HELP! I'm having a tough time getting my car to run properly. Took me
two weeks to get it to run at all - wound up putting the old spark plugs
back in and it started right up! Go figure.
Now, it seems obvious that my timing is WAY off...lots of missing and
backfiring. (to all of you who are wondering, I got myself into this
predicament by trying to fix something that wasn't broken - and now it
is!) Keeping in mind that I really don't know much about this stuff (Oh,
really?), a few observations...
1) I have no timing lite (and wouldn't know how to use it if I did have
one).
2) My pulley was DPO-installed so that the hole is on the front side,
not the engine side.
3) When I manually turn the engine so #1 piston is all the way up and
both intake and exhaust valves are closed, the pulley hole is nowhere to
be seen. Shouldn't it be at or near the pointer? Not sure if it's
exactly 180 out, but it appears to be close to that. Does this mean that
a timing lite would be of no use anyway - unless I'm willing to pull the
front apron, radiator, etc., off the car and rotate the pulley?
I've been told that the "easy" way to set timing is to set the
distributor's vernier scale on the fourth notch and turn the distributor
through it's range until, at some point, the correct timing will
magically make itself evident. So far, the thing runs like a tank. Idle
not bad, but as soon as I try to give it any gas, I'm afraid I'm gonna
blow a hole in a piston or muffler or something.
Does anyone have any suggestions or know where I can find idiot-proof
instructions? I'd appreciate it as, so far, I don't think I can even
make it to a mechanic (much less to Portland!) without a tow truck!
Thanks VERY much.
--
Michael Ferguson
Vernon CT
1959 TR3A TS53990L
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