I did some more work to her last Wednesday but never got around to writing about it since it's nothing major. I changed the oil and filter again and continued to play with the timing before finally arriving on something I liked. This required pulling the distributor to adjust the pump driveshaft once or twice, and pulling the cap at least 6 times to swap in different springs as I tried every imaginable combination.
It's now set at 25° initial with the vacuum can providing 20° from a ported source. The mechanical also offers 20° of advance, starts at 600 rpm and comes in fully at 3,600 rpm. The idle is set at 850 in Park and drops to 500 in gear, and the engine pulls a solid 11" of vacuum once there. While cruising at 2k I'm pulling 17" of vacuum (same as idle) and operating with 55° of advance. I melted my kickdown cable so it's currently disconnected, and if I drop the hammer cruising in 3rd there are absolutely no signs of detonation or pre-ignition. While I have 45° available between the base and mechanical the conditions are never right to also have the full 20° from the vacuum can. I could ease off the initial timing by 5° but then I'd have to adjust the idle speed screw, and I try to leave those nearly backed all the way out. I'd also lose some fuel economy on the freeway and that accounts for 50% of my time on the road. Trust me when I say she can take a lot more timing and all I have to do is limit the mechanical advance to never exceed about 55° under load, which is crazy high.
Gina seems very happy with the current timing setup and I'm going to replace the Delco R45TS plugs with some Accel U Groove Shorty Header plugs that I found in a box from years ago. They're new but tucked into a dirty 8198 box- I switched between the 576S and 574S with the engine that's currently in the El Camino and apparently had a spare set I forgot about. I also found my steel pinned oil pump shaft which means there just might be an oil pump somewhere in that garage. New blue Accel plug wires are on order, and the 90° boots will be beneficial in clearing the headers.
In addition to playing with the ignition I did manage to change out a few old parts for new ones. The power steering hoses finally got replaced, with the pressure side receiving a Duralast 80116 instead of the preferred Edelmann, and the sway bar received new 32 mm greasable polyurethane mounts from Energy Suspension, part # 9.5166R.
As you can see, the Duralast hose is not an exact replica of the one it replaces but it fits.
I also reinstalled my jounce bars and added a Grand Prix bar, using the original fat washers as spacers between the two. With those powder coated the sway bar looks horrible, and it'll be receiving some color soon.
It's now set at 25° initial with the vacuum can providing 20° from a ported source. The mechanical also offers 20° of advance, starts at 600 rpm and comes in fully at 3,600 rpm. The idle is set at 850 in Park and drops to 500 in gear, and the engine pulls a solid 11" of vacuum once there. While cruising at 2k I'm pulling 17" of vacuum (same as idle) and operating with 55° of advance. I melted my kickdown cable so it's currently disconnected, and if I drop the hammer cruising in 3rd there are absolutely no signs of detonation or pre-ignition. While I have 45° available between the base and mechanical the conditions are never right to also have the full 20° from the vacuum can. I could ease off the initial timing by 5° but then I'd have to adjust the idle speed screw, and I try to leave those nearly backed all the way out. I'd also lose some fuel economy on the freeway and that accounts for 50% of my time on the road. Trust me when I say she can take a lot more timing and all I have to do is limit the mechanical advance to never exceed about 55° under load, which is crazy high.
Gina seems very happy with the current timing setup and I'm going to replace the Delco R45TS plugs with some Accel U Groove Shorty Header plugs that I found in a box from years ago. They're new but tucked into a dirty 8198 box- I switched between the 576S and 574S with the engine that's currently in the El Camino and apparently had a spare set I forgot about. I also found my steel pinned oil pump shaft which means there just might be an oil pump somewhere in that garage. New blue Accel plug wires are on order, and the 90° boots will be beneficial in clearing the headers.
In addition to playing with the ignition I did manage to change out a few old parts for new ones. The power steering hoses finally got replaced, with the pressure side receiving a Duralast 80116 instead of the preferred Edelmann, and the sway bar received new 32 mm greasable polyurethane mounts from Energy Suspension, part # 9.5166R.
As you can see, the Duralast hose is not an exact replica of the one it replaces but it fits.
I also reinstalled my jounce bars and added a Grand Prix bar, using the original fat washers as spacers between the two. With those powder coated the sway bar looks horrible, and it'll be receiving some color soon.
