I need help! I have a '65 dart 225
the head was milled 100th off....the cylinders are .60 over....over sized valves...clifford's mech. 268 cam... dual headers to one out the back...running the clifford intake with a Holley 390 out of the box. A while back i noticed the timing mark on the crank was gone and so timing with a gun is a laugh.
Q: how do you draw a new timing mark?
Q: When i do get it to run it miss fires out the pipe after deiseling when shuttin off, whats that about?
Q: are the coolant hoses supposed to pressurize before the thermostat opens?
Q: i cant get it to idle below 1300 rpm why?

Help me! I dont want to admit it so i wont...but there a chance i bit off too much...

_________________
It was a hobby...then a job...now its a sickness. Gotta tinker with my 6er!

How to create a new timing mark:

The preferred method is to find the factory original and/or send the damper off to be rebuilt. The alternative method is as follows:

(1) Get a piston stop tool. These are cheap, about $10 from Summit. Or you can make your own from an old spark plus and a bolt (some have used chopsticks or other pieces of wood).

(2) Remove the #1 spark plug and install the piston stop tool.

(3) Rotate the engine by hand in one direction until the #1 piston contacts the stop tool and the motor stops turning.

(4) Now mark the vibration damper at 0/TDC on the timing tab.

(5) Turn the motor the other way by hand until the #1 piston contacts the piston stop tool and the motor stops turning.

(6) Mark the damper at TDC again.

(7) The mid-point between the two mark you made on the damper is the true TDC of your motor. Measure and mark the midpoint with paint or white-out.

If It were me, I would start by pulling the timing cover and degreeing the cam, then verify the TDC mark on the damper was correct.

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Can you tell if the Harmonic Balancer(where the timing mark is) has spun? Is it a replacement or original? Pull Valve cover, find TDC(on #1 cylinder), mark HB to get a starting point. The timing tab is still there,right? Sound like you might have the timing close, but maybe a tooth or so off. sounds like you have air in your cooling system after refilling. I use a thermostat with a small hole drilled in it to bleed off the air, then swap it for a regular thermostat. Is the vacuum advance on your dist. good?, are you setting it with it pulled and plugged?

I recently had most of these problems(except the timing mark problem), and the guy's on this board walked me through everything.

_________________
1964 Dart GT

another crack about my "Chopstick Timing Device"!,
It got my car running!

_________________
1964 Dart GT

If it worked for you, more power to you. How do you swap thermostats without having to at least partially drain the cooling system and thereby reintroduce all the air (and then some) that your thermostat with a hole in it bled out?

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Have you checked the valve lash? What are the lash settings?
DD

I do drain it down low enough to change the thermostat. The air I seemed to have a problem with was down in the block after the initial fill, and pressure built up before the thermostat opened. I let it run with a small amount of flow and kept topping off the antifreeze/water until I was not able to fill it anymore, and it was warmed up by then. Drained off just enough to swap thermostats, then filled it back up.

_________________
1964 Dart GT

Touchy, touchy, touchy!! I've always said "If it works, it's friggin' beautiful." I still reserve the right to point finger and snicker That thread led me to buy a piston stop for $9.00.
Well, that and the experience with the balloon. Gosh, I love these leaning towers of whatever!

ATB

BC

_________________
'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!