....give the engine as much timing as it will handle without spark knock.
Say 10-12-14° base.
I will use a vacuum gauge to adjust the timing. Yep. Twist the distributor while observing the vac gauge. Get the highest reading possible. Then tweak the Air/Fuel screws on the cab looking at the vac gauge again to get that highest reading.
Go back n forth between the two. Once you have this highest vac reading. Take er for a spin. Any spark knock, back it down in 1° increment until it stops.

Verify the mechanical weights under the rotor move freely and the advance springs haven't stretched out. Apply a very small dab of lithium grease on the spots where the weights pivot(underside) and on the weight anchor pins.

Mini super tuning would be what you just did. Of course, there's a bit more to it...dialing in the spark curve and heat mitigation etc...When your ready just ask...after the skull has thoroughly healed of course.

SpiderLovesBeer

Oh wow. I didn’t know I could do that. I brought Her up to 7* BTDC and I thought it was fast. But then again, I don’t know what I’m doing so I’ll listen to you.
so I’ll hook up my vacuum gauge then loosen the distributor nut then start twisting until I get the highest vacuum reading on my gauge. Lock the nut down then go for a cruise??? I think I can do that. Sweet..... thank you.

droldsmorland

You can leave the dist just lose enough so when you're out on the road you can tweak it advanced or retarded.Just keep track of which direction is advanced.

SpiderLovesBeer

How do I know where I’m at in timing??
all I have is a 1/4” notch to go off.
I know that the start if the notch is 5* BTDC and the end of the notch is TDC.
do I just measure another 1/4” then make a mark and that’ll be 10* BTDC and so on??

droldsmorland

Timing isn't a hard number. What was printed on the factory engine sticker(and in the book) was a combo of emission and economy setting, not high performance.
Today's gas is much different as well.
The engine sticker Is more of a suggestion to get you started.

Give it more until you hear knock then back off. You are using the ear & butt dyno.

Set the timing at warm idle to say 12. Blip the throttle wide open and listen for spark knock. No knock road test. While on road do the same check for knock at WOT. If no knock kick it up a degree or two re-test until it knocks. Then back it down until it doesn't.

Keep the dist lose enough to advance the timing in small 1-2 degree increments while road testing. You can bring your timing light if you want to.

Once you find the sweet spot then put the light on it to see what that degree is. This will be your new base timing.

droldsmorland

I just realized you are having a hard time interpreting the timing tab. I'm unfamiliar with yours. Snap a pic.
Regardless you don't really need to be precise just take it to the point where it knocks and back it off. I keep my dist loose. That way I can adjust on the road if it gets really hot out I can back it down. Nice cold dense air evening advance it up.

You can toss the light and use ears, butt and vacuum gauge.

Modern computer controls are constantly adjusting the timing on the fly. We don't have this luxury on our analog cars.

SpiderLovesBeer

This is that 1/4” notch. I would have to eyeball another 1/4” then make a mark so I’ll know that’s 10* BTDC right???

droldsmorland

The most straightforward way would be to bring the #1 piston up at TDC. Mark that then do your measurements. No Idea if 1/4" = X amount of degrees BTDC.
Again no real need to know. Get it to run the best with A/F and timing adjustment and call it a day.