https://vimeo.com/509174862checked all leads and ensured they were in correct firing order
set the timing again statically and then bought a timing light and made sure it was correct. Think this was part of the solution to improved running. Easy to make mistakes and I had set it to what I thought was 6°BTDC but was actually more like 2-3. Had done this as that’s what it said in the manual I was looking at but I failed to read on and that was for the auto. Corrected this to the 12°BTDC it says for the manual. Also used a paint marker to make the Timing makes a little more visible, this really helped see how far out I was and when I had rotated the distributor too far.
I also checked the valve gaps and not sure what happened here when I previously set them but some of the inlet ones were out by 0.20. I also tested the compression and found some variation but need to recheck now I have the valves 100%. What sort of figure should I be looking for with the compression?
Also found a vacuum hose that was previously blocked with a bolt (not sure why, not sure what the hose is even for) but her Fireworks had clearly shot this out. Clamped that off and helped the idle enormously.
Also rechecked the head bolts and did the recheck after running. Do people drain the coolant and remove the thermostat housing to check the torque on the head bolt underneath?!?!
Something still doesn’t seem right, but today’s efforts certainly improved the old girls running. I still can’t get her to idle below 1000rpm and she is blowing out of the dipstick and rocker cover breather quite heavily plus a few other bits but we made progress so today was a good day!