Farrar's car blog

[Farrar]

Ron,

So we are running points...? I seem to recall seeing something of that type underneath the ignition distributor's dust shield. I dunno, I will look again. In the meantime, I will take some notes from that article you pointed me to. Thanks!

BTW, if memory serves Bill's justification for wiring the thing the way he did is that by bridging that one side of the stock ballast resistor, he gets .25 Ohms of resistance and 12.5v into the coil. I don't know how he did that math, but he presumably measured the 12.5v with his voltmeter. I put a glass fuse on the other side of the resistor just to be safe; I believe Bill has a fusible link in the same place.

Farrar

[Ron]

Ron,

So we are running points...? I seem to recall seeing something of that type underneath the ignition distributor's dust shield.

No points, no condenser, no need for the resistor according to the sheet as I read it and, IMHO, no need to second guess the engineers therefore no reason to replace a stock coil (Now you happy that you drug it out of me LMAO)

BTW, if memory serves Bill's justification for wiring the thing the way he did is that by bridging that one side of the stock ballast resistor, he gets .25 Ohms of resistance and 12.5v into the coil. I don't know how he did that math, but he presumably measured the 12.5v with his voltmeter. I put a glass fuse on the other side of the resistor just to be safe; I believe Bill has a fusible link in the same place.

Farrar

No need to figure the resistance when it says not to use it...Now, Bill may have had another reason --that all depends on what else he, or someone else did, although I can't think of why, unless it is the cap and rotor not being able to handle it. FWIW would ask him. Since he chooses to hide in the shadows I can only respond with:

[Farrar]

Back in 2008, I was informed that if I wanted to run a wider plug gap I would need to upgrade the ignition coil. I did so. There may have been no need to replace the stock coil -- for all I know I could have simply removed the ignition bypass relay and ballast resistor and left the stock coil in place -- but I did so anyway. Sparky's blue coil is gone -- besides, it would be thirty years old by now. I might as well try to do the best with what I've got.

Who knows, ignition could be a wild goose. Sparky's rough running may actually be caused by a vacuum leak. Perhaps I will buy a cheap fog machine from Party City, take the carburetor off the manifold and stick a tube between the fog machine and the intake manifold, then see if any fog comes out anywhere. (I proposed this "poor man's smoke machine diagnostic" method last year on the old DMCTalk since I found out that "fog juice" is merely propylene glycol and therefore not harmful to our engines; since then, evidently David Teitelbaum has had success tracking down vacuum leaks using this method.) I didn't think I had any vacuum leaks, but I've been wrong before.

Farrar

[Ron]

If you want a wider gap then you may very well need to get a hotter coil. The thing, to me, would be why would you want a bigger gap. Racers do/did it because they changed their stock design-configuration, as did manufacturers (in fact they are easing the other way since they are accomplishing near complete burn with new designs). Changes to your D's configuration, may have required it too, or, you may just simply want to, of coarse.

I like the fog machine!!! Similarly, I have pulled a carb, to make it easier to seal things up, and blew a controlled amount of pressure into the engine to chase down an air leak ($%#&*%! internally cracked intake runner).
As I said before, I would chase down the missing cylinder(s) -- this makes it easier to pinpoint the problem. I always try to look for the obvious, then pair up easiest with most reveling test(s).
From the sound, I'm doubting vacuum leaks, too...there is definitely more than that anyway.

[Farrar]

Bill and I e-mail frequently and he still thinks it's a vacuum leak. The fact that it doesn't seem to miss at higher RPM would seem to bear that out, but I have torqued down the intake manifold more than usual, with brand new O-rings underneath it, and pulled a vacuum on all the lines to confirm no leaks.

Bill still says I should spray brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner all over the intake manifold mating surfaces and see what happens. That stuff smells awful and makes my eyes burn. Besides, since there is hot engine oil leaking into my engine valley whenever I run the thing, and I have already had a fire in the engine compartment on this car, I hesitate to spray oodles of highly-flammable liquid down there. What if I got some warm tap-water in a spray bottle and used that instead? Would that be sufficient for a vacuum leak check?

Farrar

[stevedmc]

What if I got some warm tap-water in a spray bottle and used that instead? Would that be sufficient for a vacuum leak check?

The reason you want to spray something flamable is to see if the engine revs up. The idea is that any leaks will pull carb cleaner into the engine. If carb cleaner gets pulled into the engine it will ignite and your engine will rev up.

[Farrar]

Maybe I need some propane...



... or a cheap cigar!



Farrar

[Ron]

Bill still says I should spray brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner all over the intake manifold mating surfaces and see what happens. ...
What if I got some warm tap-water in a spray bottle and used that instead? Would that be sufficient for a vacuum leak check?

With exhaust, distributors and sparks in general, water can be a lot safer. I think 'spray spirts' all around... sounds safer LOL. I find a small water stream works better than a spray bottle. Instead of listening for the engine to rev etc, you listen for it to settle and smooth out and/or a slurping sound, or, a change in general. -- Be careful around oil puddles, the water will cause them to pop like bacon grease. Of coarse you don't want the engine to be "HOT".
Air and soapy water is another option...sizs and location matters ...but you can only suspect....

[stevedmc]

... or a cheap cigar!

Scotty Kilmer reminds me of Bill so much. I wonder if we could convince Kilmer to join us for DCS.

[Farrar]

Scotty Kilmer reminds me of Bill so much. I wonder if we could convince Kilmer to join us for DCS.

I seriously wanna try the cigar thing.

Farrar