Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines My Chevy 2-Stroke 6 Cylinder

I thought I saw a pic somewhere else where you had your PCV hooked into the intake and brake booster into the carb. Reverse that.

....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY-INLINE-6-C...fb5&vxp=mtr

$60. Cheap and works well. The vac advance is adjustable with this one. You use an allen wrench in the vac line hole in the canister and you can change it. I played with mine to get it right. Don't recall the settings. Regardless going this route made a HUGE difference in how mine idles. Smoothed it out a lot.

After all that I also had to go to mid grade gas to keep from pinging.

gbauer,
Per the above, did you maybe stopwatch or GTECH your Camaro at some point? (Stock and as now with 4bbl, Langdons)?
Recall last fall I had predicted what it would do with the Gonkulator:

https://www.inliners.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=81951&page=all

But, I don't have any actual times in my database so wondered if I missed any actual testing you did (always interesting to compare to the predictions!)
My 0-60mph predictions for your car were
11.9 sec 153hp, bone stock
10.4 sec 174hp, 4bbl & Langdons

The broken float arm was because it was lord knows how many years old before I got it. I'll wager it was made right here in the US of A.


As to the distributor: I'm sure it's made in China. Just like the American brands. Nothing is made here anymore thanks to the EPA and NAFTA.

Here's a review of their V8 distributor: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/skip-whi...4/topics/179906

Digging further it's a "clone" (probably made in the same factory) as a MSD Streetfire.

Your choice, obviously, but I can't see buying a $200 distributor when a $60 one is exactly the same distributor probably made in the same factory.

I read on another forum about a 200R4 swap from a Powerglide transmission.

It is a direct swap, but you would need a trans crossmember for a TH400 & it bolts right up w/out having to change the driveshaft.


MBHD

Gbauer & DeuceCoupe, I don't mind the hijack at all! It's interesting, a lot to learn. I was thinking about another thread for the electronics, but really, this is my personal engine build thread! Come one, come all, digressions welcome. I'll keep this thread alive over the next six months as I stumble my way through... Oh yeah, I think a 200r4 is right for the upgrade (vs. 700r4), but don't know too much about that either.




Taking some vacay, visit the respective families in the heartland, no ability to try swapping the vacuums, etc.

I suspect you're right about everything coming from China. I have more than a little professional experience with Chinese electronics manufacturers (EE by trade). The tendency is to use cheaper, lower efficiency parts in designs whenever possible. I've heard horror stories in the industry of counterfeit capacitors wiping out entire production builds but haven't experienced that. You can find "quality" platings with thickness that vary all over the map. The only way you know you have a problem is if you accidently have more moisture and humidity than you expected. Then boom, corrosion city. I'm convinced the only way to get something really good is to buy a brand that you have confidence that they perform regular monitoring of the factories.

My experience with brakes and suspension is that most people have good experiences, but lucky me (Murphy is my middle name) I replaced two ball joints, one caliper, and pads. So I know that the quality control epidemic has hit car parts also.

But I digress and perhaps say too much. I really want to publish a research paper on those experiences, but lack of time...

I'm really tempted to buy the lower-cost stuff because chances are like gbauer, it'll work just fine. But I have precious little spare time and really do not appreciate replacing brand new hardware like I did this spring.

The above treatise gets me to my philosophy that worked really well when I had the '32 Chevy: "Touch it once". Meaning, don't settle for intermediate solutions, choose a path, go all-in and then forget about it for the next twenty years. On the '32 it meant take the time and replace every danged nut and bolt I removed because they just don't make iron like they do steel.

Back to my own hijacking of the thread. I'll probably go with a better name-brand, new dizzy that is more likely to have superior quality control over the electrical components used.

Given all that, which vendors have a good reputation and have you used successfully? Which have a bad reputation and have you had bad experiences with? We've got Gbauer's experience. I read somebody on another thread with good luck with Langdon's. Others?

Thanks!
Mark

The 2.74 first gear on the 200-4R would really help get the car moving. Second gear is 1.57 not too far from FIRST gear (1.82) in a power glide. The overdrive let's you run higher gears without buzzing down the freeway. Even my nova with 2.73 gears and a th350 seems like it needs to "shift one more time " when on the freeway. Jay 6155.

Found this video that might be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ktG_Dc-Umc

Before tearing anything apart try adjusting the valves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U65dTaEn62Q

Just like that.

I had a similar problem and after reading your thread I thought it might be my seals. Pulled the valve cover and figured I'd see smoke coming from the valve seals when it was running. No smoke. Decided to readjust my valves since the cover was off. I had a misfire at idle on the #6 cylinder. It was because one of the valves was not adjusted right. fixed the problem and now I have a smooth idle again plus no more black smoke.

I back off until you hear a ticking then tighten 1/2 turn. That's what some of the guys here recommended.

I did mine while running. Gets a little messy but not too bad.

Today I ran another leak down test on cylinders 5&6.
1) results were about the same as before
2) loosened valves, they seemed a bit tight, but no change
3) with valves loose, put oil in chamber. I don't think there were changes. I tightened the valves not running, startup tomorrow.

Inconclusive results today.

Mark

If nothing else it was worth a try. Free is always better than paying...

mshaw,
For me, I don't think U need HEI yet - all my tests so far have used the old 1960s single-point distrib, no problems yet.

You might need to use a weaker spring in place of the stronger one down below in the distrib - but first need a tach to see what your timing curve is for sure. 30 total is getting close though, if you just try 12 initial for 32 total you'd be basically "there".

As far as tired, I find that tired engines actually run FASTER if anything, just cuz they're "looser". Unless of course the valve or ring seals are giving up. Not sure if you did a compression test next but that for me is the best "tired" indicator.
Here is what I got from the 250cid that ran all the carb "shootouts" a couple years back:
135
155
142
130
145
138
I consider this a "tired" engine, not the greatest results even on compression but it still ran good and gave decent times in the shootout - after all the car ran "high 10s" (0-60mph that is!!!)

I would definitely do these steps before you tear into the engine, that way you will have a before & after. Also find out where the big Powerglide is shifting - mine was shifting about 4500 or so, probably a little lower than the 4bbl wanted but I didn't want to abuse it so left it there - I was looking for improvements and comparisons, not the last tenth by revving the old six higher.

Thanks for all the photos you are posting it makes for some interesting threads!

I don't think running too rich will make it backfire. IMHO it's a vacuum leak somewhere. Valve springs are possible, so is a timing problem . Could there be an internal leak in the carb? Jay

Backfires only happen from lean conditions. You have a vacuum leak.

Mine was a hard one to find. It was the vac line to the trans. The rubber hose down right at the trans.

Another time it was the grommet on the brake booster. Another time it was the booster itself. Yet another time it was the vac advance canister.

The best way to find it is to disconnect each vacuum hose one at a time and plug it. Eventually you'll find the culprit. If it's not a hose try the old carb cleaner trick.

I had the same problem. Took me months to find it.

Ya gotta remember that these only had at Most from factory 8.5.1 compression.....that's NOT alot of compression. My 292 had 95 pounds in all cylinders and ran perfectly fine. Here's some general specs for setting timing:
8-10 degrees advanced No vaccum
20-25 degrees at idle with vacuum.
And no more than 38 degrees full load. You said you had it set 17 Btdc? That tells me 17 degrees retarded.....you should have it Advanced not retarded. Try 8 degrees advanced and see what happens. Heck I had my 292 at almost 16 degrees advanced with no problem because the compression was so low. With my new 292 I'll be starting at 8 without vacuum and tuning from there.

The outer ring on the pulley/balancer has slipped. You only think that it is 17 degrees advanced when it really is retarded. Try this. Make a piston stop from a old spark plug, put in the number one spark plug hole. Pull the other plugs out, disconnect the battery for safety. Turn the engine BY HAND til the piston hits the stop. Mark the place on the balancer, turn it backwards til it hits the stop and mark it again. In the middle of the two lines is TDC. Not perfect but close. Put the plugs back In and time the car with the new TDC mark and see how it runs. If the factory mark is not real close replace the balancer. Jay 6155

The outer ring on the pulley/balancer has slipped. You only think that it is 17 degrees advanced when it really is retarded. Try this. Make a piston stop from a old spark plug, put in the number one spark plug hole. Pull the other plugs out, disconnect the battery for safety. Turn the engine BY HAND til the piston hits the stop. Mark the place on the balancer, turn it backwards til it hits the stop and mark it again. In the middle of the two lines is TDC. Not perfect but close. Put the plugs back In and time the car with the new TDC mark and see how it runs. If the factory mark is not real close replace the balancer. Jay 6155

I set the timing up a couple more degrees and went for a nice long drive. Ran very well, still low power, only a single small backfire. Tried a friend's timing light, it seemed like I was still set high, but not as high as the HF light. But his light didn't have the advance feature. Considering my HF light may have been defective (the timing on my '32 was also best run higher than anybody else's), so I bought a nice expensive Bosch digital light. Turns out the HF wasn't that far off, a couple of degrees at most. I was running at 20 BTDC, which is too high. So I backed it off to 15.5 BTDC and the backfires are back. I need to run 18 BTDC to prevent the backfires. Of course, if the outer ring has slipped, it's all funny business. I haven't checked that yet.

But I also bought some carb cleaner and tried to spray all the gaskets. Somewhere around the center intake manifold if I hit it just right, the idle RPMs drop. If I squirt from a direction where I can really see what I'm doing, no drop. I tried tightening up everything, same result. I think it's a vacuum leak.

I'll bump the timing back up to prevent the backfires and just hold tight for another two months until I pull the engine. I'll do the diagnostics then. I was going to try loosening the valves, but what's the point on dinking with it any further. It's a busy couple of months, I won't get to drive it much anyways.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Mark