Rant: If you're too stupid to put the distributor in the hole correctly...

X3.

I believe there might be an element of BS here, I know others are thinking the same. No way you could have spark without the distributor turning, so not sure how you got the POP BANG POP BANG deal. I suppose you could have had a crank-triggered ignition on it, but I'm not sure there were crank-triggered ignitions on "high school" motors 34 years ago.....

 

Drugs were cheaper 34 years ago, weren't they?

 

Cough! COUgh! COUbullshitGH! Cough-cough!

-Brad

 

I used to hang with a guy about 25 years ago who ran a Buick GS on the streets. 455 motor that was seriously built. It was just about the baddest street car in town, and after a while, he got a reputation. Nobody wanted to race him anymore.

He eventually came up with a nifty solution. Switched a couple plug wires around, and put the stock air cleaner back on the motor. Then he started telling everyone the "built" motor had died and he put a stock 455 into the car.

He gave several people rides, and word quickly spread that the GS was no longer the street terror it had once been.

When the competition came looking for him, he would simply remove the stock air cleaner [saying it restricted airflow] and while he was under the hood, switch the wires back to where they belonged.

The look of shock and confusion on peoples faces was priceless when the "stock" motor ran just as hard as the built one!

 

Well, since I am one of the original owners of the mentioned car, I should pipe in...........
I guess you were no better off than me. The dist. was "stabbed" by the guy I got the car from and yes, it ran like hell. I knew he had the secondary carbs off so I started there. The carbs were butched, I replaced them with nice rebuilds and the car ran decent. (I thought it should be better but never knew what to expect from a "pancake" engine). If this makes me "stupid", than I guess we can share the title because you "drove the car all over Kingdom Come with two cylinders misfiring, thinking the problem was fuel delivery". Consider yourself lucky because if the car would have continued to run the same as when you purchased it you may have never found the problem (might still be looking for a fuel issue.) It was not like the car didn't run (we both put our share of miles into it) and timing did not seem like the issue. Look at this way, if I had found the problem and seen the huge difference it made in performance I might have kept the car for my wife instead of selling it!
NO HARD FEELINGS, just wanted to point out a few things. Your Corvair wagon is one of cars I wish I would have kept. The car is really clean, has had a ton done to it, and is always the only one at a show!

Take care.

 

Way back when I didn't know much about cars and how they worked I had taken my ride over to a "specialist" I had a Datsun 240Z ( don't judge me ). The guy there told me my carburators needed to be overhauled. They weren't bed yet, but they were on their way fast. I asked if the car was still drivable while I get the money together, he said yes, but i shouldn't wait too long or more would go bad in the engine. Well i made it three blocks from his shrop and the car died. Had it towed home, at my expense. Well as I was trying to figure out what had happened my neighbor who worked for GM as a mechanic at the time and was a the crew chief for a small time race team asked what was going on and I told him. He looked around for a bit and noticed the the distributor was just sittin in the hole. Not bolted in or anything. He showed me how to get TDC and get the car timmed right. I drove that car two more years with no problems.

On a side note that "specialist" was indicted on fraud.

 

Dude, you must be the world's slowest typer!

 

Turned a 283 cam around backwards,dang the drugs or whiskey in Canada are lethal.That is the best one I have heard in years. Can"t wait for the tech sheet on that one.