Soggy,
Yeah that's the impression I got when I read the receipt as well, however I wish there had been more detail as well as more legible writing. It was quite expensive, $2600ish I believe, which from what I've been reading, is in the ball park for an "extensive rebuild" on the 216.
I still need to tear into the distributor and take a look at the weights. I did noticed I would turn the distributor and release it, and the springs would take it almost all the way back, but I could move it about 2 degrees more if I nudged it, making me think there may be a dirty, corroded, or rusty part in it (under the "breaker plate?"). The vacuum advance is working OK from what I could see, and when I had it disconnected from the carb last time I did a vacuum test, the motor sounded almost the same.
And yes, I believe that's where the wipes went to, there is a little rubber boot on it, and it looks like pipe fittings fitted into the intake manifold. I may need to adjust the octane selector, I know the manual mentioned it a couple of times during the "tune up procedure." so I'll fiddle with it some. I can't really read the writing on it. I'll also grab some ultra fine sandpaper and make sure the points are perfectly clean.
I am kind of wondering if one of the push rods is slightly bent or something and I have a valve not opening all the way, or something causing a valve to not close all the way (but that would show up on the compression test wouldn't it?)
Yes, I would like to keep this as simple as possible. I'm not going out of my way to over-complicate things haha.
Dragsix,
as long as the cylinders are still in order 1-6 from front to back, then yes they are in the correct order. However, some of them are twist-tied together right after the distributor to keep them together, which might not be helping. Despite them being "radio suppressant" I don't know how effective those wires are at suppressing interference from each other. (not exactly a twisted pair are they?)
The distributor cap is from LMC, part number 36-1716, which is listed as the "47-53" version. Unfortunately, I have no idea who makes that part for LMC. At the "3 major auto parts stores" my options are either BWD or duralast, no delco, as they only go back to 1958 according to their parts site.
As for the motor mounts: after some choice words, a few thrown tools, and having dirt rain on my face, the truck now has new rear motor mounts. Things I noticed while working on it: the exhaust manifold to exhaust pipe connection is VERY loose (like the nuts and bolts are there, but not tight at all, and the piping is just loosely hanging there, although the pipe looks fairly new.) I didn't think to tighten them up just yet, however I'll probably want to throw a new exhaust pipe flange gasket on it anyway. I'm sure the old one has deteriorated to some degree.
Thanks again guys! I'll try to keep everything updated as I work on it and let everyone know if I ever figure out what's causing it.
