1974 F Distributor Vacumm Advance/Retard?

[Pin_Head]

Getting it to run slow with the choke closed is no big deal because you are pulling fuel out of the main nozzle to make it run and you have to backoff the fast idle screw.

It's not much help in figuring things out. You either still have a vacuum leak or no idle fuel. Go ahead and spray carb cleaner or propane gas around the manifold to check for leaks. It isn't that dangerous. Just don't use ether.

If you go to the trouble of taking the carb off, you may as well dip it and put a kit in it.

 

[DSRTRDR]

My FSM says the plug gap in the US is .039 and .031 non-US.

my FSM also says plug gap is 0.031 (no mention of US or non-US)

 

[mikeob1]

Ok...sounds good. I'll pick up some carb cleaner tomorrow and check for vacuum leaks with that.

I understand what you mean about the closed choke not helping. If the choke is closed, the main nozzles are active.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Cruiser_GT]

I've never used this method (from the faq) to determine whether vacuum leak is a problem, but it sounds like this might be a good to apply it...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=26635

 

[mikeob1]

Hi All,

I found a vacuum leak. I used pin_head's advice with the carb cleaner and sprayed the manifold. I sprayed almost the whole can...it took quite a bit near the manifold bolt nearest the firewall to produce the RPM drop. I did it again and again to prove it.

I torqued all the manifold bolts with a 14mm wrench and re-tested. The leak still occured.

So now I guess I order a new manifold gasket and replace? Is this part available from Toyota and should I use any other sealer product?

It looks like the carb will need to come off again. I'll check the FSM.

Thanks for all the help. Any advice appreciated. I've read threads of people doing this and still having a leak, so I want to do it right the first time.

Thanks especially to pin_head for getting me this far. I may be on the trails this weekend!

 

[BELMONT148]

Now might be a good time to look into headers, if you are removing the manifold it may be warped. Using two gaskets might be smart and and use high temp sealer on all for corners of the exhaust and intake ports. This may fix it, or it may not. I like stock manifolds, but I went with 2 piece headers for the simplicity of having it new and maybe a touch extra HP.

Jeremy

 

[mikeob1]

Thanks Belmont, I will look for some sealer today. I heard permatex is good. I order OEM intake mainfold gasket, exhast riser gasket, and donut from CCOT this morning.

Headers are an interesting idea. I'll poke around. I know of downey headers...are there other makers I should look for?

Also, I live in Phoenix and haven't passed a SMOG test yet. I'm keeping my rig registered elsewhere for the time being. But, do headers affect my ability to smog test?

One more thing, do they make the vehicle much louder?

 

[BELMONT148]

These are the ones I like and put on my rig. They have an egr pipe so you can keep your smog stuff hooked up. Shouldn't have any affect on your test. They are Man-a-Fre 2 pice ceramic coated headers.

Jeremy

 

[DSRTRDR]

They are Man-a-Fre 2 pice ceramic coated headers.

Jeremy

that is serious bling

how was fitment with the intake manifold? or did you get that one new as well?

I just ordered a replacement for my old 6-in-1 header from Man-a-Fre so it fits up with the exhaust flange I already have

 

[Pin_Head]

Personally, I would just fix the vacuum leak and run it. You might need to mill the manifold sealing surface flat if it is warped/misaligned. Gasket sealers don't seem to matter much, since it is so close to the exhaust manifold and no sealer can stand up to the heat. Use an OEM type gasket and not one of the Kevlar gaskets.

Headers are fine on high performance cars you want to race, but not many cruisers with 2Fs fall into this category. I always ran headers on my race cars. They increase the heat under the hood, tend to leak, rust out and crack. Just my 2 cents.

 

[mikeob1]

Yep...I'm gonna hafta wait on the headers. They look nice though. My gaskets are on order...all Toyota parts.


I'm pulling the manifold off tonight. While I have it off and I'm waiting for my gaskets from CCOT, I was wondering about putting a fresh coat of high-temp paint on the manifold after cleaning it up really good.

While looking for the vacuum leak, I sprayed a ton of carb cleaner on the intake manifold and it revealed a shiny cast iron finish below. I like to clean things up when I have them apart.

Any suggestions on cleaning or protecting / painting my intake manifold?

 

[grant5127]

Any suggestions on cleaning or protecting / painting my intake manifold?

a good wire brushing and paint.......

 

[mikeob1]

I took it off tonight. Waiting for the gasket to arrive.


Thanks for the photos, Grant. That looks really nice. I want to clean it and paint it while it's off. What type of paint did you use? Did you paint the exhaust manifold, too?

Do I need to take it to an engine shop to check if it is warped?

How would I check the head? I have a scraper, but the gasket is really loose. I'm thinking I'll scrape it nice and clean and put my level on it. I could probably find a relatively nice straight edge around.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

 

[FLFJ40]

After market Dizzys

Look at these two dizzys at the Advance Auto parts website they list one as for CA emmisions vehicles and one for non-emissions vehicles. It looks like one is an advance and one is a retard. They are both listed as import. Would this be a cheap way to get a non-USA dizzy?

 

[FLFJ40]

Now that I look at them sisde by side I can see that the one isn't an advance. I was fooled by the port being on the "right" side of the diaphram but they both move the advance plate the same direction.

 

[mikeob1]

This ain't a copper gasket

So the manifold gasket came from cool cruisers. I ordered the Toyota OEM part number and was expecting a nice copper looking gasket and got the same fiber/metal looking thing I just pulled off of there.

The kind folks on the thread told me to go with copper. Should I even waste my time putting this thing on?

Does anyone know where else I can get a copper one?

CCOT tech told me it took so long because the part came from japan.

I'm bummed.

 

[Pin_Head]

Look at these two dizzys at the Advance Auto parts website they list one as for CA emmisions vehicles and one for non-emissions vehicles. It looks like one is an advance and one is a retard. They are both listed as import. Would this be a cheap way to get a non-USA dizzy?

They are both vacuum retard. The key is to look at the way the breaker plate rotates when vacuum is applied. You can tell which way it will rotate by looking at which side of the diaphragm the vacuum port is on.

 

[Pin_Head]

So the manifold gasket came from cool cruisers. I ordered the Toyota OEM part number and was expecting a nice copper looking gasket and got the same fiber/metal looking thing I just pulled off of there.

The kind folks on the thread told me to go with copper. Should I even waste my time putting this thing on?

Does anyone know where else I can get a copper one?

CCOT tech told me it took so long because the part came from japan.

I'm bummed.

I have never seen a copper gasket. All the F/2F gaskets look like the one in the picture. People may have been talking about Permatex copper casket cement, but I don't think that it matters as long as the sealing surfaces aren't warped. Gasket cement doesn't stand up to exhaust manifold temperatures.

 

[Ziffdaddy]

This has been a great read. I, too, have a 74 that I just put a vac adv. on and can't get it to idle below 800+ rpms. My vac gauge shows too much vacuum at idle....saying it's advanced too much. Problem may be that I'm setting timing with the idle too high. Looks like I'll have to set aside an afternoon of research on vac leaks and what not. Goodtimes.

sorry for the highjack....nice to know I'm not alone.

 

[mikeob1]

I put it back together tonight and it runs fine idling low choked, but dies after choke is released. It was pulling 15 inches of manifold pressure. I guess I could still have a vacuum leak, but on first test with the little carb cleaner I had left, I didn't detect one.

So tomorrow I'm going to buy another can of carb cleaner and determine if I am still leaking air. I'll go from there I guess. If I don't detect a vacuum leak, i'm guessing it's time to look at the carb again. It is possible I have / had multiple issues occuring simultaneously.