need some advice

[brewcrew]

Hello all, new to the forums, and have a question. Hopefully someone is able to steer me in the right direction.

I recently got a '69 Le mans, with a Pontiac 400 in it, bigger cam (not sure what).
The vehicle was redone 18 years ago, not sure how much it was drove in the last 4 years.

The vehicle runs great when cold, idles fine, it heats up and that's when it seems to have a surging effect. I can be cruising at ex. 35 mph and the car seems to wanna lunge forward, hit the gas and it bogs a bit and takes off.

I replaced the plugs, wires and fuel filter, ran the vacuum advanced line.
Ignition coil, condenser readings are in the proper range. Cap and rotor are fine as well.
After all of this I re-did the timing and it seems to run really smooth, until it warms up and gets the same effect.
Do I have the carburetor adjusted wrong, or maybe it needs to be taken apart and gone through, not sure.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge can help me out

 

[melsg5]

what plug did you install, make and number?
did you gap the plug to .035?
what does "ran the vacuum advanced line mean"? Is you vacuum advance connected to manifold vacuum or ported vacuum on the carburetor?
what carburetor is on the car?
how many degrees did you set the point dwell angle for?
what did you set the initial timing to?
did you set the initial timing with the vacuum advance disconnected?
did you adjust the carburetor idle mixture screws?

 

[brewcrew]

acdelco r45s
gapped to .035
vacuum advanced line wasnt there, so i hooked it to passenger side
edelbrock 1411 carb
I set total time to 36 with the vacuum advanced plugged off
adjusted mixture screws
was planning on replacing the points
Was digging deeper and my electric choke isn't opening, turns out its only getting 6v
going to re run the wire to see.

 

[brewcrew]

Acdelco r45s and yes i gapped them to .035

Vacuum advanced line was never hooked up, I ran it to the passenger side of the Edelbrock 1411

I have not set the point dwell yet, was going to do that when i replaced the points

With the vacuum advanced disconnected, I set the total time to 36

I believe i've found the problem, the electric choke wasnt working because it was only testing at 6 volts, I hooked it up for twelve and seems to be opening properly.

I'm afraid i'm not very good at adjusting carbs, I messed with the idle/air screws a bit now. With the engine warm, if I press the brake to the floor the car wants to creep forward. Low range power is good (0-45 mph) above that I dont have much power. With it being set this way, it makes a poofing noise after I shut the car off. Like i said i'm not the greatest at carbs, but im thinking it may be to rich

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[melsg5]

You have to adjust the dwell before setting the timing.
how did you set total timing to 36 degrees? do you have a degreed damper or a dial back timing light? are you using a aftermarket spring kit and have replaced the stock nylon bushing with the bronze bushing that comes in the kits?
are you setting mixture screws and idle speed screw with the transmission in drive, wheels chocked?
personally I prefer the stock Quadrajet or a Holley to the 1411.

 

[brewcrew]

Ok mel, sorry (was busy putting a new front hub in my truck) I did get it to run fairly decent, problem was the dwell angle was 45 and the points were bad as well as the choke staying closed.
So I got new points and put them in
I set the dwell angle to 30, with the timing light zeroed set it to 6? for total of 36
I have a dial back light I had read somewhere to set the total time to 36 for my car, not sure if that is right.
After all of this i should be able to adjust the idle screw so it idles at 700 rpm's? I read that was the spec, or should i just sett that where it starts and runs the best?
After adjust the idle/air screws for wot @ 3000 rpms?
Are these the right values and procedures i need to take, or am I way off

Thanks

 

[melsg5]

the setting of 36 degrees total is fine if you are running aftermarket springs to bring in total advance earlier and have replaced the stock nylon advance stop with the bushing that comes with the spring kits. If you are not running aftermarket springs I would recommend trying 9 to 12 degrees initial with the vacuum disconnected.
As far as idle RPM 700 in drive if an automatic is fine.
The idle/air screws are for idle ajdustments, in your case about 700 rpm, they have nothing to do with WOT or 3,000 rpm

 

[brewcrew]

So i bought new points, put them in set the gap with a feeler gauge,tried to start it and nothing. Sanded the points just a bit, rechecked the gap, tried to start and nothing again. Put the old points back in and it fires right up. Same style points, the old points read 45 for dwell angle while running(assuming my dwell meter is correct). Any ideas? Im starting to get annoyed and ready to drop an electronic in

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[melsg5]

be more specific as to how you went about setting the points with a feeler gauge?
was the point rubbing block sitting on the high spot of the cam?
what size feeler gauge are you using?

 

[brewcrew]

I rotated the cam until the points had the widest gap and adjust them to .017. Tried to start and nothing. I would like to believe it would atleast spit and sputter a bit. Sadly not even that happens. My coil and condensor check out with a volt meter. Someone had suggested to me about replacing the rotor, but id hate to replace everything in it hoping something will fix it

 

[brewcrew]

Ok, sorry. I rotated the cam so that the point(high side) touched the rubbing block, thus opening the point to the widest possible. I set the feeler gauge in and adjusted the screw until the .017 feeler gauge fit snug, and so that the .018 wouldn't. started it up and not even a spit or a sputter. The condenser and coil both check out with the volt meter, like I said I can drop the old points in there and it fires right up. Someone suggested to me about putting in a new rotor and cap, but i'd hate to throw in parts on a whim, there has to be a reason it not to be firing, Possibly even due to my error

 

[melsg5]

why arent you hooking up your dwell meter and inserting the point adjustment tool and setting the points to 30 dwell while cranking the engine? Obviously having an assistant to do the cranking is necessary unless you have a remote start button hooked to the starter.
there is nothing noticeably different between the old working points and the new set?

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[brewcrew]

If I try setting the dwell angle with my old points (which were 45 and I got down to 41) it wouldn't stay running, assuming my dwell meter is in fact accurate.

No there isn't anything noticeably different between the old and new points except how the wires hook on

 

[melsg5]

it wont stay running because your timing is off, nothing to do with the dwell being set to 30. Did you try raising the idle speed with the carburetor adjustment screw? If I remember you adjusted the timing before the dwell which is the wrong sequence. Try raising the timing to 12 or more and then go back and adjust the dwell to 30, then go back and set the timing.

 

[brewcrew]

I found the culprit there must've been a broken wire that was hanging on for dear life. Spliced it and it fired right up, thanks melsg for your help.

 

[melsg5]

glad to hear you got it running

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