Frustrated

[Guest]

I need help. My 425 nailhead was just rebuilt to a short block. I did the rest of the assembly myself. When we turned it over for the first time to do the camshaft break in. Things went fairly smoothly. Once the initial break in was complete we had trouble timing it and keeping it at an idle less than 1000rpm. No matter what the idle it dies when put in gear, unless I give it more gas. I have replaced the original carb I rebuilt with a brand new Edelbrock 600cfm electric choke. I've checked everywhere for vaccuum leaks and I am at a loss. As far as I can tell all cylinders are sparking. I fixed an oil leak and am working a fuel leak right now. I am getting ready to go back to TDC and start ignition timing from scratch. Oh yeah, I also installed a Pertronix Ignitor and Flamethrower coil. I would be very grateful to anyone who has any suggestions, advise or can help me in any way.<P>Thanks in advance,<BR>Dave Wright<BR>'65 Skylark Gran Sport<BR>wrighttous@earthlink.net<BR>(520) 579-3373

[Guest]

Well I found out that I am retarded, and so was my timing. That ultimately was the problem. Other than a serious sounding knock coming from the bottom of the engine, the car runs fantastic. I'm going to take it back to my machinist as soon as I'm able, but not before I check some things out.<P>Dave Wright<BR>PS I will continue to share my successes and failures as they happen.

[Straycat]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dave Wright:<BR><B>...PS I will continue to share my successes and failures as they happen...</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>Hi Dave,<P>Sorry I couldn't offer you any advise. I just wanted you to know that you're not talking to yourself here. Thanks for the update.<P><BR>

[JUSTIN]

i had a horrible running newly rebuilt 401 that turn out to be that the intake gaskets were installed backwards. the box with the new gasket said one thing and the old ones seemed to be the opposite. so i intalled them with the sharp points in toward the center as the box said and it cleared it up.

[Guest]

I installed a Pertronix ignitor and flamethrower coil on my 65 401 Riviera, and wound up taking the flamethrower coil back off and reinstalling the original Delco coil to make it run normally. It doesn't crank as readily now with the ignitor as it did with points, but the dwell is a constant ~29.5 degrees, so installation is ok. (This is one of the newer lobe sensing units) For whatever reason, it was a really sick puppy with the flamethrower coil installed.<P>------------------<BR>Boyd Shuler<BR>Orangeburg, S.C.<BR>65 Riviera

[Guest]

Nail head,<P>Did you retime your distributor after installing the Ignitor? You have to do that since it will change timing by about 4-5 degrees. Also, with the Lobe Sensor Ignitor, you have to turn the key to the "on" position for about 3-4 seconds before cranking. This allows an internal capacitor to charge completely. Got this info from the PerTronix tech people. I'm running Pertronix coils on two cars with no problems.

[Guest]

70GS,<BR>I did have to radically reset the timing, but I had never heard the info about waiting with the switch on before cranking. That may be why it doesn't crank as well as the old points. With the engine warm with yea olde points, I could stand outside the car and reach in and hit the key and start. Certainly can't do that now. This has been particularly puzzling, considering the original coil is now back in place, timing right on, etc. I got 12+ volts at the coil with the switch on, but don't know what it drops to while cranking. This is another reason I was surprised that the Flamethrower coil didn't work out.<P>------------------<BR>Boyd Shuler<BR>Orangeburg, S.C.<BR>65 Riviera

[caGSxlr8]

I put a pertronix with the lobe sensing and a flame thrower coil in my '68 GS400 last spring and I have the same problem, I have the keep cranking to get it to start, even when its warm. After the motor is warm it sometimes acts like the timing is off when it first fires (knocks a little). I am going to recheck the timing (by finding TDC on #1) to verify the timing mark is correct (the motor was previously rebuilt and the mark may have been moved).<BR> The car ran great with the old points. Why did I change them?, because the car is driven very little and I did not want to mess with corroded points when I did get a chance to drive it (I should have left the points in!!).<BR> Anyone else had problems with the new Pertronix Lobe sensor?<P><P>------------------<BR>'68 GS400 Convert

[Guest]

Here is my 2 cents. You do know that #1 is on the passenger side of a nailhead, right?<BR>If you are using the first plug on the drivers side that may account for the radical timing you are needing.<BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Mark

[Guest John Chapman]

Just a bit of trivia info here.<P>The lobe sensing Pertronix works best with full (12V) voltage from the ignition switch. Leaving the resistor wire in the circuit will cause hard starts. I was informed of this when I purchsed my unit from the local, long-time Pertronix rep. It's not mentioned in my installation info.<P>Some mid 60's GM models (my '65 300 for one) have a full voltage circut from the starter solinoid connection to the coil to provide full primary voltage to the coil during starts. This seems to cure the hard start problem on my car. It may be useful to examine your factory wiring diagram for the presence of this circuit. Mine was cut at some point in time by an unenlightened ("<I>I</I> doan need no freakin' manual... 'Sides, it runs fine widdout dis here whire....") mechanic.<P>Cheers,<BR>John<P>------------------<BR>John Chapman<BR>BCA 35894<BR>1965 Skylark Convertible (Some Assembly Required)<BR> jmchapman@aol.com

[Guest]

on the starter solenoid the small wire/terminal on the outside is the source of the enrichment (12V) when starting. the inside small wire trigers the starter. the terminal is open when the engine has started so if checked it has coil voltage (9.2 to 9.8). I use this wire on HEI also to be sure I have max starting voltage. JIM

[Guest]

not using pertronix, but an HEI in my 73 455, and found that the underdash pink wire that powers the coil is pretty heavy (10gauge) but the resistor wire is pretty blasted small.<P>i pulled out the resistor wire (it is odd cloth covered thing) and got the large underhood pink wire from a ~78 skylark with 231. was almost long enough to reach, got the pink wire from a 76 malibu classic, spliced the two together. <P>i imagine you will have to do something similar to get full ~12v to the coil with pertronix.<P>allan<P>------------------<BR>allan<BR>--------------<BR>50 special, 455/th400<BR>64 stude gt hawk, 289/auto<BR>76 poncho GP, 400/th400