Originally posted by hestor cten:
Okay, A 'tuneup'is on the agenda. I plan to dust the snow off and garage her through February to get her straightened out. What do you all recommend? Compression test first? What steps do you all take when you 'tuneup' a rough runner?
I had her into the shop in October for some body work and I asked the mechanic at that time to just tune her then. My time was limited and I couldn't get to it. He compression tested and said I had some low numbers that were corrected with a valve adjustment. She ran great after that but it has gradually gotten rough again. I figure the points need adjusted. If that's the case, I am thinking of getting rid of the points and going with an electronic ignition. Any recommendations?
First things first. Tuneup steps: Replace plugs, wires, cap, rotor. In your case, I'd replace the points with a Pertronix and not look back. I've used them in 4 or 5 applications and had good luck in all put one. That one turned out to have worn distributor bushings, so I ended up installing an HEI distributor.
Once that's done, I'd see how she runs. Most likely that'll cure the rough running problems. If not, then the compression check. If you find one or more cylinders dramatically lower than the others, shoot a squirt of oil into the cylinder thru the plug hole and try the compression check again. If it comes up, there's a good chance the rings are worn and it's time for a rebuild. If it stays the same, it could be a valve or cam problem.
But I always do the ignition stuff first, just to make sure.
hth
