Working on my Truck :)

[Truckstr]

Hi everybody! Just wanted to update the board about my progress... and a klittle something that I discovered in the process.

My '67 has been down over a week as I worked on it. It had developed a "miss" and was pretty sluggish out of the hole. Not what it "should" be with a 4.10 rear gear.

I had been contemplating replacing the junk yard HEI with a new one and I saw this as a good time to do so. So, I installed a new Pertronix "Flame Thrower" HEI and a set of MSD 8.5mm wires.

So far so good.

I had also purchased a new wiring harness for the old girl. I still don't have the under dash portion of it installed, but everything forward of the firewall is brand new (Thanks, GMCPaul!). The old harness was wasted. It had a LOT of slices in it. Un-good. The old wiring harness was still hooked up to the old voltage regulator, even though it already had an internally regulated alternator installed. No more! The new wiring harness takes full advantage of the more modern alternator. (I needed the space on the radiator support that was peviously occupied by the external regulator.

Again, so far so good.

So I button evrything back up and double check everything and (try) to fire it up. It was pitiful. It barely ran at all!

Check the timing: 10 degrees initial - according to the marks on the damper. I figured 'Okay, I've done a bone head and gotten the distributor 180 dgrees out.'

So, I check out that theory. Take the no. 1 plug out and bump over the engine while holding my thumb over the plug hole. Then check to see if the TDC mark on the damper lines up (close) and look at the relation of the distributor rotor with the no.1 post in the cap.

Hmmmm. Close, but... not exactly where I thought that it should be.

Further investigation revealed that the inertia ring on the harmonic damper had apparently slipped. TDC is now at about 30 degrees! It doesn't wobble, but I don't like it - it WILL be replaced.

Great! And I had just installed a timing tape on the damper. Oh, well.

The good news is that now "little brother" (my pet name for the '67) burns the tire (single spin rearend ) through 1st, 2nd and into 3rd gear. What a difference!

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to share.

Jeff


P.S. Gas fouled plugs don't "burn off" very well. Replace 'em!

[racedvl]

I always wounder about my dampners when I set timing, they never seem right. . . .

[Truckstr]

Yeah, the dry rotted rubber should have given me a clue.

It seems like it's always the small stuff that gets ya.

Jeff

[low 84]

if they worry you, spend the bucks and get a fluiddamper "street damper" they run around 200 bucks, but worth it IMO to know everything is right.

[Truckstr]

low 84, that's exactly the one that I'm looking at. I just don't trust the stock ones anymore. Not after this mess. It drove me nuts trying to figure out the problem.

Jeff

[low 84]

Originally posted by Truckstr
low 84, that's exactly the one that I'm looking at. I just don't trust the stock ones anymore. Not after this mess. It drove me nuts trying to figure out the problem.

Jeff

me either. i'll be getting that one except the external balance version for my new motor.