Well, some progress is better than none! The oil pan leaked like crazy when I tried running it, so I pulled it, cleaned it up, and tried again. Torqued to spec, and it seems like I've got a better seal this time. Phew! I was really dreading that step.
So, I got the truck running...but not well. I thought I had timing issues and fuel was no problem, but when I pulled the manifolds I found gas pooled inside. dumping fuel down the carb was not helpful. Turns out I was just not slapping the gas pedal 100 times while holding the starter! That being said, it's not ready to cruise yet.
Symptoms/Steps so far:
- When a vacuum hose is left off, it will stay running but at a high rpm and I do not need to touch the gas pedal to do so.
- When I plug the vacuum leak, and stay on the gas, it will stay running, but rough.
- It will not start without feeding the gas pedal a bunch while kicking the starter pedal. Its quite the dance.
- It would not run unless I loosened the screw and pulled the distributor over to the advance side nearly all the way. There is no more room for adjustment anymore.
Things I've checked so far:
- At Cyl #1 TDC, my rotor points to the #1 plug, and there is a .019in gap on the points (new points gap recommendation)..what is considered "static timing" I guess.
- The vacuum advance is working
- Turning the distributor manually while its running will slow down or stall the engine, rather than smooth anything out.
- Turning the idle screw does nothing to improve idle
Parts Status:
- New cap
- New rotor
- New capacitor
- New Coil
- New Plugs gapped to .035
- New wires
- New Vacuum advance
- Freshly Rebuilt Carb
Seeing guys on YouTube idle a 235 thats sitting on a pallet while I struggle over here haha!