Craigwell
Improvising Adventurer
I'm sure my friends in the rust belt might identify with this one:
I recently bought a 78 F150 with a 351M. My investigations to this point have determined that I have a fully intact emissions system, non-catalyst, and what appears to be the original carburetor and distributor.
I've been tuning the engine with a vacuum gauge, and have found it reading low.
I started with the carburetor, and found I had to turn out the idle screws 4+ full turns to get up to about 18" of vacuum.
Then I cleaned up the dampener and found that I had about 30* advance at idle with the vac advance running off the manifold through a ported vacuum switch on the tstat housing.
When I disconnected the vac advance, I found I had about 4* of initial timing.
The emissions sticker says I need 14*.
I cannot get the distributor to move, regardless of what I do. I have sprayed fluid film on it for a few days, and have tried tapping at the base of the distributor with a hammer and drift. Obviously I don't want to break the aluminum housing, so I'm not giving it very strong with the hammer.
I'm thinking I might need a stronger penetrant, like Zep 45 or Wurth product, but I'm wondering what level this might reach, without destroying the otherwise functional unit. (Vac and mechanical advance seems fine).
Could I get away with some heat on the cast iron around the area???
Thanks for reading
I recently bought a 78 F150 with a 351M. My investigations to this point have determined that I have a fully intact emissions system, non-catalyst, and what appears to be the original carburetor and distributor.
I've been tuning the engine with a vacuum gauge, and have found it reading low.
I started with the carburetor, and found I had to turn out the idle screws 4+ full turns to get up to about 18" of vacuum.
Then I cleaned up the dampener and found that I had about 30* advance at idle with the vac advance running off the manifold through a ported vacuum switch on the tstat housing.
When I disconnected the vac advance, I found I had about 4* of initial timing.
The emissions sticker says I need 14*.
I cannot get the distributor to move, regardless of what I do. I have sprayed fluid film on it for a few days, and have tried tapping at the base of the distributor with a hammer and drift. Obviously I don't want to break the aluminum housing, so I'm not giving it very strong with the hammer.
I'm thinking I might need a stronger penetrant, like Zep 45 or Wurth product, but I'm wondering what level this might reach, without destroying the otherwise functional unit. (Vac and mechanical advance seems fine).
Could I get away with some heat on the cast iron around the area???
Thanks for reading