Well done mate 

So a video of her stating justa now and one of me hooking up the vacuum. I will get a new battery Sunday. I'm thinking from here on adjusting I want the highest RPMs then adjust the carb to lower them to where I want them. Correct?

Thank you again for all of your help and patience guys.

I can't remember the NSD part # but Summit have them. Get the matching coil and HT leads and you'll be sweet.

Anecdotally, it seems GM had issues with their HEIs.

I also meant to mention that if you have a pacemaker or something  be very careful around a distributor whilst engine is running. I wear a thick glove when adjusting the timing to avoid 50k volts going through me.

1. Ensure engine is at TDC on #1 cylinder. Remember, 2 crank revolutions per cycle. I remove LHS rocker cover and watch the valves to ensure correct timing mark placement.

2. Position dizzy to be convenient re vac can, etc.

3. Ensure rotor is pointing to #1 on cap (make a mark.)

4. Arrange leads in firing order and plug vac line.

5. Start her up. You'll know timing is right when it starts easy, idles nice and watch marks as engine revs for advance. Take your time and get those marks as close as possible. Tighten dizzy, reconnect vac line. Create tyre smoke.

Kiwi - book your tolicket and we'll go over there.

3 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I can't remember the NSD part # but Summit have them. Get the matching coil and HT leads and you'll be sweet.

Anecdotally, it seems GM had issues with their HEIs.

I also meant to mention that if you have a pacemaker or something  be very careful around a distributor whilst engine is running. I wear a thick glove when adjusting the timing to avoid 50k volts going through me.

1. Ensure engine is at TDC on #1 cylinder. Remember, 2 crank revolutions per cycle. I remove LHS rocker cover and watch the valves to ensure correct timing mark placement.

2. Position dizzy to be convenient re vac can, etc.

3. Ensure rotor is pointing to #1 on cap (make a mark.)

4. Arrange leads in firing order and plug vac line.

5. Start her up. You'll know timing is right when it starts easy, idles nice and watch marks as engine revs for advance. Take your time and get those marks as close as possible. Tighten dizzy, reconnect vac line. Create tyre smoke.

Kiwi - book your tolicket and we'll go over there.

Booked and bags packed 

let’s gooooooooooo

Yeah Fitzy, I do have a pacemaker/defibrillator. I was warned about leaning over the alternator or being within 20 feet of a running welder by my doctor. I tried having my son do the adjustments for me, but you know how we are. So I ended up using the vacuum advance "bell" to push and pull it where it needed to be. I know that's not the right way, but it worked and I didn't get zapped.

WTF! We went out to start Rosey and she spins fast but took a min to fire up. When she did, she sounded horrible, loud backfires thru the exhaust. After nursing her trying to keep her running she died. Spent the next 30min trying to get her to start. No luck. I have fuel, I can smell it. I pulled the #1 plug and laid it against the master cylinder, the steel alternator bracket then the negative post on the battery. No spark. I repeated with the #3nplug, again no spark! 

Well I went to the parts house. They can sell me a new Mallory or another Pertronix distributor. But not the parts to fix this one. I wrote Pertronix an email and explained that I have no spark and asked them if they sell the parts to fix it. Waiting to hear back from them.

Wrongway ...

Have been watching your latest Trials and Tribulations with your Timing/Distributor issues...

If you don't mind...I have some thoughts and Questions...First off I'm Assuming that you Set the Cam Straight Up and Used a Degree Wheel to insure that everything was in Spec. According to the Cam card ...When Assembling the Engine...

Are you 100% Sure that the Engine is actually at TDC When The timing Mark on the Damper is lined up wth the 0 mark on the Timing Cover...??  Did you Reuse the original or install a New one during the Refresh/Rebuild...Either way Do NOT trust the Timing Mark on Any Damper to Be Correct No matter what Brand it may be or where it came from..As Fitzy indicated earlier...The only reliable way to insure TDC..Is to Remove the drivers side Valve Cover And Physically watch the Valves on #1..While Rolling the engine over by hand though a couple of Revolutions..When both the Intake and exhaust valves are fully Closed and the Stick a Pencil/ Staw..Etc..Through the sparkplug hole until it touches the top of the Piston then Physically have your hands on the pencil and barely Roll the engine over to make sure that the piston is at Its Highest point..Before starting Back down...That is 100% Without any Doubt TDC...If the timing mark on the Damper is Lined Up with the Zero mark on the Cover...That is Great..If Not Put your own mark on the Damper that lines up with the 0 mark on the Cover/timing tab...Then use that mark for any timing Adjustments...

Judging from What I Can see in the Pics..You might be Better off to Rotate the Distributor Body 180 Degrees in order to place the Vacuum Diaphram on the passenger side..As pretty much Every GM HEI car has the Distributor cap plug on the Drivers Side..Opposite of the way of the way yours is installed...With the #1 plug wire on the cap to the Front side of Where the Distributor (Power/Tach) plug in...

While you have the Distributor out of the Car...Install the Cap on the distributor...Then use a fine line Sharpie/Marker...and Mark the distributor body center line of the Metal connector Where the plug wire Attaches...The more Accurately you mark the Centerline of the Contact on the Cap with its position on the base..(Use a 90 degree Tri Square wth the bottom of it on the bottom tight against the base to help obtain a true Centerline mark)..The Easier it will be to put the distributor back in the Engine at the exact point in relation to where it will line up With the # 1 position marked on the distributor base...When Reinstaling the distributor you can position the Vacuum Brake in the center of the Available space between the Intake Manifold and the firewall..While installing Keep the Rotor as close as you can to the mark on the base as possible...Once You get the distributor positioned the way you want..Simply Rotate the base until your mark on the Distributor Body lines up with The Leading Edge of the Contact on the Rotor...That will put you within a Couple of Degrees Advance/Retard..of your Final Timing Setting...

Something else to pay Attention to is the Distributor Hold Down clamp make sure that all the Points of Contact including the bolt Threads/Distributor Base...Etc.. Are good and clean..As it is the hold down clamp is the Main Ground to the distributor itself...If it is Not Grounded good...The ground loop will travel through the Distributor shaft itself/Internally through the parts..and not Effectively ground the body as it should...And potentially cause all kinds of Stupid Chase Your Tail Electrical/Ignition Iisues...

Judging from what I've read...I have a Strong Suspicion that The Electronic Ignition Module in the Distributor has Failed...But Unfortunately there No way that I know of to Check/Test..The Module..Also the Condenser also located in the Distributor Has Absolutely Nothing to do with Ignition/Functionality of the distributor...It is Only there for Noise Suppression to keep the Radio from Picking up any electrical/Signal interference That may by put out by the Plugs/Points/Ignition module...Etc..

Hope that you will find this Helpful...

TLBT..

 

 

Two Lane, thank you for your input. 

I learned the pencil trick working on old ford FE engines where they used the same part number on multiple blocks and measuring the stroke was the only true way of identifying say a 360 from a 390. I did double check TDC in #1 plug with a pencil in the cylinder yesterday when I redid everything. At that time, I made sure the rotor was pointed at #1 plug wire on the cap. I should've checked that balancer but didn't think about it. I did reuse the factory balancer and have the factory marks. At some point during the last couple of years, I honestly don't remember when, I did mark the balancer with a sharpie. As of this morning, before I started her, I did look at that mark and she was lined up with 0 on the balancer. When I finished up yesterday, she sounded good, at least to me. The best she has sounded. This morning, with no changes made, once she started, she was rough bro. Backfiring, no peddle, then after running rough for 3-4 min she just died. No idling down, just died like you turn the key off. I will check the ground and clean everything good tomorrow and see if I get spark back. If so, I will see if there is room to turn the body as you suggested. I've been thinking that when she shut down was when the Electronic Ignition Module or something else in the distributor failed. Maybe it was starting to go bad or "glitched" when I started her up and that's why she ran so rough but I'm not sure that's even possible. I will report back tomorrow after I take another look and clean the hold down bracket and screw. If you need pictures of anything let me know.

Thanks again

Took about 2hrs last night to find the part numbers for the module, coil, cap and rotor. I pulled the cap of this morning and guess what, there was the part number to the module.

Anyways, I pulled the bolt and hold down clamp and cleaned them really well with a wire brush and parts cleaner and then rewiped everything down alcohol. Its clean. I inspected the cap and the leads in it and on it and they all looked good, no cracks not burnt. I checked inside and the rotor tip looked good and no burnt spot on the module or wires. Also pulled the cover off of the coil and checked it, same thing, everything looked good, no burnt spots or burnt wires. Reassembled everything and still no spark. So, I'm guessing module or coil, and I'm inclined to go with Two Lane and will try the module first.

Remember the dramas I had with misfiring and carrying on?

It'll only take a minute to check the alternator output (about 13.8V) and check the coil isn't getting too hot then failing. I'm not sure how HEIs work - is the coil integral with the cap? Anyway, check it.

I would think that a solid 12V is required by HEIs to work properly so check that too.

Thanks Fitzy, good ideas bud. I'll have to take the alternator to the parts house to have it tested since the engine won't run and figure out a way to test the HEI coil. I'm sure there's a video somewhere . I did order that module about 20min ago. It will be here Wednesday. I had plans of doing some brake line work today while waiting but it's raining again here. So, I guess wifey is putting me to work inside 

Hope i dont get anyone upset but....everyone (most of my car friends) i know who has used the petronix module or any number of new and improved etc has been stranded. personally, i love the GM modules and coils. yes i had one die with the group here but because i had a spare i was up and running in 20mins. the one that died on me was 40yrs old at least. are you getting 12v to the hei? points used a resistor wire for only 8? volts i think? i look for nos modules and coils on ebay as i don.t trust the new china crap. just my thoughts. 

2 hours ago, Wrongway said:

I had plans of doing some brake line work today while waiting but it's raining again here. So, I guess wifey is putting me to work inside 

so sorry to hear that mate !!! break an arm or something ? or justa run !!! hahaaha

4 hours ago, indymanjoe said:

Hope i dont get anyone upset but....

Hey Indymanjoe, upset, not a chance. Thanks for chiming in buddy.

So, I knew I wanted to get away from the points style ignition and seen High Energy Ignition and guess that I let my inner Tim Allen kick in, more power = better. I am regretting going with the HEI after hearing what a couple of y'all have said. If this module doesn't fix the problem or when it goes out again, I guess I will be looking for something else and get recommendations from y'all.

Thank again for the help Joe.

So for those following a long I got an email reply from Pertronix with a list of tests to do and send him back the results, and since I trust y'all more than a salesman at Pertronix here are the results, I will send them to him after. Please tell me what you think or if I did something wrong or if you want me to try something else. Since I didn't know how to place the center contact inside cap near something grounded, I used a ground wire and a clean bolt that grounds engine to frame. Oh, and he stated the ohms should be between 500-1500, I know nothing about ohms, and I got .0864. Maybe he meant .500-.1500? Or I messed up? Also, after test light I did everything with a multimeter.

Power wire going into coil 12.16V

Scratch test 12.23V Yes spark

Pick up coil test 11.09V Yes spark

Ohms .846

Still no spark at #1, #7 or #2 plugs video attached 

Wrongway 

your pick up has failed the test 

like the tests say 

you should have 500 to a 1500 ohms of resistance 

you have no signal going to your coil 

and you have proven the cap mounted coil 

is firing thanks to your earth test 👍

Thank you kiwi, I wasn't exactly sure brother but that was what I was thinking.

Edited April 23, 20251 yr by Wrongway

So according to the Pertronix guy, all is good! He says that since I had spark on the pickup coil test that everything is working as it should. I asked him about the ohms test results being .864 and the test sheet saying it should be 500 - 1500, his reply.... and I quote "It is quite common for the ohms scale to be off when measuring." I also asked if there was a way to test the power of the spark coming out of the coil and his reply was "There is no test you can do in the field that will measure the strength of a spark."

Just thought I would let y'all know what Pertronix had to say. The new module should be here by 10Pm tonight.

9 hours ago, Wrongway said:

So according to the Pertronix guy, all is good! He says that since I had spark on the pickup coil test that everything is working as it should. I asked him about the ohms test results being .864 and the test sheet saying it should be 500 - 1500, his reply.... and I quote "It is quite common for the ohms scale to be off when measuring." I also asked if there was a way to test the power of the spark coming out of the coil and his reply was "There is no test you can do in the field that will measure the strength of a spark."

Just thought I would let y'all know what Pertronix had to say. The new module should be here by 10Pm tonight.

Very odd that mr pertronix says all is good , yet you still don’t have spark at the plugs !!! Hahaha 

On 4/22/2025 at 6:18 PM, Wrongway said:

and since I trust y'all more than a salesman at Pertronix here are the results, I will send them to him after.

Yup, which is why I said that ⬆️ 

I did get the new module in late this afternoon. I'll be putting it in tomorrow as long as the rain holds off. Yes, were expecting rain, AGAIN!

1 hour ago, Wrongway said:

Yup, which is why I said that ⬆️ 

I did get the new module in late this afternoon. I'll be putting it in tomorrow as long as the rain holds off. Yes, were expecting rain, AGAIN!

Send some rain south mate !!! we have had bugger all for the best part of 4 months now ! and winters coming and my grass will stop growing ! which means i will have to stick daisy in the freezer ! and have to eat steak alllllll winter 

Wrongway, remember what I said. If after all this palaver the damn thing still doesn't work, go MSD. I had to be convinced (by no less than 2 mechanics) and I'm impressed by the result.

May I remind everyone that my ignition woes meant the purchase of new points, condensor, cap, rotor, leads & plugs. Then a Pertronix set up. Then a new distributor. Then a Pertronix coil. Then MSD. End of story. Good luck, mate.

Yeah Fitzy, that's been on my mind a lot the last few days. I had an MSD about 30 years ago in a Malibu. Can't remember having a single issue. Justa not in a spot to lay out $500-$600 right now. So, if we can't get this POS Pertronix fixed then the ignition will be on hold for a bit while I work on something else. 

6 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Send some rain south mate !!! we have had bugger all for the best part of 4 months now ! and winters coming and my grass will stop growing ! which means i will have to stick daisy in the freezer ! and have to eat steak alllllll winter 

According to TV commercials here,  we do our Daisy's by the dollop.   They last longer that way!