68dustin

here are a few suggestions:

Have you actually set your timming with a light? My 302 like to be set around 14* Try unplugging the vac advance & plugging the port on the carb. Also i would spray some carb fluid around the carb and listen for vac. leaks, if the motor starts to rev up then you have a vac. leak.

another thing to look for.... when you shut your car off look down the carb... do you see it dripping gas into the carb? (most common reason.. too high of fuel level on the floats)

74CometGT

Okay, i have a little bit of an update i discovered while playing around with the carburetor and distributor.

(For some odd reason i cannot adjust the timing on my car with a timing light because the timing marks on the harmonic balance do not come around at the correct time.. Puzzling??)

It seems like the fuel pressure is fine. The Fuel pump has approx. 5-6 psi in the line as it seems and i believe that should be correct.

The issue is, i got back to the issue of the car not wanting to start. Once it does start though the idle is perfect. But i have to retard the distributor for it to start and advance it once it does. Upon plugging into the manifold vacuum port the car runs good, but what I've noticed is that since engine vacuum drops on acceleration, the distributor is actually retarding the timing instead of advancing. If i unplug the vacuum advance from the constant vacuum though the car will not idle or run properly. I can plug it into ported vacuum and the car accelerates beautifully but immediately dies when the vacuum drops to 0 or when the car closes to idle.. So, any thoughts as to why this might be? Do i have a bad vacuum advance?

It seems that the reason the car refuses to start is because there is not a constant vacuum when its cranking over and it is thus stripping the starter when i crank it over..

Does any of that lead to one issue? Or does it even make any sense? Any ideas?

Gun Jam

you could just dump all the crap and run an MSD mech adv dizzy with an a6 or a6L box and be done with any advance issue and have a super solid ignition system.

As for your current issue...I do not know. I do know its normal for vac to drop to zero under full power but I cant say as to why its dying...

-Gun

palerider

or as Summit brand mechanical.

74CometGT

Will the summit brand mechanical work with the standard electronic ignition?

crunchyskippy

My first thought when I read your problem was that your choke is not disengaging.

My second thought is that you need to start over with your timing. I know you said your balancer has slipped and thus your timing marks are invalid. You can either find TDC (as you did before) and then "remark" the balancer with timing tape or you can wing it with a vacuum gauge. Not to tell you something you might already know, but remember to disconnect the vacuum advance and PLUG the line when setting your initial timing. Did the new distributor tell you to hook it up to the manifold vacuum? If not, you should stick with ported for your vacuum advance.

My last thought is to check for vacuum leaks (as suggested above). Check everywhere (base of carb, timing advance line, transmission line, power brakes, etc). Remember old hoses can crack at the fittings and might not be noticable.

Good luck. Don't give up.

69thunder

Sounds like the dist. may be off a tooth. Try re installing it making sure you are at tdc on the compression stroke. Stumbling on acceleration assuming timing is good is likely the accelerator pump or possibly the power valve. Look inside carb and verify you have a good squirt of fuel when actuating the throttle quickly to wide open (engine off). If you do then you know that the ignition is the likely problem.

TommyK

Don't touch anything else until you have your timing sorted out.

Put the #1 cylinder at TDC on the COMPRESSION STROKE. Verify that the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug wire location. Verify that the timing pointer is on 0 or close to it. I think you will find that you have installed the distributor at least 1 tooth off as has already been stated in this thread. If that is the case reinstall the distributor so that the rotor is pointed at the #1 plug wire with the #1 piston at TDC.

If you are absolutely certain that you are at TDC on the compression stroke and the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug wire on the cap and your timing pointer reads anything other than 0 or close to it then the ring on the balancer has slipped. If this is the case you can temporarily make a new 0 mark on the balancer to get the timing set but the balancer should be replaced asap.

When you get the distributor position sorted out, set the initial timing to 10-12 degrees BTDC with the vacuum advance unhooked and plugged. When that is done plug the vacuum line into a ported vacuum source.

You are now ready to begin carb tuning.

74CometGT

Okay. Well a little slight update. Since my flywheel is also stripped now somehow, I've decided just to restore the car completely with a new ignition system. My question is now, what parts do I need to replace the ignition system to say an MSD or Mallory ignition. What components do I need. The distributer, coil, ignition box.. Anything else to make sure all electronic components function?

crunchyskippy

Please do not replace the ignition system until you have tried some of the suggestions above for your timing and carb. I sincerely mean it. There are a lot of resources here. Just give us progress updates on the suggestions and we can rule out things from there.

Replacing the ignition system is expensive and might not even be your problem.