I have been reading this for some hours and copied some parts I think need to remember. I will read it all again but I would like to order parts as soon as possible. However, I get carried away with improvements thoughts, but how far do I want to go with this? Today; * My 430 make small vibrates at idle. But damper seems okay. * Worst of all; If I slow cruise in the town for a while and stamps on the gas, it backfire and dies. - This could be vacuum or something with carburetor setting/heat, I will check that also. I want a strong and safe cruising engine, easy tire burning and win some red light race to impress friends and have fun. So power torque at low RPM (which is why I installed H-pipe). Question 1: Some text mentions remove distributor and weld+file to set mechanical advance, or install a screw. *scary* But this is not necessary if I change the bushing (to bronze). - Did I get that right? ray: Question 2: Is this enough, or too much/less for my needs if I buy: * Crane Vacuum Advance Kit(99601-1): Gives me the springs, plate and cannister. http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/crn-99601-1/overview/ $38.20 * Mr gaskets spring kit (720-928G): Gives me the bronze bushing. http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/mrg-928g $10.97 Question 3: Should I go for extra vacuum advance since i will cruise more than race? (noted 14-18* for light cruising was okay. 8-10* with modified cannister = best) Question 4: 1968 430 Manual say 550 idle RPM, this guide mentions 800 RPM. Lower gives cooler sound but would 800 be better for me? Thanks
Cyber T - I don't know as I would mess with the distributor until it runs right.. Are you running your ignition with a full 12 volts? If it's an ignitor III, you should and that might clear up your backfire. Use a Bosch relay taking power directly off the battery, and use the resistor wire as the trigger wire. In your case, this is likely where you should start if not done already..check also to see if the advance weights are moving freely, the distributor number is correct for your 430 and that your initial timing is appropriate. Also check your mixtures when the ignition is sorted out....if both are good and you have good compression all the way around, you should be able to idle at 550 (in gear) all day long, and it should be smooth as glass. You can make your own bushing out of anything, and experiment with outside diameter for how much limit you want - some examples of things used are copper tubing, vacuum hose, a piece of a pen and my personal favorite: a section of air line from a Mr Gasket air shock kit. Whatever you use, just be sure it will stay in place and be durable enough not do fall off or develop a flat spot (giving you your timing back) I know people who braze and file weights, Tom Telasco did two of my cars that way - but without a distributor machine handy, that's A LOT of trial and error. Good luck and keep us posted
I agree with Rhett, you have some basic problems with that 430. It isn't running right. I would conduct a compression test. You may have a worn engine with compression or valve sealing issues. There are no short cuts here. Check the basics first. Hooking up a vacuum gauge was something I thought you were going to do?
True. I bough a vacuum gauge. Tested various distributor positions until it started (vacuum cannister almost pointing to radiator which is mentioned here to be very wrong.) One time it backfired, "smoke" came out from behind of carburetor. I find a broken power brake-cap probably damaged by a mice. Waiting on stores to open so i can replace all bad rubber parts. Then Vacuum and compression test. (which thread is it on the spark plugs?) Just got eager to be in the modified-timing-team. =) I do not know which Ignitor conversion kit it is, black little box with a sticker on the side "29AA-V4" connected with 1 black and 1 red cable to the coil. Perhaps one sticker under the box but I have not tested to take the distributor apart. Advance weights are moving freely.
Good that the weights are moving. I think the only ignitor that required 12 volts is the III, and you'd recognize that because it has a recessed screw on the top to set the rev limiter. The say it's a good idea to run 12v to the Ignitor I also, but I've got one in my 71 GS that'll run to 6000 RPM on the resistor wire, so I guess it's not a necessity. A good way to check is run a jumper wire with alligator clips from the positive battery post to the positive coil terminal and see if that makes it idle better (realize that the car will not shut off until you remove that wire!) Good luck!
Hi: I think you are sending info to the wrong person. I would refer back to the board for someone that is able to answer your questions. Thanks Ken.
I have mounted Mr Gasket bushing and the plate on the crane canister and going out and install it on the Distributor now. (And i have fixed the vacuum and fuel mix). Meanwhile hoped that we could summarize the degrees and RPM I should aim for so I do not adjust everything wrong for my town cruising redlight racer. :TU: idle * at ~800rpm: mechanical start rpm:1000 end rpm: 2500-3000 mechanical * end at: 30-34 (32 often recommended) vacuum * end at: 36-38-40 or even 45 (40 for cruising speeds) How can i se lower grades than 30. Should i look on the original * line? My scale only shows 0-5-10-15. Would it be right if I mounted hose on the vacuum canister and sucked it while ~ 2500rpm, to see maximum vacuum advance?
This depends on whether you have a standard timing light, or a dial back light. I cover that in the very first post. Read the instruction that come with your timing light so you are familiar with how to use it. No, because as the engine speeds up, the mechanical advance comes in too. You can't distinguish between advance from mechanical and vacuum advance. The easiest way is to measure the amount of link movement in the window. Use feeler gauges. 8* is .086, 10 degrees is .104. Block off part of the window with a stop plate, or mount the Crane cam ahead of the pull pin as you see in the pictures of the first post. Read the 1st post in this thread. There are pictures to show what I mean, and it clearly explains how to use the timing lights to set the total advance. Also, in the first post is a word document on how to use a dial back light to set total advance.
I have standard (MSD) timing light. One wrote that he had 17 * initinal timing and I wondered how I could read lower than 30*. I interpret the first post that we see 30 * and up. However; I adjusted the crane plate, my choices was .075" or 0.1" movement So i went for 0.1" movement. ~10* But I guess lower vaccum and higher mechanical total, like 32+8 would be better than 30+10? When mounting the vacuum canister, should I push it upward before I tighten the screws? -So it pushes the ignition back as much as possible or it is not important how I have installed it?
Forget initial advance. Set the total to 32* Initial advance is unimportant unless it results in hot crank problems. 32 + 10 is fine. I don't understand your vacuum canister question. The canister mounts with 2 screws.
Tricky to find the right words. I place the canister over the holes. Screw in the two screws lightly. Then canister move a little. Big canister holes, small screws. Now I can move it a little deeper in the distributor = push back were the vacuum advance starts. Does it matter, affect? Am I doing something wrong?
No, but If extra ~0.02" arm movement gives 2 more degrees. I see a risk that i might not center the canister right since canister holes are larger then the screws. Lets say that the canister gets 0.04" off-center when i tighten it down on distributor + or - the 0.1" arm movement = wrong ignition.
You can overthink this if you want. It won't make any difference. Wherever it tightens down will be zero. Timing does not change until the link moves.
Ignition behaved right after I corrected the ignitor conversion kit from pressing on other parts. Yellow Crane springs = ~ 1900rpm instead of 2500 before. With Crane Silver Spring (plugged vacuum), I get: Mechanical start: ~ 990 rpm Mechanical degrees: ~ 41 Full mechanical AT ~ 2600 rpm, but a few times I was able to provoke it to ~ 2800 rpm. Should I stop here and test drive a bit to hear for noise, or should I mix different springs to get exactly 2500? I have mounted Stage 1 pump from TAP and I have adjusted the fuel and vacuum in the carburetor. The carburetor still hesitate when shock acceleration. But the engine stopped with a bang before(cruising in city), it did not do that now in the driveway, only hesitate ~0.5sec . Suspect wrong carburetor considering other people's opinions about it but I check the carburetor part of the community. Could still be crap in the system from the fueltank or failing fuellines, i am working on it. The oil pressure behaved weird. High in the beginning, very low later. But recently read that you have to drive 20 minutes before starting the check pressure.
41* is too much at wide open throttle. You don't want anymore than 36* Starting at 1000 and all in by 2600-2800 is fine. If I remember correctly, you have a vacuum secondary Holley. I have never heard anything good about them, but maybe you can tune it, not sure. Getting the secondaries to be responsive seems to be the problem most have with these carburetors. Either get a double pumper or a good Quadrajet. Oil pressure will normally drop as the engine and oil heats up. You want 11-12 psi for every 1000 RPM of operation.
41 was a typo, meant 31 + ~10 vacuum. I have been testing now in different ways and i got more high torque at low RPM But I think I've lost a bit middle and high performance. Maybe fooling myself because I have new gaskets as exhaust manifolds are tight and quiet. No pings. (31 + 10 vacuum) Handles kickdown ok in various situations, will test other springs in the carburetor late but Holley says that you can't get the "kick" effect with their vacuum model. Still vibrations. Made a 0-70 MPH time test. 17.5 seconds. Including a short burnout start.
