Hello All:

Its been a while since the last post...for those interested...

I cleaned, re-gapped (.035) and reinstalled the NGKs.

Used a cheap eBay borescope to look inside the cylinder....not great photos but...here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dyr ... sp=sharing
I am fairly confident that nothing is banging around in Cylinder #3 (that was what this post was originally about...

After looking for 20 minutes, I could not see anything strange....

Driven the car about 30 miles in the past week...pulled the plug and it looks good.

Next was to try and get things running a little better (which is why i replaced the plugs to begin with)
Following the advice from Dan (and others) and evaluating the state of things under the hood, I did the following:

-Replaced the distributor cap (possibly original, old)
-Replaced the ignition wires (old, not original)
-Cleaned the rotor (Petronix Ignitor 1 that I installed years ago)
-Installed a new vacuum line to the vacuum advance (I chickened out with pulling the distributor to replace the vac advance, fearing the nylon gear)
-New PCV valve and hose (both looked to be original)
-New choke thermostat

-Set warm idle to about 650-700 RPM

-Set timing to as close to 5 BTDC --- its actually closer to 6 --- it was at 10 BTDC when I started --- I could not get the distributor to move any more clockwise--I assume I would need to loosen/remove the second bolt...? Thoughts..?

-The carb is a reman Holley 1920---I know folks thoughts on Remans...BUT...I used it because it was a very old Holley II Reman...sitting on the shelf from the late 70s early 80s and is the correct number for the car.
My logic here was its the correct carb number for the car and since it was old it seemed a little less removed from the years of swiping parts and multiple rebuilds...

But sadly, As Dan suggested, looking down the throat of the carb, the accelerator pump is working, but seems weak...its a not a very strong stream...seems to have improved a little with use...

Since the carb is clean...would it make sense to just pull it apart enough to replace the accelerator pump...?

The original carb (still have it) was leaking as much gas out as was going into the engine...but it ran surprising okay...I think its very rebuildable.

Once I replaced the vacuum lines and messed with choke linkage, I eliminated MOST, but not all, of the light throttle hesitation and warm-up stalling.

Still having a little weird operation with fast idle adjustment....1400 RPM, correct...?

On the highway its smooth...but doesn't always want to upshift on hard acceleration.

The vacuum advance will be another day.

One of the members theory on the bent plug was I am "a sloppy mechanic"
Well, okay. I have no idea HOW...but for now, I will accept that my sloppiness is the reason for the bent plug...its better than a troll living in the engine...

Thanks

What do you fear about it?

Old '70s Holley II is probably quite a bit better than the junk one gets today.

6° is fine if it's not pinging, but yes, if you wanted to take another degree out you'd need to get at the other bolt.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Fear was a poor word choice--but I suppose I was apprehensive of the condition of the 53 year old gear. (this car is VERY original--the Certicard is still in place under the hood)

Would it make sense to pull the distributor and NOT replace the gear? If its ok should it just be left alone or pre-emptively replaced? Thoughts?

I have read some posts concerning the gear...but what is the most current suitable/recommended replacement?

When I pull the distributor to do the vac advance, I'd like to be prepared to replace the gear if needed.

Thanks

Put eyeballs on the pinion. If it's cracked or loose or otherwise faulty, replace it. If it's intact, it's fine. They're not really fragile. If the pinion's good now, removing the distributor won't spoil it. If the pinion's faulty now, leaving it in place won't save it.

Distributor O-ring information is here.

Distributor pinion R&R information is here.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.