Interesting timing issues on my carb conversion

[jim_howard_pdx]

Hey,

Here is my two cents worth....
If you did a cam change what did you have, and what did you end up with. A standard 289 302 cam has a funky firing order. When ford decided to evaluate the 351W for LeMans racing, they correctly decided not to fire 7 and 8 back to back. So the 351W has a different firing order to correct the original stupidity. Ford new they had a great engine with the 302HO so they followed the 351W firing order.

See what I mean. You may be misfiring two cylinders which would exactly explain your ability to get it running but one side is hot and one side is cold. DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT?????

Now as for the distributor timing. I pull the first plug, that is plug number one for the bud crowd, and I hold my finger over the plug hole with the coil lead disconnected from the coil. When I feel compression, that is pressure for the bud crowd, then I know the intake and exhaust are closed. Now I know I am headed to top dead center. I turn the engine manually to be 6 degrees advance, and drop the distributor to where ever I want the vacume advance canister to aim. Then I make sure the number one cap lead is exactly over the rotor. No I know I am close enough to start the engine.

If the car is still struggling, then I double check my firing order. This usually corrects any problems. Email me at jim_howard_pdx@yahoo.com if you need additional information or help. I think you changed cam firing order without knowing it. It should be fairly easy to check this out.

Good Luck.