For some reason or another the 235 in my 1948 Chevy 3600 doesn't like to work too hard. Once I get to a certain road speed (43mph in 4th gear and some unknown speed in 3rd gear) the truck will only take maybe 1/2 throttle or it'll start running a bit rough, make some popping noise under the hood (But not from the exhaust like backfiring) and surge a bit.
From what I know the 235 engine was built in 1957. The flywheel and starter on it are from a 6-volt truck.
Right now I'm working on setting the ignition timing as setting it has been suggested to me. After putting a new vacuum advance unit on the truck I set it per The Chevy 216/235/261 Tuneup Guide found on Deve's Tech Net online. This morning I went to check that the #1 plug should fire with the cylinder around TDC. I hooked my light from the points/coil wire on the distributor to negative to read when that wire is powered, and I'm finding that power comes on when the piston is around TDC. Shouldn't power be shutting off around TDC?
This Chevy has been my first adventure setting timing on an automobile, but what I remember from magnetos is that at the proper timing setting the points should break open, shutting off electrical flow and causing the coil to induce electrical current from the primary winding into the secondary winding which is then routed to the correct spark plug by the distributor itsself.
I checked my timing really roughly by marking the crank pully when the points open and then moving the #1 cylinder to TDC and it looks like my static timing is around 15 degrees BTDC, so I'm going to do some research and figure out what it should be.
