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

Okay so maybe I’m not understanding “12 degrees advance” and “12 degrees after”. On my timing tab, there’s 0, A, and R. ***uming for advance and retard. Am I looking for 12 degrees in the A, or in the R?

 

Hey, I don’t sport a beard!!!

 

Look up specs on Google for your year of 283. I’d ***ume maybe factory was 6-8 BTDC. Yes, B would be advanced, R would be retarded/ late timing, shouldn’t have but one line on the marker there for the R side. Each line is 2 degrees.

 

I edited the post

 

So “before” top dead center would be advanced?

 

See, mark shows 4 in his paper shot. So back it off, readjust idle speed as you go. Dwell shouldn’t change. So if set, you should be fine unless something is dunking up the contacts

 

As Mark says, yes. Timing is set Befor TDC, ie before # 1 (and the rest follow) reach TDC to start the ignition of the mixture to push the piston back down. If set after, will run like poop if at all

 

Do you have a tab for the timing marks bolted to the engine side?

 

I believe it’s on the timing cover. I haven’t touched it and I ***ume it’s original

 

Okay, (I’m a grey beard, bear with me ). See the marks on it? Looking at it the “left side” should have the notches and lines. Just use a flash light to see them.

 

I mean left side of “0”.

 

I think I got it about the timing marks. Now I just gotta get it to run again!

 

Timing is set at a certain RPM. The faster the idle, the chance of the springs expanding, add to advance.
So it’s a balancing act, little timing adjust, little idle adjust, repeat.

 

So you can do a static timing. You may not have a bolt to hold the balancer/dampener on. But with # one at TDC on compression stroke, the engine sitting should show you on the mark between your B/R. If not, someone previously may have put a different balancer/dampener on the engine.
So if no bolt, you have to get a “flywheeel wrench”
Or use a pry bar lever, to keep rotating the engine.
This works much easier w/o the spark plugs in.
If you have a helper, have them
Put their finger over the # 1 plug hole, lifting occasionally, when air escapes, you are on the #1 compression stroke. So then rotate the crank until no air escapes, you should be close to TDC and the mark should line up close between B and R. Well, within a few marks of the B and R center
Chevy use 3? Different timing tabs and each balancer/dampener had the line in a different spot to correspond.

Rotate the engine is the same rotation as it would be spinning when running or trying to start it.


Edit: I should have added, then pull the cap, make sure the rotor is point at
Or very near to # one on the cap.

 

I’ve been thinking about what the issue could be, and it certainly is timing. It’s just strange that I had it running one minute, then couldn’t get it to start the next. I won’t be able to touch the car again for a week or 2 now, but I know I have fuel, and I know my ignition wiring is good.

Next time I can work on it I’m going to static time it by marking where the #1 terminal would be on the distributor, and then turning the engine until the balancer lines up.

The only thing I can think of that may have messed up my timing so bad it won’t start, is that when using the timing light, I had the distributor rotated too far clockwise in the block, so I picked it up, turned it counterclockwise, and dropped it back in the block to give myself more room to turn it, because the advance canister was hitting the firewall but it still wasn’t advanced enough accordingly to my timing light/balancer mark. Maybe I rotated it too far? Either way, it started once after that, so it wouldn’t make sense that I’m 180 out. Maybe that one time it started was an insanely lucky act of nature, I dunno. Thinking on it though, the plugs are wet, and I have spark at the plugs, a pretty strong spark too as I switched out the coil because it got super hot trying to start. Put the original delco coil back in and the spark was white, not pale yellow like before.

Just the fact that when it cranks, it will occasionally detonate makes it hard to believe its anything else BUT timing.

 

And remember. Line the mark up on the compression stroke. It will go around twice.

 

Most definitely when you picked up the distributor and the rotated counterclockwise and dropped it back in messed up the timing. You are on the right track to go back to static timing. You will need to lift the dizzy out and line it up with #1 plug in the correct position.

 

You may know this, but if you need to do a tooth or two at a time, a long flat blade screwdriver can orient the oil pump slot so the distributor tang drops in.

 

Sorry for disappearing again, it’s been a busy couple weeks! I only had a few minutes this morning at my mom’s to tinker and I got it to run again by just twisting the distributor counter clockwise. Now I’m out of gas and I’ve got a cookout to get to, but when it was running it was sounding really good! The idle even smoothed out. I’m actually tempted to tighten down the dizzy so I’m not liable to mess it up again…


I should have a free weekend coming up soon that I can come back up, the fall is always extra busy for me, but the good thing is, I still have the bug to work on the car!

 

Use the timing light!

 

Just a quick update, I have been slowly ac***ulating brake parts over the past couple of months. Yesterday, I got a replacement for the grille bar I broke while dropping in the 283, and also replacement side gl*** for the p***enger side since both pieces have cracks or holes. Then I spent the afternoon getting started on tearing down the brakes. I got the dual master cylinder mocked up with the proportioning valve, and then tore down the front drivers side brakes. The p***enger side front I already took apart a few years ago so it should come easier. At this point I realized I had forgotten to get some replacement wheel bearings, so I wasn't able to re-***emble anything, but I have those bearings on the way.

I know that starting on the brakes when I have the car barely running is a bit of a funny idea, but I have been dreading the brakes ever since I bought the car, so I think at least getting them started will motivate me more. The entire system needs to be replaced, and I've up until recently never even touched brakes, so this is a m***ive task for me. Luckily, being a tri-five, any part I could think of is available, including pre-bent lines, which I will be using for simplicity's sake on this project. While I'm spending all this time with the car on jack-stands, I'm going to finally get to the bottom of why on earth the fuel pump isn't getting anything from the tank. I went ahead and grabbed a second sending unit and fuel pump just in case. Plus it will be nice to have extras around.

In other exciting news, my fiancee and I have decided to buy our first house, and will be doing so in the next 12 months. This is very exciting news, because I'll finally be able to have the car where I live, not an hour and a half's drive away. One of my must-haves for the house we buy is a garage with a solid floor. I'm so sick of the gravel floor in the garage I have right now at my mom's. Obviously, being able to casually work on the car here and there when I have time will be a huge help. It's so hard to get anything done when half of the day is spent just on travel to and from my mom's.

Anyway, here's some photos of what I got done yesterday!

 

I REALLY LIKE to use a timing tape (it sticks on the balancer) when figgering out timing/total timing/initial timing/mechanical advance etc.
Most all auto parts stores have them...especially for SBC engines.
Just clean the balancer really well with either acetone/brakleen/carb cleaner and stick the tape on
Aligning the TDC mark on the tape with the 0 or TDC on the balancer.
EZ to see and read with the timing light too.
6sally6

 

Good to see you back at it!

 

^^^^^^^DEFINATELY. Never give up.

 

Congrats on your first home ownership! A big step.

 

Good to see you back working on it.

Congratulations on your new home.

 

I ***ume you're putting disks on the front, and that's why you're using that proportioning valve?

Glad to see you're still at it, congrats on the new house soon.