Got miss? - Distributor Cap

[chev74]

I have quite a miss going at a constant speed... i inspected and found my cap to have some corrosive looking spots on the inside contacts

Could this be my delimma?

[WorkinLonghorn]

Those don't look too bad to me. I usually scape the crud off of the contacts there but I don't know if that is a standard proceedure. I would do that and look elsewhere for the problem.Wires come to mind,plugs,points etc.

[chev74]

wires should be fine, just recently replaced them. plugs as well. i am running the ACCEL header plugs

[cdowns]

just because you replaced wires and plugs doesnt make them fine/thats the first place i'd look take one plug out at a time recheck the gap and see if it has deposits and check the ohms of that wire you do it 8times and see if theres one plug or wire that doesnt match the other 7 also when doing that is a good time to make sure the wires are on the right plugs

what is the gap on that plug? it looks wayyy wide

[ChevLoRay]

I miss the old days using a Sun machine to look at the way an engine was firing. It was easy to find the culprit, but that was before HEI's. It used to be that with the old distributor caps (and for those who may be running a Pertronix unit) that you could pull the wires from the distributor cap, one at a time, and find a plug that wasn't firing....if you had a pronounced miss and a discerning ear. Oh, if you do this, be sure to reinstall the wire back into the cap before going to the next one. Yeah, you do this while the engine is running. Oh, one more thing, you pull the distributor end because pulling the wire from the plug end is difficult and may cause you to get your bloomers knocked off.

[chev74]

decided to check my #8 plug first (that one usually gets it worst right?)

the little brass contact seemed to be loose- could this be the cause of the miss?

[chev74]

just pulled all plugs and they all looked fine except #7 had a little build up that i scraped off. the gap was about 38-40 on most of them, but isnt HEI supposed to be 45?

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by chev74

isnt HEI supposed to be 45?

Yup

[chev74]

and plug order is 18436572 - got that one memorized

[chev74]

i bet solved some of the problem. They were all under gapped. maybe i can get some more mph outta this beast

[chev74]

Actually - drove it to work today and couldnt get about 45 mph... HORRIBLE MISSING

i do believe that .045 gapping is too much- AM I WRONG?!?

it was running very well at the .038 - .040 gapping

guess i should change them back?

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by chev74

Actually - drove it to work today and couldnt get about 45 mph... HORRIBLE MISSING

i do believe that .045 gapping is too much- AM I WRONG?!?

it was running very well at the .038 - .040 gapping

guess i should change them back?

.045
You didn't cross any wires did you?

[chev74]

no. they are all in the same places that they were. should i try re-routing them?

on another side point: is it the 78 corvette plug wires that are long enough to run down and under the headers?

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by chev74

no. they are all in the same places that they were. should i try re-routing them?

on another side point: is it the 78 corvette plug wires that are long enough to run down and under the headers?

Personally, and this is just my preference, I would use wire looms/separators that are held in place by the valve cover bolts and held in place above the headers.
It's easier, in my opinion, to keep the wires away from the exhaust; and I think they look "cooler."
Just my .02.

[chev74]

i have the ones that mount on holders fron the valve cover bolts, but my experience is that the plastic piece ALWAYS finds a way off the metal part and NEVER wants to go back on to stay. i like the way they look as well, but they dont seem to agree with me

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by chev74

i have the ones that mount on holders fron the valve cover bolts, but my experience is that the plastic piece ALWAYS finds a way off the metal part and NEVER wants to go back on to stay. i like the way they look as well, but they dont seem to agree with me

Check with "Summit", they have several kinds of looms that should probably help you in that area.
I'm sorry, but I don't have the specific info at my fingertips right now.

[chev74]

i know moroso carries many diferent configurations as well. i think i may be going with the under the header look when i swap my headers and exhaust out

[chev74]

Have any of you other guys had a problem with gapping an HEI dizzy at .045?

[chev74]

regapped the plugs down to .040 and it STILL runs horrible. the only thing i could think of is that when i took off the dist. cap i used a dremel tool with a small stone wheel to clean off the corrosion. COULD THIS BE MY PROBLEM??

[dznucks]

I have always been told .035" on HEI, thats what i have always run my plugs at.

check the terminals in the cap. make sure those contacts are tight.

[chev74]

I am going to grab a new dist cap from the local performance store this afternoon when i get outta class to see if that fixes the problem

Any reccommendations?

[WorkinLonghorn]

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regapped the plugs down to .040 and it STILL runs horrible. the only thing i could think of is that when i took off the dist. cap i used a dremel tool with a small stone wheel to clean off the corrosion. COULD THIS BE MY PROBLEM??

You may need a new cap. I just chip off the crud with a screwdriver. If you removed any metal,I'd get a new one.
I bought an "HEI" style distrib from skip white for $46. The second one works great.

[ed2552]

What is the link to him on ebay?

[WorkinLonghorn]

Here ya go;

http://stores.ebay.com/whiteperformance1

[ed2552]

I found the other post w/ the link, but thanks anyways