before I ask my question, some specifics..
I have been tinkering and fixing on this 76 40 since I obtained it... 18 months or so ago.
-The engine was "rebulilt" by a shop for the PO roughly 4-5 years ago, then the cruiser sat under a tarp for 5 years. -till I bought It with only a couple thousand mile on the rebuild. He had no paperwork on the rebuild nor could he tell me exactly what was done - basically it was simply on his "word"... but my inspections looked like it was true
-140-145 compression all cylinders
- clutch appears fresh (from inspection plate) and feels fresh on the pedal
-the whole engine is coated with engine paint (and you can tell it was done on an engine stand without the Transmission)
-the inside of the valve cover and valve train was super clean - no globs of old oil wax or anything in there at all ( shiny new looking) ...
To the engine I have subsequently
- adjusted the valves
-rebuilt the carb ( period appropriate toyota but a non emissions carb)
-new plugs, wires, points and dist cap, rotor
-timing is set with the BB to the bottom of the window (10-12ish BTDC) -altitude here.
-16 Inches of vacuum, smooth & steady ( Altitude is 6500 feet )
-lean drop idle
This rig is running like a swiss watch ... starts on first revolution, runs strong, no pinging, Idle set to 575, it is daily driven, and weekend abused ( in a cruiser appropriate way)
Here is my issue..... to get the rig to run well (and it really does) my point gap is set to .013 and the resultant dwell is only 25 degrees. ( way outta spec) If I try to get the dwell higher to the spec 45 Degrees, the points are going to be touching and will burn up. and if I set my points to .018 gap the dwell goes way down to like 10 degrees... it runs much worse either way.... So basically I have tuned it for best operation and tossed the specs out the window.
The distributor shaft has no noticeable play ( when I grab it and try to wiggle it), it does not appear worn and is not gummed up.
-Weak coil?
-bad dwell meter? ( or hooked up wrong)
-bad or wrong set of (new) points?
-Wrong distributorr?
-bad distributor?
it has been like this for a few thousand miles now with no issues- the points still look brand new on the contact faces.
I can leave it like this forever if needed - but it drives me nuts that its so far from the spec. I hate to buy a new distributor if it really will make no difference.
I have been tinkering and fixing on this 76 40 since I obtained it... 18 months or so ago.
-The engine was "rebulilt" by a shop for the PO roughly 4-5 years ago, then the cruiser sat under a tarp for 5 years. -till I bought It with only a couple thousand mile on the rebuild. He had no paperwork on the rebuild nor could he tell me exactly what was done - basically it was simply on his "word"... but my inspections looked like it was true
-140-145 compression all cylinders
- clutch appears fresh (from inspection plate) and feels fresh on the pedal
-the whole engine is coated with engine paint (and you can tell it was done on an engine stand without the Transmission)
-the inside of the valve cover and valve train was super clean - no globs of old oil wax or anything in there at all ( shiny new looking) ...
To the engine I have subsequently
- adjusted the valves
-rebuilt the carb ( period appropriate toyota but a non emissions carb)
-new plugs, wires, points and dist cap, rotor
-timing is set with the BB to the bottom of the window (10-12ish BTDC) -altitude here.
-16 Inches of vacuum, smooth & steady ( Altitude is 6500 feet )
-lean drop idle
This rig is running like a swiss watch ... starts on first revolution, runs strong, no pinging, Idle set to 575, it is daily driven, and weekend abused ( in a cruiser appropriate way)
Here is my issue..... to get the rig to run well (and it really does) my point gap is set to .013 and the resultant dwell is only 25 degrees. ( way outta spec) If I try to get the dwell higher to the spec 45 Degrees, the points are going to be touching and will burn up. and if I set my points to .018 gap the dwell goes way down to like 10 degrees... it runs much worse either way.... So basically I have tuned it for best operation and tossed the specs out the window.
The distributor shaft has no noticeable play ( when I grab it and try to wiggle it), it does not appear worn and is not gummed up.
-Weak coil?
-bad dwell meter? ( or hooked up wrong)
-bad or wrong set of (new) points?
-Wrong distributorr?
-bad distributor?
it has been like this for a few thousand miles now with no issues- the points still look brand new on the contact faces.
I can leave it like this forever if needed - but it drives me nuts that its so far from the spec. I hate to buy a new distributor if it really will make no difference.
