Playing around with my new timing light and vacuum gauge. I have a 1972 318 motor, everything is stock except the Edelbrock Performer intake, 1406 Carb, and Pertronix II ignition/flamethrower II coil. It has manual brakes, power steering, no air cond, vacuum advance carb, stock exhaust manifolds.

Was idling high and popping out exhaust. Fixed all of that.

Set:
base timing to 9° @820rpm
total timing to 35° @2500rpm
vacuum advance hooked up, total timing sits around 49° @2500rpm

Idle set and wanders between 800 to 830rpm

Idle screws adjusted till popping stopped and a vacuum of about 21" achieved (around 2.5 turns out from seated)

No vacuum leaks detected....yet


There are a couple of things Im still trying to work out.

1st:
Engine has no more backfire, runs fine and revs up fine but it shakes a little. Not bad, but it's definitely not smooth. Timing light lights up on every spark plug wire, but sure feels like there's a small misfire or maybe plugs fouling. Next step I'll pull them and check.


2nd:
Is it normal for the rpm to get back to idle speed VERY slowly after reving up? When I let off the throttle, it takes the engine about 10 to 20 seconds to fully return to idle speed. The throttle linkage is not stuck it moves freely.

(1) check plugs/wires/rotor phasing (2) not normal, check the weights

On top of the plugs/wires rotor..

Could the springs/weights in the distributor be gummed up and/or rusted causing them to 'stick' a little and not retract as smoothly as they should?

twist the rotor into the spring tension (CW) & let loose of it & see if it snaps back sharply

Robert turns out my distributor was trash. The grease was hardened, the weights and springs were rusted. The weights/springs do not snap back after extended, they return erratically, getting caught up on old grease and rust and sometimes cant even make it back to their fully rested position.

If I had a blast cabinet I'd probably disassemble and clean/regrease. But I dont so I ordered a cheap A1 Cardone reman distributor and with re-install my Pertronix back into that.

those are OE springs & if your rebuilt dist has the same ones be sure to toss the heavy one & sub in a mr gasket or MP light spring in place of it. On the P install do Scratchns tips: leave the green tape/dont leave ign on/cap with brass terminals/no solid core plug wires. You are using the flamethrower coil? You might weld up the slots then work with them after you finalize the initial. bottom line do NOT allow any pinging

All good on the pertronix except I dont have a brass cap. Yes using matching flamethrower II coil.

Im pretty good about not leaving ignition on, but I specifically bought the Pertronx 2 because supposedly is immune to the ignition being left on.

Edit**

On a stock street engine at whats a good RPM to have the advance fully kicked in?

(1) I wouldn't think the 2 or 3 are immune but check with Scratchn, he knows the ins & outs of em (2) set the initial with the vac gausge method/shorten the slots so you get 35 total & this is initial+slots with can capped) With this being a DD no hot rodding then plug the can in & likely just subbing in a weak spring for the OE thick one with the elongated end will sufffice. bottom line NO pinging wanted/allowed but for max torque/mileage you want to be pretty close to that (pinging) line. EDIT if you are going to romp on that 318 then slightly different procedure: after initial/total are set then mix/match springs so you are just under the pinging point at WOT up thru the gears on your hottest/driest day then plug in/adj the can. You definitely need a strip kit for the 1406

Im ordering the 1487 strip kit for the 1406 carb, but it is very limited. Wish it came with more options of everything. Wonder why they dont sell a kit that contains all jets, rods, springs. I have multiple edelbrocks on multiple applications.

ROMP INDEED

Money

The first A1-Cardone replacement distributor came in the mail 2 days ago. tested the vacuum advance, their was a leak, couldnt hold any vacuum. So I called Summit Racing and they shipped one out that arrived today. I dont know why I didnt test it first, I was probably just in a rush to get the car back on the road. I re-curved the distributer with the stock light spring and 1 mr gasket spring. Got everything hooked back up and new brass distributor cap.... finally thought to test the vacuum advance and.. it leaks. 2 in a row. Never buying that brand again. Im going to try to switch the working vacuum advance from my old distributor to this one.

got the working vacuum canister off my old distributor installed on the new distributor. Gapped my pertronix 2 with the feeler gauge supplied in kit. Hooked my spark wires up to the new brasss cap, installed on distributer.. Carnked the motor, and it turned and turned and didnt fire. Checked the wires with timing light, none were firing. With the ignition in run, I checked the voltage to the positive side of the coil, and it was getting full battery voltage. I popped the dis cap off, couldnt see anything wrong, hooked it back up, then it fired up.

When it fired up, it started and warmed up on high idle. After a few minutes, I tapped the gas pedal, which should've brought it down to normal idle. It did not. The car stayed in high idle. I tried this a few more times... nope, it stuck on high idle. So I tried to retard initial timing, which only lowerd rpm from 1500 to 1100, but the engine started shaking so I brought it back up to till it smoothed out, but it was still idling very high. I tried to lower the idle speed screw, but it had zero effect. It's like the carb is stuck on fast idle.

IIt was running very well before I replaced the distributor, and that that is the only thing I touched. Kind of stumped on why it's stuck on the high idle.

Do you have a (functioning) dist/ballast/coil (as needed) you can sub back in real quick to try & pin it down to the dist?

I still have the points, but thats it. the coil and ballast I could round up easy. But I'll have to rewire for the ballast again, not a big deal.

Im still stumped on my high idle. It really feels like the carb is stuck fast idle. Turning the idle set screw does nothing, even after the car is fully warmed up. My throttle cable is not stuck, it moves freely. The car ran fine, no vaccum leaks, now it acts like it has a major vacuum leak or the carb is stuck

Is the fast idle cam releasing?

Jeesh that's seems like a long way to go for not much of a performance gain. The old distrib was crusty. I'm surprised the autoparts store brand didn't work. I've bought a few w/o issues, but I did use points. My old 69 coronet 318 2bbl liked about 36* total 8* initial. I bought 4 sets of "blue streak" points on close out. I might have a set in the box if you need one. On a side note that car ran 15.68 with nothing more than 2 gallons of 110 mixed w/ about 7 of 93 Locked the timing in at 38* and flipped the air cleaner lid. I laughed all the way back to the pits. Stayed right at 15.68-69 all day. Red lighted in the semi's.
Now back to topic, since you have vacuum pod problems that's were I'd start looking. Did you knock anything w/ an elbow when you were messing around? Check the grommet at the PB booster.

Bingo. No it isn't, just noticed it yesterday. That's what's causing the constant high idle. Twisted the electronic choke around and that didn't solve it. Is the choke the only thing that puts tension on that cam?

Yes it is operated by the linkage from the choke. Usually unless it has been messed with it will just need lubed once in a while. Without the engine running you can hold the throttle wide open and inspect and lube for proper operation. It should work very freely. Once you get it feed up it sounds like you will have to reset your choke setting. A little turn can mean a lot on the choke setting.