I have an all original 1936 chevy coupe master de luxe with the 207 motor.
I have been messing with the timing and adjusting the tappets for the valves. I advanced the timing all the way to where the ball is on the bottom edge of the window and had good results hitting about 50mph no issues. This last adjustment I did something and now my car doesn't have any power and it lags heavily when giving gas and I cant hit the mph I had the other week. I adjusted all the intakes at .006 and the exhaust to .013 like the manual says. Can anyone shed some light on what might be happening and what I need to do to get this thing back how it was?
I’m trying to think about what adjusting the valves to spec would do to reduce the power. If I read your post correctly you said it was performing well with the timing you had set and now it is not.
Please don’t be offended with these questions. These are based on all the mistakes I have made over the years. - Follow Gene’s advice and recheck the timing. It might have moved if the distributor was not adequately tightened. Make sure you are checking the timing at a slow idle. It the engine is running too fast there could be some centrifugal or vacuum advance already happening. When you stated that the ball was at the edge of the window did you mean advanced or retarded? - Did you by chance get the intake and exhaust valves confused when you were making the adjustments? - What technique did you use to make sure that the valve was in the fully closed position and that the lifter was on the cam base circle when you made the adjustments?
Thank you all for chiming in. I would no way take any of it wrong. I see every day as a school day. I'm just here to learn and understand these old motors and keep mine running right for a long time. It's for a 1936 chevy coupe. Master de luxe. The motor sounds and runs great. But all of a sudden it doesn't wanna throttle. This is before I started trying to dial in the motor. So I know something is out of whack.
I went out and bought a new condenser and points. Seems a little better but I'm not too convinced about the new set of points. There's a curved piece that I believe is supposed to give it tension. For some reason this one is detached and rolling around the box. The only flap is the really thin copper one. Anyways....sorry. felt like I needed to fill you guys in.
My friend was telling me that the vaccuum advance diaphram could be bad. It drives better but now I'm getting a vibration that I dont know where that came from either.
And I'm running this very advanced in the video, but like I said it seems one reading is advanced how I want it, then I check it again and then it's far off. I'm kinda just scratching my head. I'm using a 12v timing light powered by 12v battery with a jumper to the 6v battery.
I ran my car in the driveway warmed it up and then set the idle pretty high for about ten minutes and got it nice and hot. I followed someone's instruction on this forum and they listed the order and correct process. It was in someone's timing post. Hopefully they are right. I gapped the intakes at .006 and exhausts at .013. Points gap is near .018. I just feel like the timing isnt holding true or something like that. Maybe like you guys said I'm reading from wrong source. The other one I used was devetech website on adjusting valves for 216/235/261 but not the 207. Figured their the same. https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/valveadjustment.htm
Your right about the valve being fully closed. I have no idea when or how I should gauge that. When I took my gap readings it was when both, or corresponding valve would stop moving when turning the fan. Am I doing something wrong or how can I get this right ?
A couple of thoughts I have. When adjusting timing make sure the octane selector is at zero. It is located on the side of the distributor and has a thumb screw above it. Adjusting valves for me I use the Dick and Jane old school technique. Go slow and be careful. The instructions I use are located at http://devestechnet.com/Home/ValveAdjust , at the top of the page is "Nate's 216/235/261 valve adjustment procedures". That is the one I use. The difference is the Intake valve is .006 and the exhaust valve is .013 as you stated earlier. I hope this helps.
I went out and bought a new condenser and points. Seems a little better but I'm not too convinced about the new set of points. There's a curved piece that I believe is supposed to give it tension. For some reason this one is detached and rolling around the box. The only flap is the really thin copper one. Anyways....sorry. felt like I needed to fill you guys in.
The content within the quote is concerning. Without the proper tension on the movable point arm the timing will be erratic. Bouncing points or lack of consistent contact with the distributor cam will give running inconsistency. The copper contact foil is not enough tension to give consistent timing.
I thought so also. I pulled out the new points and returning the one they gave me... I'll get back with you guys shortly.
Thank you all. I feel like I'm starting to make headway. But like rusty37master said.
How do I accomplish this .
What technique did you use to make sure that the valve was in the fully closed position and that the lifter was on the cam base circle when you made the adjustments?
I agree that if the leaf spring arm on the points is not function correctly you will have very unpredictable timing.
With respect to your timing light, there is no need to connect the power side to both the 6 volt and 12 volt batteries. While I do not know if that will cause problems with the reading, it is not needed. Just connect to the 12 volt source and connect the trigger device to the #1 spark plug wire near the spark plug. Make sure it is not close to another spark plug wire because that could trigger the flash. That is an inductive pickup. Make sure you have it oriented correctly. Mine has an arrow on it that must point towards the spark plug.
Many people have different techniques for setting valves.
My preference is to do it one of 2 ways. In both cases you want the engine stabilized at operating temperatures. I have done it both ways.
If I have a second person I tend to do it with the engine running at a very slow idle. One person operates the feeler gauge and the other runs the wrench and screwdriver. This technique eliminates any concern with whether the valve is closed or the lifter is on the base circle of the cam. Plus it goes pretty quickly.
If I am by myself, I do set them without the engine running. I remove the sparks plugs and use the hand crank to turn the engine. I turn the engine so the timing mark is visible in the window and make sure that it is really #1 firing. The intake and exhaust valves for #1 should both have some clearance in them. If not, turn the crank a full turn and check again. You might have been at #6 firing.
I then set #1 valves to the clearances you noted. I turn the crank 120 degrees (1/3 of a turn). Both valves for #5 should have clearance. Set them. Go another 1/3 turn and do the same for #3. When you go another 1/3 turn you should be at #6 firing. The timing mark should be visible again. Set #6. Go 1/3 and set #2. Go 1/3 and set #4.
I know that you can do it with fewer turns of the crank using the method in the Stovebolt article. I just find it confusing trying to keep up with which valves I set at which position and whether I did set them. For me, my method gives me confidence that the lifters are on the base circle when I set that cylinder.
The best way to determine if the valves are at least close is a compression pressure test. Leaking valves will show up as lower cylinder pressure. Alternative is an intake manifold vacuum test. An inconsistent vacuum is likely a leaking valve. The vacuum gauge is an excellent way to set the valves. Set each valve to the maximum value in a warm running engine.
To determine which valve is closed is easy. If #the front valve is open the very rear #12 valve is closed, #2 valve open #11 valve is closed. When adjusting valves I start by getting cyl 6 valves changing from exhaust open to inlet open then adjust both #cyl 1 valves, then cyl 2 changing adjust #5. Tony
There should be a screw in a clamp arrangement that holds the distributor in a fixed position. The screw is at right angles to the distributor body and shaft. When you loosen the screw your can rotate the distributor to set the initial timing.
The octane selector allows you to make small timing adjustments from the base timing set by the clamp arrangement.
