1 hour ago, Wrongway said:

Thanks Kiwi.

Yeah Justa, still using the 800 AVS2 from Edelbrock. I was thinking start out around 7psi until I start the engine then dial it back or adjust from there. Think it would be better to start around 6?

i so love my avs2 too mate !!! i showed it to fitzy when he was here and he gave me a good tip on adjusting the electric choke 

7 sounds about right too

So you tell us he gave you a great tip, are you going to share this great tip??? 

Justa had to switch out my intank stock pump as they don't make em anymore for the Sunbird.  Went with an outside the tank pump All while trying to fire the newly rebuilt engine.  Set it at 6psi and it stay's there throught 5500rpm. Perfect.  Sounds like you have an injection regulator going up that high.  Long as it will settle down to carb pressures.

11 hours ago, Wrongway said:

So you tell us he gave you a great tip, are you going to share this great tip??? 

from the factroy the choke setting is too much, a turn of the setting made the 389 start hot wayyyyy better 

Thanks. I'll definitely check it out once she's back running bro

So, the rain finally stopped long enough to get Rosey running today. Shes running a bit rough but I'm guessing it's a combination of last year's gas and the timing being just a bit off. She's real slow to crank, will go about one and a half real slow turns then fires up. The plan was to get her up to temp and adjust but then it started raining again. So, if the rain holds off, I will check and adjust the timing tomorrow or Saturday. The little bit of time she was running I was able to get the fuel pump regulator dialed back to 6psi.

So, I played with the timing a couple days ago. Only got two adjustments before the battery was too low to crank. I've had it on the charger for the last couple of days and decided to try it again today. Only got a couple of starts before the battery was drained again. So, picking up a new battery this weekend. But I have a question, in the picture you can see the bell on the side of the distributor where the vacuum hose hooks up. As I pull it towards the front of the car, she gets a little smoother but still hard to start. I can't go any farther because that bell hits the block. I had a fella tell me last year that I can move all of the plug wires on the cap over one hole and restart with the bell against the firewall and start moving it forward again. Is this correct? If so, exactly how does that work and what do I need to do?  Move them all to the left or? 

 

JustA pull the dizzy mate and rotate it anti clock wise 1 tooth 👍

Or yeah like you said move each wire one spot anti clockwise 👍

30 minutes ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

JustA pull the dizzy mate and rotate it anti clock wise 1 tooth 👍

Never thought about that  thanks ol'buddy

So, I pulled the distributor and moved it one notch forward. She backfired thru the carb, so I moved it one notch back. Thats, were we started from, she started but it was a long slow start. Then I moved it one notch back, she turned over faster and sounded like she should. Sooooooo I moved it back one more notch and she wouldn't start and sounded like she was trying to backfire. So, I moved it one notch forward (that's one notch back from where we started) and it started to rain on my son, and I so were taking a rain brake. I did try to start her again and she turns over fast, sounds like she wants to fire but didn't. Might be flooded? Not sure, will try her again after the carb airs out and rain stops.

Your close mate 👍

when you say forward I presume your saying clockwise aye ?

from what I saw you needed to go back/ anticlockwise 1 tooth 

so from what your saying your perfect now … just turn the housing back a little 

this is where you need a good battery 🍺

And a timing light 😜

The bell is your vacume advance.  Turns over too slow (labored)  timing is too far advanced. Back to where you started.  Follow Chris's advice your almost there. Back one notch then fine tune it with dist rotation.  You only have 2-3 degree's in each direction to find your sweet spot.  Usually have the vac hose plugged and off the vac advance to set.  Might be different with whatever kind of aftermarket dist you have,  then plug vac line back in and reset your idle adjustment on carb to around 800rpm.  Bingo your ready for the Dream Cruise, see you guys then.

Ok, so when it did fire up where it's at (cranking fast) it sounded horrible, and I had no peddle. I know this sounds crazy but it's like that "sweet spot" is a half inch past where the vacuum advance can reach. When I pulled the distributor and moved it one tooth I can't pull the vacuum advance back far enough. Now when I bought this car the distributor was touching the fire wall, I personally "dished" (dented in and smoothed) the fire wall, look how close it is in the last pics. Is it possible that I justa can't hit that sweet spot and need to "dish" the firewall more? By the way, this is the second distributor I bought for her and the first one I had the same issues.

Justa, you said to block of the vacuum port on carb and disconnect on distributor? should distributor port be capped also or justa left open?

Here's the link to the distributor I bought

Amazon.com: Pertronix D1202 Flame-Thrower Distributor HEI with Blue Cap for Pontiac Small Block/Big Block : Automotive

Edited April 18, 20251 yr by Wrongway

Sorry Chris, I've got 100 things going through my head right now, yes by back I meant counter or anticlockwise brother. I'm one notch anticlockwise from where I started. 

As far as a timing light. I have 2, the first is an Actron CP7529 it worked well on other engines but does not work on this one. So, I bought a new Bosch FIX 7529 a few years back. It also would not work correctly on this engine. So, I reached out to Pertronix and asked them if it was something I was doing wrong or if it was the lights. THEY claim that the flame thrower HEI distributor puts out too much power for a "standard" timing light and I needed to buy a certain model Snap-On timing light that was over $300. I couldn't see paying that much for a timing light when I didn't know if I actually believed what that man said.

1 hour ago, Wrongway said:

Sorry Chris, I've got 100 things going through my head right now, yes by back I meant counter or anticlockwise brother. I'm one notch anticlockwise from where I started. 

As far as a timing light. I have 2, the first is an Actron CP7529 it worked well on other engines but does not work on this one. So, I bought a new Bosch FIX 7529 a few years back. It also would not work correctly on this engine. So, I reached out to Pertronix and asked them if it was something I was doing wrong or if it was the lights. THEY claim that the flame thrower HEI distributor puts out too much power for a "standard" timing light and I needed to buy a certain model Snap-On timing light that was over $300. I couldn't see paying that much for a timing light when I didn't know if I actually believed what that man said.

I am not sure here mate as I have not used a timing light on a hei 

but surely they are not any different ? It’s justA spark signal ? Idk 

Brother I don't know either, this is my first HEI. They are both digital, the light comes on, one doesn't show numbers on the screen and one the numbers are all over the place.

Your hooking your postive n negative to the battery aye ?

All that’s left is signal !

I see with that great big dizy you so don’t have a lot of room to turn aye !!!

I can’t see by the pic mate 

but is turning the housing 180 degrees an option to give you more adjustability ? 

JustA thinking about it mate 

one option is the vacuum canister can be removed. You can then set your timing and then sort fitting it back on 

you don’t want it working while your setting timing 

Chad , wish I was there helping you 🍻

but I am at the beach with the grand kids ! 
it’s blowing a storm but we are having fun 🍻

The factory dizzy has a little shutter that you can easily access to adjust the points dwell. In order to gain access, the little shutter has to be facing out almost 90° to block orientation  ie. towards you. You can position the dizzy body any way you like as long as the engine is at #1 firing position (mark on crank pulley) and rotor is pointing to #1 plug wire. You then arrange the plug wires as per firing order (counterclockwise from #1.)

Once engine starts (vac line disconnected & plugged) use timing light to align CORRECT marks on timing cover & pulley. You can observe mech advance as you rev engine. When marks align at idle, stop engine, carefully tighten dizzy & reconnect vac line.

You want vac can in a convenient location - not pressed against the firewall nor facing inwards. Remember - you can install the dizzy body in any position initially.

Kiwi

Yeah, its huge bro. I don't think turning the cap would be an option because there are two plugs on the top left of the cap (green arrow) that go to the distributor itself. One powers the HEI I think, and one is for the tach. If I'm wrong, please let me know. I can take better pictures or videos tomorrow if it helps.

The vacuum can CAN be removed??? I wasn't aware of that. How does that work?

This sure would be simpler if GM had justa put the damn distributor in the front of the engine where it belongs! You know, like another unnamed Motor Company did! 

Fitzy,

So, It's an HEI distributor not an OEM points, but that shouldn't matter if I'm understanding you correctly. I can turn the distributor however I want, as long as all the marks line up, Is that correct? If you look at the picture, I'm not sure there is room to turn it any other direction. Thats part of the reason I think I put it like it is. But hell, I may have put it like it is because that's what the picture it the book looked like 

By the way, thank you for the help everybody. I truly appreciate it.

2 hours ago, Wrongway said:

This sure would be simpler if GM had justa put the damn distributor in the front of the engine where it belongs! You know, like another unnamed Motor Company did! 

Wash your mouth out 

Chad 

here to help mate 🍻

Your 63 is so cool 

I bet your looking forward to using her this coming summer !

That's a BIG dizzy. I think there are 'small' HEI dizzies for that very reason.

As you know, I was advised to go with MSD and I am impressed. Cost a small fortune but it's there forever and fits like a stocker.

Looks like the orientation of the cap is going to dictate how it sits. Once you're happy with the position of the cap and vac can, then do the timing like I said, starting with leads in correct location & order. You can't simply move the dizzy one tooth then fire her up coz you've altered everything then.

As long as your pointer is on the 0 timing mark, you can make any plug position on the distr. #1 and make sure you have rotor pointing at #1 post on cap.  Factory distr has the dwell window (as Fitzy said) that points at the corner of the intake on pass side.  Bell or vac advance goes on DR side as you have it.  #1 on cap is usually is pointed at the outside of the Pass side valve cover.  Disconnect vac line from bell and plug with a bolt. Don't worry about Vac advance bell.  You have an arrow pointing at the wire hookup for distr. (in the pic above) The post on the cap engine side of hookup should be #1.  Pointing in general direction of the outside corner of pass valve cover.

Edited April 18, 20251 yr by JUSTA6

Thanks for the detailed instruction Justa. It helps bro. I will be going back out in a bit to give it another go and will report back. 

Yes Kiwi, I am looking forward to driving her this summer, it's taken me almost 5 years to get to this point. The timing has been an issue for at least 3 years. I'm starting to think I can't hit the "sweet spot" with this big ass distributor.

Fitzy, do you happen to know what model MSD you have. Justa curious. 

Quick update:

So around 4am I decided to justa start completely over. So after coffee, I pulled all the wires, all the plugs and I checked everything and reset everything back to ground zero. The plugs were still soaked in gas from yesterday when I pulled them so I cleaned and regapped them (NGK XR5) TO .39. I reread what yall said and went from there. I did disconnect the vacuum and plug the carb also. The first try on cold start she backfired through the carb, I pulled the vacuum advance clockwise about a 1/2 inch and she fired up. Pretty easy start. Let her run about 10min and shut her off. Went to restart and slow to start, I believe that's do to battery so she's charging as we speak. I did justa adjust the carb back to factory setting (screw in back out 1 1/2 turns) and when she starts, I will hook up the vacuum hose. Did I miss anything?