Hey SC . . . email me the video clip and I can post it in our gallery. zenph AT comcast.net
On the point gap . . . Go to Autozone (Bugtech, WAIT BEFORE YOU START BASHING ME :wink: ) and buy some points. Install them in the parking lot. Make sure you put the little capsule of grease on the rubbing block. Use one of the flaps from the box the points came in for a feeler guage. It's about the perfect thickness. Trust me. Been there done that. It works. :whistle:
Now figure out where top dead center is on your pulley. It's probably not the mark you think it is. It may not even be marked. Find it and mark it. You gott'a know where top dead center is at. :-k
Pull the coil wire off of your distributor cap . . . turn your ignition switch to on. Start about 90 degrees Before Top Dead Center on the #1 cylinder. With the end of the coil wire near a good ground, slowly turn the engine by hand. See where it fires. Adjust the position of the distributor until you have it firing at Top Dead Center on #1. Turn the switch off before you fry the Autozone points. Probably too late. If they are blue near the end, go back in the store and buy another set and start over. Your usually a little faster the second time. Don't fry those. They usually only have two sets in stock.
Now hook the coil wire back up. Push your bug off. Drive to someplace that sells Bosch stuff and buy some Bosch points . . . and a NEW Bosch starter. If you have a generator, check to make sure you have a Bosch voltage regulator. If you don't, go ahead and spring for a new solid state Bosch regulator while your there. You can skip the regulator, but get ready to buy more starters . . . and generators . . . and coils . . . and batteries . . . and various other electrical components. Once you have all of the Bosch electrical stuff you need, drive to someone's house who has a feeler gauge and a good timing light with an advance degree needle on the back. Install all of the Bosch stuff. That includes that brass bushing that came with the starter. Set the point so they are opened .016" at the top of one of the distributor cam lobes. Don't forget to grease the cam / rubbing block. Hook up the timing light. Start the car.
Starts better with a new Bosch starter doesn't it?
Make sure the spark advance is working. As you rev the engine, the spark should advance. At some point it should stop advancing and hold pretty steady. If it's not advancing or if it's firing irratically, you've got distributor troubles.
Buy yourself a new 009 distributor. If you have a 34 carb, you'll also need to buy one of those 34 to 30/31 adaptors and a new Brosol 30/31 Carb. Tighten all the screws on the top of the new carb . . . and tighten the screws on the accellarator pump cover . . . and tighten the idle cut off solinoid. It's a good carb and will usually bolt on and run right out the box with little or no tuning . . . but it's made in Brazil. Best I can figure, they don't know how to tighten right hand threads in the southern hemisphere. Bolt the adaptor to the carb and install the new carb. OR . . . insted of the 009, buy a good vacuum and mechanicaly advanced distributor (new or used . . . as long it's good). Now you keep running that 34 carb. Bugtech says he can tune one and they are a good carb. I've never had any luck with them. But I'm cheap. I usually buy an on-sale 009 for about 50 bucks rather than spend $100 on a good distributor. I'm begining to think that by the time I've spent about $125 on the 30/31 and the adaptor, I might have been better off buing a good distributor. I'm slow. Someday I'll learn. Someday . . . Probably not today. :tard:
Adjust the distributor until the maximum advance is set at 32 degrees before top dead center. That's where that little advance/retard needle comes in handy. Get whoever you borrowed it from to show you how to use it.
Now, since it's running so much better, you'll get a lot better gas mileage. Save up the money you would have spent on gas . . . by the time you need to adjust the points again, you should have saved enough to buy yourself a new feeler guage set . . . and one of those neat timing lights.
You could even buy one of those fancy electronic ignition modules and do away with the points. Then you wouldn't have adjust the points and timing on a regular basis . . . but where's the fun in that. You might as well drive a Honda if you don't want to mess with points. :wink:
