Not out of the woods yet - some progress

[imoore]

Those comp readings are good nothing to worry about. If anything I would say cyl 1 n 4 slighty slow for smooth consistant firing. But again wouldnt worry. Thats not your issue.
Do you have any excessive free play in the distributor shaft. And have slighty small points gap.

[chetbrz]

recertb,

I thought that you have confirmed that the distributor timing is changing.    Is this still the issue ?

Ted, to eliminate confusion if someone wants to review what has been suggested and accomplished to date they would have to look in multiple threads.  Moving forward please do not start another thread on this topic.  Every time this is presented in a new thread it is considered a new problem and it's back to square one.   As you pointed out you have been fighting this for about a year.  During that time many things have been accomplished and eliminated.

I hope this makes sense to you. Tks, Chet...

[racertb]

Chet - understood, no problem...

Ian/Chet - I took up slack in the distributor drive and distributor with shims (another thread).  There was no horizontal/side to side play in the distributor, only a little veritical that I shimmed up.  The only play that I see now is what is in video #3 when I lift up on the timing lever.  It seems like a lot to me - maybe this is the problem under load.  A few others commented in this and another site that theirs was tighter than what the video shows.  The timing lever is screwed firmly down on to the housing and the screw that holds the distributor in place (once the distributor position is where you want it) is also tight.

Other than the questionable timing lever, the other obvious issue now is the intake leak.

[racertb]

Ian - forgot to add, points are gapped to .020, but will re-check

[racertb]

Well fellas, here is the latest on my Plymouth.  I took some time away from it due to work and other things going on.  To summarize the recent happenings:

Exhaust and Intake/Exhaust gaskets changed out, carb taken apart and cleaned, new needle/seat and float.  Plugs cleaned, put in another set of points (.020) and condenser.  Went back to the "old" distributor cap (good shape and fits "better").

I did send off my base and distributor to Tom Hannaford at Then and Now for inspection.  The distributor checked out fine and I did bite the bullet and get a new brass base and drive from him.  Mine was showing signs of wear and the hole where the distributor sits was slightly out of round causing the wobble as I've shown in a previous video.  No more wobble and hoping this is a good move overall, regardless.   At least I know I've done most everything external that I can do to check off the list.

With all of the above, the car had a little trouble starting (carb loading up) but finally got her going.  With the exhaust/vacuum leaks fixed, sounded much better and smoother.  No more consistent miss out of the tailpipe (another video), just the occasional sputter which is probably normal for these cars (?).  I adjusted both the timing and the carb by ear (idle and miture screw) when she was warm to get the smoothest sound possible going off the tailpipe.  I did rev her up a few times and ran her through the gears...no hesitation and still sounded great each time I listened at the tailpipe.  After about 25 minutes, I shut her down for the evening (this was last weekend).

Back to the carb.  She's getting a little wet (even adjusted the new float again), but the idle mixture screw helped a little when I backed it out a half turn to make leaner.  Also was part of the "smoothing" process.  So what I'm going to do now is replace the regulator (I run a Carter electric fuel pump) with a new one that puts out 1-4 lbs. of pressure (Holley 12-804).  The old dial-type regulator is mounted in line just after the fuel pump and I'm thinking two things 1) the new regulator might help me dial in the pressure, and 2) the regulator may need to be mounted closer to the carb, but out of sight.  I've seen different thoughts on this...some say needs to be close to the carb, others say it doesn't really matter.

Regardless, I'm hoping to eliminate the occasional flooding/overloading and make things even better...then the road test.

Thoughts on regulator position for those of you running an electric pump and regulator?  One day I plan on restoring the vacuum tank and plumbing and seeing how that goes, but not anytime soon.

Ted

[imoore]

Great to hear you are making progress. If all you have now is a little splutter at idle. More than likely its slightly burnt out valves. Mine does this also.
I cant speak on pump reg. As I am running vac tank.

Ian

[racertb]

Here is the latest with the car dialed in.  This is the best I can do and will do another road test when the weather clears.  I apologize that this video is upside down 😞

http://s947.photobucket.com/user/racertb/media/20150802_125115_zpskqjlzzkw.mp4.html

[chetbrz]

Hay Ted,

The engine seems to be running fine with a really nice clean engine compartment.  Does it drive OK, have you put on many miles ?  Maybe replacing the base did the trick.  Anyway money well spent.   I hope things continue to go well so you can post pictures of your outings.

Cheers, Chet...

[racertb]

The car ran great for the few miles when I had it out a couple weeks ago.  After that run, I put the old base back on as a test.  The car barely ran and idled rough as it did before the new base was on and it flooded out, since I was pushing the gas pedal down to keep it running.  I put the new base back on and problem solved.   Today I used the vacuum gauge to dial it in as seen in the video above.   I believe the original base was the problem, as the distributor wobbled/moved too much in the base housing.   That, along with the gasket leaks I had, were the issues from what I can tell.  The new base is just a little noisy, but a little quieter than when I first had it on, and I'm waiting to see what Tom Hannaford thinks the reason might be.  Regardless, you can see and hear how smooth the car sounds overall (knock on wood! ☺).

I hope to get her on the road next week.

[chetbrz]

Hi Ted,

Did Tom get back to you, from what you have posted I think you can safely say the base fixed the problem.  Most of the running engines out there have replaced this base at some point although like your car there are still some survivors out there still running.

Congratulations !

[hursst]

Great to hear your car is working well again.  It sounded like quite a journey.

[racertb]

Thanks Chet/Hursst...just adding the pressure regulator to keep the pressure down and then a road test.  Other than that, sounding good (so far!).  The vacuum tank will be another project for another day.

Chet - haven't heard back from Tom after two emails...a little surprising.  Will probably call him this week to ask.

Ted