Hey guys,
new to the forum, I have a 65 Dart GT with a 170 slant 6.

I've had the car for a few weeks, and the engine has seemed to be WAY under powered. air and fuel and spark seem to be fine.
Decided to advance the timing a bit to see if this helps.

here what i'm experiencing.
before advancing the distributor the car idled, accelerated and ran smooth, but seriously lacked power. (even getting to 50 kph was a chore... smooth, but a chore)

I advanced "one tooth" and the car ran great! with a fair amount of pep and power. Not a power house, but felt an acceptable amount of low/high torque, seemed to feel "right"

EXCEPT - the car idles fine, accelerates great but has a very bad just off idle missfire or something. ie, the car gets up to speed normally, but when trying to maintain a speed at any lower rpm the car jerks and sputters repetativly.

If I let off the gas, the car continues to idle just fine, likewise, if I step on it a bit, the car smooths out and accelerates fine.

any ideas for a new guy?

learning lots here and by getting more familiar with the car. thanks!

_________________
Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

What is does your timing light tell you? Slants like timing. 10° BTDC is a good place to start.

Have you checked the timing set for slop?

There are two timing adjustments on the distributor. The one on the block, and the one that attaches the distributor timing bracket to the bottom of the distributor.

The miss may be telling you that it's time to adjust the valves. Lash is critical to have a happy healthy slant six.

CJ

_________________
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

thanks for the tip,
i'm not familiar with the second timing adjustment. (the bottom one)
seemed that the timing adjuster attached to the block didnt give me enough room to advance any further, and still was behind.

could you describe how that one is adjusted?

also just adjusted valves also.

haven't checked for slop either, not sure how to do so to be honest

_________________
Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

Timing set slop in a nutshell:

Disconnect the battery. No sense having painful surprises.

Pull all the plugs. Makes things easier.

Remove the cap from the distributor and note where the rotor is pointing.

With your hand, put a bit of tension on the alternator belt, and turn the engine clockwise with your other hand by putting pressure on the fan blade. You know the drill. Don't pull a bone head and get your hand caught in the belt, and don't wipe yourself out on the blade.

Note where the rotor is pointing. Put a mark with something you can see on the damper that aligns with the timing tab.

Now, watching the rotor, turn the engine counter clockwise just until you see the rotor start to turn.

put another mark on the damper.

If the marks are more than two or three degrees apart, the timing set is toast. There shouldn't be any lag. I won't use a set that has any discernable rotation. The car will run with a lot, but not well.

CJ

_________________
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

The adjustment bolt is under the distributor, just at about the 11 o'clock position, Using a 7/16 box end wrench cut off and welded to a shaft so that it sticks out about 3/4" perpendicular to the shaft with another piece of shaft welded on the other end (for turning the wrench). Make the shaft long enough to clear distributor.


Richard

_________________
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing