Well, all of the vacuum leaks are history. Now, a new problem has surfaced! I went to check the timing and discovered that the plug wires terminate at the distributor cap in the right sequence (1,5,3,6,2,4), but the wires are plugged into the distributor two holes to the left of where the book says they should be. In other words, the plug wires are in the proper sequence but plugged into the distributor two
holes clockwise beyond where they should be.
The nut on the clamp that holds the distributor from turning was loose and the distributor was turned counter clockwise so far that the vacuum port was up against the motor! Why the previous owner did this is beyond my comprehension. Which of the options would allow me to get this motor running smoothly?
1. As long as the plug wires are in the correct order, use the factory timing specifications of 3 degrees BTDC. (Which is where I am at now but seem to be low on power.)
2. The plug wires can stay where they are, but I will not be able to use the factory timing marks on the engine as a guide. I will need to adjust the timing beyond the scale to compensate for the misplaced plug wires.
3. Pull the distributor, set it back in correctly, wire it correctly and them time the engine to factory specs.
Boy, what a project
this turned out to be!
Charlie
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