Re: [Amc-list] sometimes things go your way...

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

If it only drips a little LEAVE THE REAR SEAL ALONE!! More often than not the repair doesn't hold up as well and you end up with as much or more dripping. Think of it like an old model Harley... if it runs it marks it's spot! It's difficult to pack the ends of the seal when pulling one over the top. Heck, it's hard to get a rope seal to seal good even when the crank has been pulled out during a rebuild! 

You won't find an HEI or any other distributor that will fit, I'm afraid to say. It's not like the later six, which was designed to use a Chevy in-line six dizzy (a money saving feature since AMC bought Delco dizzys anyway, and it was easy enough to design in something they already made instead of paying extra for a custom order). You might be able to gut a later model dizzy and rebuild yours with those. I've heard of someone taking the guts from a later model electronic dizzy and sticking them in an older body for an EFI conversion, but I think it was all Chevy V-8 stuff. I'm not sure a newer model will have more mechanical advance, but might have more total mech/vac advance combined. Have you explored increasing the vac advance since you can't get enough mechanical? 

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Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:01:51 -0700
From: Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>

On Sunday the idle on the 63 American got a bit bumpy. 4000 or so miles 
on the plugs, thought it was time for a look-see. Tightened all the 
screws on the carb real tight. (Just kidding, tweaked idle mixture 
lean-drop.) Did a compression check since all the plugs were out...

Man, I can't believe this car was gonna be parted out.

Compression is 135-145 all cylinders, except #6 was 130. Have to drag 
out my notes to see what it was in the spring, but if anything, it's 
improved.

The plugs were *perfect*. No ash, completely consistently faint beige. 
Gaps had all opened to about .042, I dropped 'em back to .035 - .040. 
Like textbook perfect.

It seeps oil all over! Rear seal drops a puddle of a dozen drops over 
night. It may be that it's worth dropping the pan to shut that stuff off 
and see if I can pull that Best rear seal in. Never did that before!

I gotta get the ignition timing under control. My hacks to the 
distributor gives me too much advance under 1600 or so, (bumpy from 
advance) but pretty good at 1800-up. Knocked it back to 6PBTDC static 
(was 8) and that did it (with vacuum it's like 25 degrees at idle!) I 
can't get enough mechanical range out of it. I really need to make a 
junkyard run for an HEI distrib  (will I find one out there?) small TBI, 
a MAP sensor to play with, and who knows what other fun stuff.

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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