There is a Heart Beat!!

After adjusting the timing for the past week or so, I think I've got it just about right. The black lines just below the distributor show how far I had to adjust the timing before I could get any reaction from the engine. Margaret and I have been trying it, and last night when we tried to turn over Diane and she backfired. Not necessarily from the exhaust but there was a big bang and a plume that came back from the carburetor. Needless to say it made me jump back a little bit since my hand was over the carb. When I jumped poor Margaret jumped too from inside the truck. Once we both had realized what happened, we tried to use gas instead of the starter fluid I had been using. We poured some gas into the funnel/hose that I had set up, which is hooked up to the fuel intake into the carb. We tried it again and nothing. I tried adjusting it again thinking that maybe it had moved with the backfire...but of course I was unsuccessful. I talked to Rob about the carb backfiring and he thinks there might not be any compression in the engine. He said it that was the case then I would most likely either need to get a new engine or have this one rebuilt.

Once again being frustrated I have moved on to other things while I try to calm down from realizing I may need to have the engine rebuilt. I was finally able to remove the driver side window and frame, as well as the door handle, latch plate, and trim around the window. Even with the trim removed I think my two girls are ready for a drive!

Almost Ready to Start

I haven't worked on Diane in a few days because I feel like I've been at a loss for what to do with the coil and engine not starting. Thankfully Rob came over on Sunday and was able to help me trouble shoot my problems. First off he explained that I should run a wire straight from the battery to the coil and bypass attaching it to the starter like it had originally been. He was saying that the starter was pulling a lot of the amperage from the battery and not letting it go to the coil. Then after looking inside the distributor cap he saw that I had incorrectly gaped my points....making it so they wouldn't close the circuit when I was trying to start the engine.

I disconnected the wire I had running from the starter to the coil and replaced it with a wire from the coil to a positive connection to the battery. I set it up so the end that connects to the battery is easily detachable. I did this by crimping a loop butt to the end, then sliding that onto a screw with a nut and lock washer. I tightened the nut and was able to slide it into the positive battery port. This way when I pull it out the coil won't be draining the battery and then when it's in the coil will have power.

Next we tackled the gap of the points. When I had originally gaped them I hadn't accounted for the peaks and flat spots so when I had gaped them at .022", it was at one of the flat spots which should be a closed circuit and then when the peak was reached the gap was much further. Rob and I fixed it after a few minutes and then tried the to start her. She wanted to but the timing was off. Rob suggested that I work on adjusting the distributor to fine tune the timing.

Since I like to be able to see some progress as I go, I have been working on removing some body parts that will eventually need to be removed anyways. I started by removing the driver side door handle as well as the window, and latch plate. After a lot of work, having to drill out several screws, and lots of WD-40 everything came out. I had to break the plate the glass would normally sit in so I could remove the window frame. Then I removed the chrome trim from around the outside of the window. I have also removed the trim around the headlights and the headlights from their locations in the fenders. Needless to say Diane is starting to look rather plain!

Once again I am stumped... I adjusted the points and have tried to get a spark but still don't have any. My only other thought is that the coil is bad. I did have it tested at Autozone, but I'm not sure the results they came up with were right. They tested it, then looked at a book to see if it was within range, but I'm not convinced, first because I think their results were for the original 6 volt coil, and I have a newer 12 volt coil. Since the coil is the only thing I haven't yet replaced that is needed to start the engine, I'm going to replace it. My hope is that once I have it replaced the engine will start right up.

On a side note, since we still don't have Diane titled in our names because of difficulties with the Oregon DMV, we have been on the lookout for the next of kin to the original owner. This past weekend we found him. Lydon, Paul's son lives down near Milwaukie and has agreed to help us out with some of the paperwork we need. He told Margaret a lot of information about the truck, including the fact the engine really wasn't doing all that well when they last used her. He said that he knew they should have done some work to the engine to help preserve it a bit before parking her for good.

Distributor Drama

I went and purchased new points today to replace the set up inside the distributor. The points were basically the last thing I could replace. I pulled off the cap and rotor, then removed the old points. I installed the new ones, and put in another new condenser, reinstalled the rotor and then cap. I went and tried to start her and still nothing, but when I went and looked at the engine in frustration, I saw smoke coming up from the resistor that I had installed a few days ago. After asking some questions on Stovebolt, I found out that I must have installed the points incorrectly. Apparently I had installed them so they created a closed circuit and weren't opening and closing like they should.

A couple of guys on stovebolt explained how to fix it. They told me that I should adjust the spacing of the points, that they should be set at 18 thousandths of an inch. Once I had adjusted the spacing I should check for spark, they told me a nice easy way of doing this while keeping the cap off of the distributor, and without having to climb into the truck to try to start it. First by removing a spark plug and it's wire, then attaching the other end of the wire to the coil, where the coil is normally connected to the cap of the distributor. Then using a screw driver to open and close the points, I should eventually see a spark at the end of the spark plug. If I don't then my wiring is incorrect somewhere.

Up On Blocks

So after doing some research at the car "cemetary" across the street I came to the conclusion that I had the wrong rotor on the distributor. I happened to grab one while I was there and tried it on Diane when I got home, it fit like a glove. The gap I had previously seen with my old rotor was no longer there, and I noticed that the new rotor actually touched the top of the cap. With the correct, or so I'm assuming, rotor in I tried to start it up again. Still no luck, but I wasn't able to check and see if there was a spark or not so I don't know if I'm getting a closed circuit now or not. I'm thinking that I'm going to purchase a new rotor of the same size I happened to find at the cemetary. If that doesn't work then I might try replacing the condenser.

Since I couldn't test the spark last night, I decided to move on to a project I could complete. I decided to put her up on blocks since the poor old tires weren't holding air too well. When we picked up Diane, she had been parked out in the field without anyone messing with her too much so her tires were able to hold air without any problem. Before I put her on blocks though I had to remove the old tires and wheels. After soaking them multiple times with Liquid Wrench and WD-40, I was able to penetrate the rust. With a little persuasion from an impact wrench the bolts started coming loose. Once the bolts were loose I lifted the front end up onto jack stands and removed the tires. Needless to say I feel much better now about leaning on her, before I felt like she was going to try to roll away every time I leaned on her.

Adjusting the Timing

I have finally gotten the time to remove the old ground cable and install the new one. What a difference! The new one looks great. I'm hoping that once I have the timing figured out, the new ground cable will give me a better circuit to run from.

With the new ground cable on I have turned back to the timing. I think I've figured the timing out. I pulled the valve cover off, and removed the plugs, then figured out a way to advance the engine with a hand crank. After rotating it around a few times, I figured out the sequence of the valves and pistons. From the information I received from Stovebolt.com, I adjusted the timing so that both of the valves on the first piston were up, while the piston was also up. I reconnected everything, tried it and of course no luck. I took everything apart again and pulled out the distributor as well to see if the timing was off by a rotation. I advanced the engine to verify the timing was correct and rotated the distributor 1 time. I reinstalled everything again and tried to start it one more time. No luck, it was still sounding like it wasn't getting any gas. I poured a little into the carburetor bowl to see if that would help. Still no luck. Since I was getting a little frustrated with taking everything apart and putting it back together, I decided to test for spark again, the spark is still good at the coil, I am able to jump about a 1/4", but still nothing at the plugs. I removed the coil and took it in to get tested, everything came back within normal range.

Since everything came back normal, I'm beginning to think that maybe its the distributor or the rotor that is not correct. The gap from the rotor to the points is close to 3/8", quite far when I am only able to get 1/4" jump from the coil. I'm also beginning to wonder if it might be the condenser after asking on Stovebolt again. My next step is to talk to Chev's of the 40's to get their opinion about the gap and condenser.

Engine Schematics

While searching online for schematics for engine wiring, I found a forum on Stovebolt.com, a website dedicated to older Chevy engine's like mine. I asked some questions and was told the firing order for the plugs, 153624, and they, a couple of people that answered my questions on the forum, explained the timing for the starter as well. I have checked the plug wires and they are correct, or at least I am assuming they are. On the engine block they are done correctly, but I don't know where to start on the cap. After trying several locations, I decide it may not matter, and that I could try other things while I continue the search for the starting position on the cap.

In the mean time I disconnected the wire that goes from the starter to the ignition switch, then back down to the coil. I replaced it with a wire from the starter to the coil, to see if the wire coming back from the ignition was bad, since it looked fairly frayed. The engine still won't turn over. I've checked the coil for spark, and now that I've replaced the wire from the starter...it is much stronger, but I still don't see anything at the plugs. Since the sleeve that the coil sits in is missing one of the bolts, I am wondering if it isn't making a ground or if it even needs too.

Since I'm at a loss for ideas for now, I've decided that I want to move onto other things that I can accomplish without too much difficulty. I'm reinstalling the ignition switch under the dash. Working on removing the wheels, so I can get them cleaned up or install new ones. I'm also replacing the ground cable from the engine to the frame. Last on my list before I ask Rob for more advice is to reinstall the coil and sleeve with the new bolts I have picked up to see if that helps.