hi- Ive been posting alot lately thanks everybody- a few more questions!

OK so I put in a 225 with headers and 2300 model two barrel holley. Been sitting a couple months at least. It is supposed to have big valves, cut head, and a cam, but I haven't done any detective work other than driving, and all I know is that it is already much faster than the 198 and it needs much tuning.

I was able to limp home from where I did the swap, but it was running poorly- wanting to die at idle, wanting to die in D with the brake on, not idling below 1300 without wanting to die... lots of popping into N for stops and massaging the gas to ease into D without dying/ beating up trans...

So I am trying to tune this thing, and I thought timing would be a good place to start. I squeezed off the vac. advance tubing, and the motor wouldn't start at all, just backfire thru carb! I figured that if it will run bad (but start easy in winter cold) with vac advance, and not at all without, it must be way retarded, and it was already at maximum adjustment in the distributor hold down slot.

I popped the distributor body up and moved a tooth counterclockwise (advanced, right?). It is still not perfect, idles at around 1200rpm in N and 600 in D, albiet a little rough, but pretty steady.

My timing light is borrowed, and my buddy got the plug wire clamp wire on the light caught one time (might matter?) and I wasn't able to get a good reading off it. I painted the mark with a silver sharpie, and at my high idle it seemed to spin erratically counter clockwise instead of staying put. Im thinking that the light might be beat, because I can't see a worn timing chain or distributor shaft making the mark do more than waver a little, not spin around...

I got best results with the two idle mixture screws backed out about 1/8 turn, with no drop in idle when they are totally closed. Could be because my idle is so high Im bypassing the idle circuit? I ordered a rebuild kit and a power valve protector kit from holley overnite delivery- Im not taking my carb off until it arrives, but I suspect a blown power valve, because the carb has a huge flat spot from 3000 rpm up when accellerating. Also, when ideling and looking in the carb while goosing the throttle, I see gas dumping and dripping, not spraying and atomizing. (rebuild time?) I also sprayed carb cleaner all around the manifold to head and manifold to carb and throttle shaft, etc, no changes in rpm. so no leaks found.

So in my future I see:
a carb rebuild/investigation to see what shape it is in and check on jet size etc, and a new timing light, maybe with dialback. I also plan to remove the valvecover to adjust the valves, it made a world of difference in my old 198 and I hear a little more ticking than I like.

Also my head is the (later?) kind without sparkplug tubes. What does this mean in terms of sparkplug choice, or other considerations?

Thanks
Kevin

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