So today at work it hit me. Why dont I try an old plug wire I saved off the 302 when I pulled it from the truck in place of the possibly messed up coil wire from the new set I had to monkey around with? Theyre all the same, just different lengths and hopefully it wont be old and brittle. I tried it and now the 302 fired up. Turns out it was way retarded as I finally got a timing light on it since my wife helped me by cranking it while I was at the engine. Sounds good so far and it seems the gas leaks are now fixed after wire brushing the crome off the nuts and flare. I also used some antiseize. They went on so much easier. So far so good. My only question now is....I can get it to run at TDC but want to go advanced about 6 degrees for now. When I restabbed the distributor tried to hit middle with the vacuum advance and apparently missed some. So I need to redo that. Other than that it seems good for the 5 minutes I ran it. Should I restab the dist or just move the wires clockwise 1 post for more advance? Heres where I'm sitting now at TDC.
Great you got it running! I had the same problem with my vacuum pod, I ended up restabbing the dizzy, just so the pod was more inlined @ 12/6 o'clock position and gives you more room to adjust or as others suggested can move the plug wires, does the same thing. David
Yep I'm going to move the wires lol. I'm too jittery right now to pull that dizzy out even though its easy. This thing has seriously messed my mind up lol. I can hardly type right now. If I need more advance I need to move the wires 1 post clockwise correct?
Yes, that is correct, glad it was just that coil plug wire that gave you trouble, always something simple! Once you moved the plug wires, turn the dizzy so pod is around 6 o'clock position, as it would be too far advanced in its current location, then you can set timing. David
Ok now I'm good. Movwd the wires over 1 post and now I'm in the middle and have enough room to mess with it. Will need to tune the carb slightly it seems and nothing is leaking. I'm a happy man right now.
That's good news. It definitely sounded like a spark issue. Also looked way retarded in the picture (but that's no real proof of anything). What are you running for a cam?
I'm not sure about the cam. This was a crate engine I replaced my original 302 with from my 70 f100. I cant remember exactly but they said it was a slightly more powerful version than stock. 220hp iirc. The cam has a very slight lope to it compared to the very smooth stock motor. So id guess whatever cam is next above stock for that year.
Ok. But what about the vacuum advance? Iirc I think I had it maxed out turned all the way to the right with the adjustment screw or close to it. I cant remember how to set it.
It takes some trial and error to figure out what your car can tolerate. Mine used to like about 30* in the can.
It sounds like pure violence when I first start it and the choke isnt open yet. Just screams at you. I love it.
