The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Whats wrong with my ole 49????

Can't get the spitting and sputtering an missing to smooth out. Have a 235 out of a 62 Impala with a Rochester carb. 7004497-C-2 no tag of course with auto choke. Choke is working great, when it gets warmed up the float comes wide open and drops back down when it cools off. Idles wonderful, slightly rough on warm up but smoothes out good. When I take off in it she starts running rough in all three gears and the more I drive it the worse it gets. Do I need to look at this as a carb problem and try to rebuild it or do I just assume it is in the timing. Getting plenty of gas, new brake lines, new plugs. I sure do need some advice from you guys, getting nice here in TN and I am anxious to hit the cruisins. Thanks for any advice you can give.

I'd take a look at the ignition system.

Im kind of new at this game, what exactly do you mean by the ignition system. Firing order, plugs, dist., that route?

and.. vacuum advance

Thanks Don an Deve for answering back so quick. So how does one go about checking ignition system and vacuum advance? I have to admit I just grabbed an old distributer I had laying around the barn and threw it on, think it was on an old 216 I had, could that be something I may need to look at?

I have a few how-to's on my website that may help. Just go down the list of engine related how-to's. Let us know!

I will, Thanks again.

It is not a good idea to use a 216 distributor in a late 1954-62 engine.
The 216 distributor is designed to run against a steel cam. Late 1954-62 cams are cast.
The 216 distributor is hard in the drive gear on the cast cam.

I had this same problem one time with my original '52...heck, back in the late 70's. I found my problem to be junk in the float bowl that didn't start messing around with me until I put it in gear and got the RPM's up.

Being a young, stupid kid I tried downshifting from 3rd to 2nd going @ 45 or 50 and guess what? The tach jumped right up (D-uh!) no sputtering or spitting....until I put it back into 3rd and started trying to accelerate back to cruising speed.

Did it one too many times apparently. Blew the snot out of my tranny. Felt like an utter fool after I replaced the tranny then decided to learn how to rebuild a carb. I have no idea how a chunk of whatever it was got in there, but sure as heck, cleaned it all up, finished the rebuild, back on and ran like a charm for years after that!

Red49, you say you swapped the dist, did you do this troubleshooting the problem? If so did the problem cheange or remain the same?

I ask this because if the problem stayed the same you want to put the original dist back on. It may be the correct model whereas the replacement is questionable.

To echo others,
With the Dist out, check the shaft for side play. There shouldn't be any.
If you have a vacuum pump, test the Dist vacuum advance, if you don't you should observe the Dist rotating when you excellerate from idle to low speed. This provides the engine w/enough timing advance to smoothly excellerate from idle to slow speed. The mechanical advance takes over at mid to high speeds.

Make sure the vacuum line from the carb to the Dist is good and tight and is not a vacuum leak.

In torubleshooting it's best to work on one subsystem at a time. Check it and ensure it's working somewhat properly before going on to the next. Makes it much easier.
Good luck
Dave

I'd be finding somebody with a Sun distr machine to dial in that distr/ignition system. Pull the distr, coil etc and and get them working right on a machine, then when you put them back into the engine you'll know they are right.
Right now you are guessing, it might be a brand new faulted condenser or the wires shorting on the plate and you'll be chasing your tail around and around getting frustrated.
Remember that distr is very old and lots of miles on it.

I'd get the correct distributor, install a new set of points and condenser making sure to get the adjustment set right. I would also look at the insulator that goes through the body of the distributor and make sure its in good shape. You can move the vacuum advance with your fingers and then plug the vacuum port to get an idea if the diaphragm is good or not. Also check the shaft and see if it wobbles in the housing. If the housing is worn out find another distributor.

What I should have said about the dist is that the 235 did not come with a dist so I just used the dist that was on the original 216 I took out, so yes the dist could be questionable.

Hey Don, I'm taking red to a shop today that can check the dist and see where im at. I had no idea that the dist from the 216 would not work right. I was pleased to find a late model 235 but I should have realized that just because the engine swap went well that did not mean I could take everything from the 216 and bolt it on a late model 235. Learning more every week and still loving the hobby. Thanks to all for the advice, I will let you all know how it goes Monday.