Olds 403 ignition

[Bonnewagon]

I got mine at a swap meet and it wasn't cheap, but it was a Starrett. There are less expensive ones out there like these at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...-keywords=dial+indicator&x=0&y=0&tag=gbody-20. They come in handy for many things, like checking run-out on rotors, as well as backlash on rear end gears.

This one is identical to the one that came in my Kent-Moore ring and pinion setting kit that GM dealers used.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008IHTF/?tag=gbody-20

 

[CamaroAdam73]

Yeah you're not kidding, the ones on amazon arn't bad at all, they're actually really cheap..

What's a good mid range priced unit? What you pay for is what you get, so a mid range priced unit should be good quality, not the best but good.

I don't ever buy cheap tools

 

[Bonnewagon]

I'm not up on all the brands, but If you could find a Starrett on Ebay or something you would never regret it.

 

[CamaroAdam73]

Bonnewagon, thank you for all the help man.

This quad has got the best of me. I fired it up today hoping to try tuning it in, and it ran like a wet turd. when i throttle it hard it chokes and spits through the carb. Doesn't backfire but just spits. Another thing is i can hear a "popping-ish" sound, more like a crackle in the exhaust, can't tell which side. It's not consistant.

Now it is 39-40 degrees here in PA right now, but i did let it warm up for about a minute.

Ignore all of that though, here's the two important factors. 1. It fluctuates by about 50-80 RPMs, between 900-1000.

At the same time, vaccum gauge readout goes as, it seems like 18 is the 'medium' where it wants to stay at, but it will flutter between 18 to 19, and occasionally drop to 17 almost as often as it jumps from 18 to 19. btw this is a RUNNING TEST, i've done a cranking test and it holds solid 9, no fluctuation.


I know what that sounds like, but it's not a sticking valve, or vacc leak. The engine does hold solid compression on every cylinder so i know the rings are good. The timing is Dead on, and at 20 degrees right now. (new dizzy wires and plugs)

So that makes me think, bigger cam + carb adjustment ?

 

[CamaroAdam73]

I left out some information here

When i throttle the engine up, the vacc drops down to 0, and when i let off the throttle instantly it bounces up to somewhere between 27-30. Like it should.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Hmmm. Sounds like too much cam and wrong advance. What timing advance system are you running? I once had a 400 with a lot of cam that needed for the distributor vacuum canister to be hooked up to full manifold vacuum so that it got a lot of timing at idle. That got me decent vacuum and smoothed out the idle. When I hit the gas, manifold vacuum dropped, retarding the vacuum advance timing, so I didn't get detonation, but then the centrifugal timing advance took over. I used old school pre-EGR 12* initial timing at the crank.