Projects Cutting my Hotrod Teeth (57 Chevy Budget build/revival)

Well I finally got the valves lashed at least well enough to fire, got the distributor in, and minimal wiring, no alternator but I got it to cough again, ran out of starting fluid and didn’t have anything else handy besides gas and I’m done for the day but should be able to hear it run again soon! It was too cold to stay out any longer and dinner was ready... hopefully the next update I have it at least running off a jerry can!

 

Hopefully it doesn't mysteriously lock up like the 235 did!

 

COLD! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE COLD! I was hoping that you would have had it in a heated garage by now. We know that you have been busy but you are still plugging away. Keep at it and you will get the biggest grin on your face when you do get it going. Then drive it around the block will equal another big grin. Keep at it. We have faith in you.

 

Quick wiring question, where would be a good place to give the choke a 12v feed? I’m assuming not a good idea to run it off the coil + because that would take power away from that? Could I run a wire from the hot side of the ballast resistor? Or maybe from the hot side of the alternator? I know I probably won’t need the choke for now anyway, but it’s nice to reference this thread whenever I need some information. I can just search the thread on my phone without having to come back inside, look for a diagram on google or whatever.

 

Grab power from something with a fuse, the radio+12v wire would be available. Route it through the wiper grommet in the firewall.

 

If temporary, then any 12v source will do. If permanent, use an ignition source.

 

The ballast resister is the feed for your coil.

 

Well, I’m still alive and still have the car. It’s been a busy few years with some health problems and just having too much going on to feel like working on the 57 at all.

I’m up at my mom’s for labor day weekend where the car is and I’ve been getting things put back together to try and get this thing going finally! I have no spark and have traced the problem to be either the points or the condenser.

I have both out of the dizzy because they were filthy and i figured a wire brushing wouldn’t hurt. I sanded the points surfaces. The points are definitely opening and closing when the motor turns over, but i don’t see a spark between them.

Special thank you to 57ChevyDude by the way, who sent me that snap-on ignition box, it’s really coming in handy now!

So, with the points and condenser out of the car, what are some bench tests I can do on both? I also grabbed the old condenser out of the old 6 cyl and was happy to see it looks like a vintage piece, not a newer condenser which I’ve heard can be really garbage quality.

Sorry for disappearing for so long. Looks like I last posted here almost 4 years ago! The thread is a bit tough to read through, and I’m glad I’m not such a hot-headed 19 yr old anymore! It makes working on this stuff so much more enjoyable.

 

Also, I’m wanting to set the points while I have the out of the car. Looks like the shop manual says between 0.16 and 0.19 inches. These points are probably from the 60s so probably closer to 0.16. Now, I understand how to use a feeler gauge, but my question is, how do i measure the points gap? Obviously they open and close, so I’d assume I’d want to measure them while open, but this is all new to me!

 

Just to clarify, you have the distributor out as well, correct? If so, rotate to the high side of the lobes in the distributor, used points would be low side of spec, vice versa.
To really test the condenser, would take a capacitance test, cost to send it out, and back. Not worth it. Replace it.
Now, if you were just starting out on looking for the issue, many would have posted about where to check voltages to make sure things are right.
You still can check voltage to the wires going in and to the coil, but not out unless the distributor (points/condenser) is back in place.

Glad to see you back!

 

Yes, distributor is out too. With a test light on the points wire inside the distributor, I get no spark between the points, but the test light does blink. So it seems that the issue lies within the points. Even with no condenser connected, I don’t get even the smallest arc. That leads me to believe the points are the problem?

 

To be honest, I could easily mislead you, it’s been a long time since I’ve troubleshot a points distributor.
I would make a new post “how to TS points distributor ignition for no spark” or similar. Many here can recite it and offer better tips than a service manual will give you.

 

Here’s what came up via Google:

https://classicmotorsports.com/articles/when-fire-goes-out-9-easy-steps-diagnosing-ignitio/

 

She runs! I’m not quite sure what I had messed up earlier but i threw the distributor back in to try to get a better ground for it, as i noticed my test light would go dim if it touched certain parts of the car. I figured there was a short somewhere but the ol’ 283 came roaring to life to my surprise!

 

Welcome back

 

Hope you have your health issues straightened out.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome back!

I managed to actually back the car out of the garage so I guess I technically drove it for the first time ever just now. It seems I don’t have the alternator wired right because the battery is draining after running for a few minutes. I had the foresight to bring a charger with me to my mom’s so the battery is charging back up for a couple hours now while I go review the talk earlier in the thread on that 1 wire alternator!

 

So head west, we can go to Reno or Tahoe. You drive, I’ll buy tacos

 

Do you have a voltage meter?

 

I have a multimeter

 

Great to see you back. Before you do any more than back it out of the garage check the brakes. All four wheels. I do not remember if you did anything to them before, but it has been four years. A mouse could have been lunching on the rubber brake hose somewhere waiting for you to step on the pedal and have it go to the floor. Again, welcome back.

 

No need to check the brakes, there’s no master cylinder in it right now

 

Okay, so check battery voltage 30 minutes or so after charged. The fire up the engine, do the same.
Alternator or generator? Makes difference at idle, alternator should see 14 or more volts at idle, generator will take more RPMs.
Low charge, suspect a drain? Pull the negative off the battery, put the meter on DC current. Go in series with the cable you took off and the negative post. Should be less than maybe, I dunno, 50 miliamps in a ‘57.

 

You're gonna need one.

 

Getting about 15v from the alternator when running, but this isn’t quite an idling engine yet.

 

Speaking of, now that I’m actually at the point where i can reliably get the engine to run, I’d like to get it to idle but I’m not really sure where to start. I’be gone and plugged all the vacuum ports I could see to try and eliminate obvious vacuum leaks, not sure if that’s the right idea or not. I don’t have any vacuum hose here so for the time being I’m wanting to bypass the vacuum advance, unless there’s a good reason not to.

I guess I should probably add a timing light to the shopping list along with the vacuum hose. I also can’t seem to find where I put the PCV valve line so currently just have the port at the back of the carb plugged and the pcv valve venting to atmosphere.


I did accomplish what I wanted to this weekend, so there probably won’t be any major updates for a bit, but hopefully not 4 years this time…

I never did get the fuel line from the tank to actually work right, so still running out of a jerry can. That’ll probably be next once i can get the engine to idle and figure out this charging situation.

 

But maybe what dimmed was when it was about to die?
So carb is all blocked off, no leaks? You can check for vacuum leaks many different ways. Depends on what you’re comfortable doing.

 

The dimming test light was I think the points shorting. That problem went away, I think it just needed to be cleaned up a bit after sitting for 4 years.

Right, no open vacuum ports on the carb. The motor will stay running if I advance the timing and have it basically idling at high RPM, but as soon as I retard the timing closer to an idle chop, it tends to die unless I advance the timing again or give it some gas.

 

Refresh the year of the 283. Older ones had no PCV valve but instead had a road draft tube.

 

That would make me think after the 4 years of sitting, the carburetor needs attention.