about to adjust valves

[bk53]

that noise you mention may be blowing little divits out of the tops of your aluminum pistons or at least that was how the l was told the little pock marks get there and in aluminum heads. so either time the thing or ease off a bit till you get it timed.

[bugsiegel]

Correct me if I'm wrong but turning the distributor to the right (clockwise) would retard the spark is this correct?
retarding the timing or turning the distributor clockwise would delay the spark right?
Too advanced and it would fire early which is the one that is more damaging right?
Too late and it fires when the exhaust port begins to open right?

[donald1950]

time it with a timing light. dot on pulley lined up with pointer with vacuum tube disconnected. reconnect vacuum tube and rev motor and see if it advances. if no advance replace vacuum canister.....

[bk53]

correct, turn dist clockwise to retard. the pulley bump will move clockwise ,towards the pointer. counter clockwise to advance and the pully bump will move counter clockwise, further in advance of TDC. some one posted a mercury service bulletin which showed correct timing with stock dist, is to make a mark 1/4 inch c-clockwise of the bump and time to that. I put a little dot of paint on the bump and on the pointer. also disconnect the vacuum from the carb to the dist. and tape over the open ends, otherwise the dots will never line up. I used a 12 volt charger,- to lite - and + to lite + and then a jumper from - to the engine block ground. They say new lites will work on 6v, but my leads weren't long enough. Oh yeah, be sure and reconnect the vacuum afterwards or you'll have no advance. ask me how I know. Otherwise like donald 1950 says
Bill

[flatjack9]

Originally Posted by bugsiegel

Correct me if I'm wrong but turning the distributor to the right (clockwise) would retard the spark is this correct?
retarding the timing or turning the distributor clockwise would delay the spark right?
Too advanced and it would fire early which is the one that is more damaging right?
Too late and it fires when the exhaust port begins to open right?

The engine will not run if the plug tries to fire when the exhaust valve is opening.

[xix32]

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Adjust valves?
I thought you set the flathead valve clearance with a surface grinder.

[Russ/40]

Interesting fixture. Explain, as I can't seem to grasp how it is used.

[Mart]

It holds the valve vertical so the grinding wheel can take a lick off the end of the stem. It's a full on surface grinder, a proper machine shop tool, nothing hand held.

Mart.

[bugsiegel]

Like to see a video of this machine in action.

[oldford2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofeSdsV1l3s

[Henry/Kokomo]

xix32 showed the jig to hold the valve. The plate it's sitting on with the oval markings on top is a magnetic chuck which holds the jig steady. Thats a really good set-up to get accurate cutting on the valve stems

[bugsiegel]

So tomorrow morning I will be at a local mechanic shop to set ignition timing on my engine with a timing light. Is the pulley bump TDC or 2* before TDC. The builder says to set my timing at 12* BTDC with a total advance of 24* BTDC. from what I have read in this thread the initial setting has to be done with the vacuum disconnected.
Then I will need an additional 12* advance. How is that adjusted if need be on a stock distributor?

[bk53]

think of the pulley as a clock. 360 degrees divided by 12 makes each hour 30 degrees.
if the bump is already 2 degrees btdc ... 12 deg Now, that seems like a lot of advance to me. the service bulletin says no more than like 7 for idle/statis timing. once you have the static timing set at whatever you choose, hook the vacuum back up and watch the timing with 2000 rpm or so. you'll see how the load-o matic vacuum will advance the timing to a point. I really doubt you'll get 24 degrees. If you do, well i don't know. my little truck would be detonating like hell. its a stock motor with a single 94 cfm 2 barrel. good luck.

[flatjack9]

No way do you want 12* initial. Start with it on the bump (2 deg BTDC). The only way to check total advance is on a machine or use a vacuum pump connected to the can. Revving the engine in neutral will not give you enough signal to operate the advance mechanism.

[bugsiegel]

I went yesterday to a whop with a hitech SnapOn light that has some adjustable features.
He powered the light off of an outside battery for 12volts. He was not able to get the correct readings. Not sure why. The other guy in the shop said that the power source needs to come from the truck because the light does some math or something and the outside power source is distorting this. So no changes were made.
What is the correct method for using a light on this truck which has 6vlt pos ground?

Flatjack9 I don't know much about timing but the builder of this engine has been clear in saying around 12* initial with no more than 24* full advance. The engine is bored , stroked , and some cam action as well. ( I don't know if that would change where the timing might be set or not)