Series V Distributor help

[johnrbayer]

All: Just bought 67 Series V. Seemed really down on power. I set static timing to TDC at 6 deg BTDC.

When I put the light on it, the closest I could get was about 20 deg before...and then the vacuum advance hit the block as I tried to turn it further ccw to get the timing where it belongs.

I don't know if the previous owner marked the distributor cap wrong or put it in a few teeth off.

Can I move all the plug wires around on the cap to get the adjustment room I need or is the distributor off a few teeth?

Number one on the distributor cap currently points at about 7 o'clock as viewed from the distributor side, with 12 o'clock being the center of the valve cover...help!

 

[Jim E]

You can move the wires. The distributor is not off a few teeth if anything is off it is the oil pump not clock right when it was installed.

 

[MikeH]

You could remark the timing mark for TDC.

 

[johnrbayer]

You can move the wires. The distributor is not off a few teeth if anything is off it is the oil pump not clock right when it was installed.

Thanks, Jim. do I move them ccw or clockwise?

John

 

[johnrbayer]

You could remark the timing mark for TDC.

Thanks, Mike... but how do I determine what the baseline is?

John

 

[MikeH]

Nevermind, that won't help. Your distributor is off, not the timing mark on the pulley.

 

[Mikeflbmer]

Oil pump installation

I seem to remember that when tou install the oil pump it shifts a tooth...You eyeball it up top, install from underneath, but when you check it it shifte3d a tooth...you have to line it up off a tooth then it shifts ointo proper position..It has been years, but that is how i remember it...that could be your problem....mike S

 

[Rodewaryer]

I haven't had mine out for years but is it the Lucas 25D that has a key'd drive? Or does it have that 'twisted' gear drive? I seem to recall having to watch as you remove the distributor to remember exactly how it came out. Could be I'm remembering the 1592 race motor I used for a while though....

I just toasted a Lucas 25D on my Lotus and thought it looked awfully familiar, when I have it rebuilt (by that guy in Minnesota I think it is) I'll do the Pertronix electronic ignition and maybe use it for the Alpine, if it's indeed the same. Or I'll have a spare.

 

[RootesRacer]

The 25D is just a model, many manufacturers used it, but most used the keyed dog to drive it. This seems to be an English theme.

Each mfgr would have its own mechanical advance curve rates, so 25D doesnt mean you can take from one mfgr model and put to another.

 

[Jay Laifman]

I drove my '67 all through high school and college, always thinking I wanted more power, but without the money - though it really did run well. Then the car sat for many years. I finally got it running again for day of fun. It seemed down on power - more so than I remembered. But, I didn't really think about it. I parked it again and decided to restore it, and give it the power it deserved. I got an NOS Holbay head and cam, dual side draft DCOE Webers, custom made oversized flat top pistons, lightened the flywheel, etc. All the stuff I couldn't afford as a kid. Then I took my distributor to a guy to respring it to run without vacuum to go with the Webers. The guy rebuilt it and when I went to pick it up he asked "did you know your advance weights were rusted to the plate and weren't advancing?"!!!!!!

I still wonder what would have happened if I found that out before I decided to pull the trigger on all the Holbay stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic car, all the power it really should have had. But, I wonder if I would have just gone all stock.

Just to be clear, I have no doubt I was getting full advance when I used to drive it in high school, because I was frequently resetting the advance, and using top advance to set it, not at idle.

So, this is a long way of saying to make sure that rust or other build up is not just blocking your weights from getting all the way out.

 

[Alpine 1789]

When I put the light on it, the closest I could get was about 20 deg before...and then the vacuum advance hit the block as I tried to turn it further ccw to get the timing where it belongs.

I may be remembering this wrong, but while it is easy to get the oil pump off a tooth on the camshaft, the car won't run at all if this happens. However, it is also easy to get it off by 180 degrees. In this case, it will run just fine, but it is difficult to turn the distributor enough to get the car running right. I know I ended up with my distributor off by 180 when I rebuilt my engine and didn't want to bother pulling the oil pan and re-clocking the oil pump after getting everything running. So, I just lived with the dizzy rotated more than normal. It was just about hitting the rocker cover at that point, but not quite, so I lived with it. It was less of a problem when I switched to one without vacuum advance when I put the DCOE carbs on. I just left this on after I gave up and put the 32/36 back on.

Now, here's the interesting thing: IIRC, according to the timing light, my car runs best at something like 22 degrees BTDC. I suspect - but don't ever recall hearing anyone here say so - that having everything off also screws up the marks on the crankshaft pulley and you just have to tune by ear.

Or, maybe my engine - which is far from stock - is just different. I am sure someone here will be able confirm or refute my guess.

 

[Ron67Alpine]

Sorry for jumping into your thread, Jay, but I may be having a similar problem.
I have 1 mark on my crank pully. If I rotate the dizzy to align the pully mark, my advance hits the valve cover, slightly before alignment. I believe timing should be around 6*BTDC. I have presumed this mark is TDC and have been guessing that timing should be set somewhere before the timing mark. I've had the car running w/this arrangement, but I seemed to have a lack of power. During this time I've also had a bad exhaust leak at the manifold/downtube gasket. I thought this lack of power was due to this leak, or (weber) carb adjustment. I fixed the leak and adjusted the carb but now it seems to have even less power. My test drives have been on a little dead end road w/a hill, under 40mph.
I have replaced the dizzy and was very careful to replace in the exact same position as I took it out. Timing mark aligned w/pointer and rotor pointed @ #1plug. I think I checked the #1piston was @ the top of its stroke, but am not sure. The old dizzy had a worn out shaft and cracked mounting coller. I have no idea of what the PO may have done. Is the pulley mark TDC? Because of the worn out dizzy shaft, could I have reinstalled the dizzy 1 tooth off?
Thanks
Ron