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Distributor diagnostics?

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Wait.....wait......WAIT!! Did I read that correctly??! An HOUR AND 50 MINUTES of drive time??! HOLY GAS PEDALS, BATMAN!!!! <sniffs smelling salts!> Ok, ok....first, call NBC, then CBS, then ABC....get Oprah on the phone! That's some of the best news I've read from Dale in a while! I DO so hope I read that correctly!! :laugh:
 
Silverghost said:
Wait.....wait......WAIT!! Did I read that correctly??! An HOUR AND 50 MINUTES of drive time??! HOLY GAS PEDALS, BATMAN!!!! <sniffs smelling salts!> Ok, ok....first, call NBC, then CBS, then ABC....get Oprah on the phone! That's some of the best news I've read from Dale in a while! I DO so hope I read that correctly!! :laugh:
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Yup, Peter!! Indeed you are reading it correctly.

All time daily record for year-to-date 2008 at 73 miles.

67 miles total driven in 12 months of year 2006

Year 2007 record (unknown by most) 5 hours @ 170 miles driven
during one day I lost the Crypt Car demon in the mountains.

dale</span> :thumbsup:
 
OK! Paul, Doc, Randall, et al - Dizzy Timing Test results!
Requested photos below text- Any and all coments are
appreciated to help finally sort out the system(s) bugs..

Dale :cheers:

Both ears on distributor plugged off
Both vacuum lines on carbs plugged off
Car engine warmed to 160*, smooth idle at 700 rpm
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<span style="color: #990000">Cylinder No. 1 wire hookup
0700 rpm..........at 10* BTDC advance
1000 rpm..........at 18* BTDC advance
1500 rpm..........at 24* BTDC advance
2000 rpm..........at 27* BTDC advance
2500 rpm..........at 27* BTDC advance
3000 rpm .........at 30* BTDC advance

Observation: timing arrow steady as steel on
the timing mark from 1500 rpm and higher</span>

<span style="color: #000099">Cylinder No. 6 wire hookup
0700 rpm..........at 10* BTDC advance
1000 rpm..........at 17* BTDC advance
1500 rpm..........at 24* BTDC advance
2000 rpm..........at 27* BTDC advance
2500 rpm..........at 27* BTDC advance
3000 rpm .........at 30* BTDC advance

Observation: timing arrow steady as steel on
the timing mark from 1500 rpm and higher
</span>

dizzyCap.jpg


My new distributor cap has 183 miles on it. It arrived from
the vendor broken as shown but seems to work OK.

dizzyRotor.jpg


My new rotor has 183 miles on it and is matched to the new cap

dizzyGuts1.jpg


My advanced Distributors dizzy has about 1700 miles, the points
have about 1500 miles and the condensor can has 74 miles on it.

I reinstalled the two vacuum lines when the timing testing was completed.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,

I also performed intake manifold vacuum testing today.
Here are my results: My carbs and manifold have 1700 miles.
Jeff Palya's all components.

vacgauge.jpg


A warm idle, steady as a rock at 19 inches- no flicker at all.
A rise to 24" at 2000 rpm and then a uniform downward flow to 19 inches but NOT instantly back to 19". I have a 6-3-1 header.

manifoldVacuum.jpg
 
This is ALL good news, Dale. All 'cept th' broken cap bit. Non-critical, tho. Jus' don't go charging thru any standing water at speed. :wink:

From the dizzy photo I may make one eensie suggestion: see if you can coax the bare ground wire away from proximity to the lead goin' to th' points from the white connector. It makes me nervous.

Thanks.
 
I noticed the ground wire too. Do I detect a bit of rust, er, I mean corrosion at the screw and possibly along the wire in addition to what you saw, Doc? Other threads have mentioned this ground wire as a potential cause of woes. I am not trying to fix something that's not broken, just making an observation.
 
WOO HOO!!! Dale, I am sending an email to Mayor Daley to see if we can get you a parade!! :laugh:
 
Surface rust on that screw, naught to worry over. More concerning is the ground's proximity to that points trigger wire.
 
DrEntropy said:
Surface rust on that screw, naught to worry over. More concerning is the ground's proximity to that points trigger wire.
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #006600">Bloody Ground Wires!

They have been a curse on this car since day one!

I use this green goo stuff on all the electrical connections of
my boat and wiring of my trailer. The green goo dries into a water
tight plastic.

Should I green goo the ground wire and points trigger wire?
It would be easy.

d</span>
 
One or two minor issues as outlined in two previous posts and get in the car and drive it.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Should I green goo the ground wire and points trigger wire? It would be easy. [/QUOTE]

Dale,

It has made it 38 years without the green goop. Just clean it up and don't start putting stuff in there.

Also, add two drops of 3 in 1 oil down inside the distributor shaft, on the screw under the rotor, if you haven't already done so lately.
 
Remind me again ... were you actually trying to fix a problem here ? Cuz I sure don't see much of anything wrong with all above; certainly not enough to cause problems.

The spark scatter at idle might be the light itself, or possibly too much end float in the distributor drive gear; but it doesn't sound like enough to worry about. My TR3A dizzy IS worn, and has lots of scatter, but runs fine.

The 'hitch' in the advance curve is also a bit odd; but again is most likely an artifact of your timing light and won't cause a problem even if it's real.

So, quit tinkering and drive it!

Remember to keep the oily side down
:driving: :driving: :driving:
 
angelfj said:
Dale: just drive the car and PLEASE don't adjust anything. :nonono:
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Hey Frank!

It would APPEAR I have things properly adjusted as are.
How'd THAT happen? :rolleyes:

But I am wondering something. The bottom of my distributor
(the dog?) is out by 180 degrees and thus so are my spark
plug wires. If cylinder No1 and No6 both fire at 10* BTDC
can I simply switch out the two wires on the distributor cap
and have a "normal" looking distributor cap?

d</span>

<span style="color: #3333FF">Randall, yes I was trying to get the car operational
at rpm over 1500. To refresh the memory, the engine would idle
but fall apart and stumble over idle speeds. I rebuilt the fuel delivery
system. Then installed a condensor and today tested the dizzy. Tomorrow
I will street the car again.

d

d</span>
 
Tinster said:
If cylinder No1 and No6 both fire at 10* BTDC
can I simply switch out the two wires on the distributor cap
and have a "normal" looking distributor cap?
Click to expand...
<span style="font-weight: bold">NO !</span>

In addition to the piston being near TDC, the valves must be closed when the cylinder fires. But when #1 is firing, the valves on #6 are open, and vice versa.

Whatever is causing the breakup above 1500 rpm, it doesn't appear to be the distributor; at least not the low tension/timing portion of it. Might be a high tension problem, but I think fuel is more likely.
 
Tinster said:
can I simply switch out the two wires on the distributor cap
and have a "normal" looking distributor cap?
Click to expand...
Dale,
NO, it goes intake,compression,<spark>power,exhaust
if you did that 1 and 6 would be firing between exhaust and intake. That would be bad.
 
Dale,

Remember that the crank turns twice for every turn of the cam. Four cycle requires that the pistons go up and down twice to complete the process which is two revolutions of the crank, but only one of the cam as the intake and exhaust open at different intervals of the 360 degree cycle.

Please......take the advice given above and stop tinkering and just drive a nice running car.
 
eejay56 said:
NO, it goes intake,compression,<spark>power,exhaust
Click to expand...

It's easier to remember ... suck, squish, bang, whoosh! :laugh:

Of course a 2-cycle is just bang, whoosh, bang, whoosh.
 
Or as I learned it : Suck, Squeeze, Pop, Fooey
 
Randall, thanks for the explanation on the advance/retard distributors. I'll be picking up our "new" '72 Spitfire this weekend and I assume from your information I can expect it to have such a distributor.

Dale, I wouldn't apply any insulating coating to any of the components in the dizzy. What all of us seemed to notice was the bare wire from the dizzy housing to the breaker plate runs very close to the end of the points trigger wire where it passes out of the distributor. Just re-route the breaker plate ground wire a little to avoid the trigger wire. As for the screw corrosion, a little ScotchBrite and the application of some dielectric grease or Vaseline to the cleaned surfaces will help without locking things permanently together.
 
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