Aaron65

OK, this is with my '65 300 with AFB... I reset my timing today to 12* initial, which leads to about 30* total at 3500 or so RPM. It's got manifold vacuum, which adds 11* timing at idle. When I unplug the vacuum advance at the canister, the engine doesn't slow down, even without the vacuum advance timing added. If I plug the hose to stop the vacuum leak, the engine loses about 40 RPM. However, it does not want less idle mixture; it will lose RPM if I turn in the idle screws. What the heck? On a semi-related note, I just had the radiator cleaned out, and it now seems to run 190* most of the time going down the road, but will almost immediately climb to 200+* at idle. It even hit 215* idling in the garage. It has a 6-bladed clutch fan with a good clutch, and a shroud. Any other ideas there? It will cool down if I rev the engine, but not as much as if it were going down the road. I should mention that it has a 3-row brass crossflow radiator...

That would be AWESOME to not have heat soak for a hot start. I'd LOVE to run actual gas in all of these things.

Hi Bernie, It behaved like this before it was rebuilt, too, so I doubt it is a gasket...I don't want to make it sound like this thing is habitually overheating or anything, it runs under 200* most of the time (verified by my infrared thermometer)...I'm guessing that after long highway runs on hot days, and getting off the freeway and idling, she will start to push over 210, which the shop manual said may happen. It's only boiled over a couple of times, just after I bought it 7 years ago, because the radiator was plugged. I installed all of the water pump and thermostat housing gaskets, so I know they're open. Thanks! I WILL check the lower hose though...I can't remember if I put one in that has a spring or not.

Thanks, Robert... Did it leak out at all?

You know, I hate new parts. I just had this issue with MY Skylark. I bought a new, defective radiator, so instead of replacing it with another new one, I had my old one cleaned out. You MAY want to give rebuilding your own carb a try. That way you KNOW it's done right. The car runs OK now, so why risk a new one? Vacuum advance canisters are easy to find, with shipping being your biggest problem. You can always tailor the total vacuum advance by limiting it, like you said you did. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Make sure that you do get the vacuum advance working, because it reduces engine temperatures and increases your fuel mileage. EDIT: Come to think of it, Stefan, why don't you try the new distributor's vacuum advance canister on the old distributor? It should fit fine...just to see what happens?

I've considered the water jacket issue, but the engine's been rebuilt, and I'm fairly certain my shop has a hot tank...One of these days I'll pop a freeze plug and check it out... As far as marking the balancer, I thought about it, but my dial back timing light works fine if I hook it to a 12 V battery...I just used my Dad's fishing boat battery.

Do you have a dial back timing light? Have you ever made sure your balancer hasn't slipped? I run about 12* initial and 8-10* vacuum advance at idle in my Skylark, but I have limited the mechanical advance to run about 31* total (not including vacuum advance).

I just ran the dial back on it...I'm getting about 45* total timing at 3000 RPM with the vacuum advance connected. That adds at least 15* timing, so I'm right about at 30* total centrifugal at 3000 RPM (with initial, which I set at 5-6*). Setting initial is hit or miss because the mark is on the flywheel and it's tough to set right on. Seems about good to me...

Could the choke be way rich and having a controlled vacuum leak is leaning it out enough to run? More likely: the vacuum advance plate moves in the distributor...could you have a bare points or condensor wire that is shorting when the vacuum advance moves?

Not to change the subject too much, but I've never gotten a good answer on what the box of my '53 Buick (no power steering) takes...any ideas?

I've already done that Willie...it definitely likes more advance, but the 6 volt starter limits the initial I can use (at least when it gets chilly out), which is why I changed the curve to come in earlier. I haven't had a chance to drive it enough to see how it likes it, but in the 15-20 minutes I drove it, it seemed to run at least as well as it did before. I need to hook up my dial back light to it, but I need to use a 12V battery to trigger it...the 6 volt one won't do it...

Hi Willie, The heaviest springs in my kit were way lighter than the factory springs... My Motor manual has the distributor specs for all the engines...it's amazing how much they played around with the curves from year to year... The '53 263 has 12* centrifugal all in at 2000 distributor RPM and 11* vacuum advance. The '52, on the other hand, had 12* centrifugal all in by 1700 distributor RPM and has 8* vacuum advance... (or something close to that).

The vacuum advance holds vacuum and seems to work smoothly...

Joe: I've never tried ethanol free gas in it...like you said, it would only be available (maybe) at marinas around here... Mike: The radiator's recored and all of those things are good... Robert and Mike: I switched to a 180 because when I ran a 160 it snotted up the oil breather and draft tube because the oil didn't always get hot enough to burn out the condensation... I don't think it's running so hot as to be a problem...I just like to tinker and make things better if I can.

Well, I spent a couple hours doing this today... You have to pull the distributor to do this, because you have to pull the breaker plate to do this...it could PROBABLY be done in the car, but pulling it is a lot easier. It gave me an opportunity to clean stuff up in the distributor too. I used the heaviest springs in a Mr. Gasket spring kit for GM top advance distributors...they worked great. My guess is that full centrifugal now comes in at 3000 RPM rather than 4000 RPM. It runs the same as it did before, but it makes an odd, loud moan when I floor it at 60 MPH...it may have done that before; I don't often floor that car. No audible pinging, even when flooring it from a dead stop. It's hotter than heck today, too...at least 90 degrees. With the 180 thermostat, it got up to around 200 or so after a 15-20 minute drive, but cooled back down to 185 or so idling in the driveway (using an infrared thermometer on the thermostat housing)...We'll see how it works this summer on my longer drives on hotter days.

When I take my '53 for long highway runs, the temp gauge always creeps up as I drive. Before it was rebuilt and after. It never overheats, probably never gets above 220 (at idle after a freeway run), but it's gotten me to thinking. **It does have a recored radiator*** I've tried jetting up to no avail (other than ruining my mileage). Looking at my 1954 Motor manual, I notice that the centrifugal advance curve on this engine is 24 degrees at the crank, all in by 4000 engine RPM. Factory initial is 4 degrees, leading to a total (not including vacuum advance) of 28 degrees, pretty weak for a 7.6:1 (maybe) compression engine. I have mine running maybe 6 degrees initial for a total of 30. So at freeway speeds, we're maybe looking at 20-25 degrees of timing, plus vacuum advance (which has a quite heavy spring). I can't advance initial anymore because of the 6 volt starter (drags it down). My 60s cars all seem to like much more initial timing on today's gas, but their compression ratios preclude advancing the curve too much, so I end up limiting the total by messing with the weights. But the '53, with much higher octane available now than then, seems to have an opposite issue. I've been thinking of using lighter advance springs in the distributor to get the total 24 degrees in by highway speed. With 87 octane in the tank, I would think the car should easily handle this much advance without potential damage. It should run cooler and have a bit more power too. It might even be easier on that long exhaust manifold by running cooler. Any thoughts, for or against?

Do you have a Focus? I do and I get that vibe from that website.

Jon, when you say to increase main fuel flow 10%, do you mean stepping up jet sizes that much? Like, a size 50 to a 55?

That's such a great place to visit, and it gets better every year! I'm about 3 hours away, so I only make it down every year or so...I'm thinking of going to the Pierce-Arrow club gathering there this year...

Great video! Made me go ride my '72 Raleigh Sports!

They're both on my "Great 28" list, but I like the Riv more. It's one of my favorites.

After a 30+ mile highway drive you'll be lucky to have over 10 psi in these things. The low end of normal on the gauge is just about 10 psi. Therefore, you're fine. The manual says that as long as you have 35 psi at 35 MPH, you're good.

David North did the Toronado; Jordan did the '67 Eldorado.

I love my old cars more than almost anything...about 10 years ago I thought of doing the same thing you're thinking of, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't think I could handle knowing that I was the reason another old car was rusting into the ground. Road salt kills, man. On the other hand, if I lived in year round sun, no problem...