No Oomph at Rear Wheels

[RDR-838]

My '69 has a 383 and a 727 tranny with a Holeshot torque converter with a 2400 stall. The paper work that came with the car tells me that I have a 4.11 rear end. I figure, with this combo, I should be able to light up the tires. I think the 4.11 is in there because my speedo is way off. However, I'm not getting any kind of kick when I punch the gas. All seems to be in order otherwise.

Someone told me having my timing retarded all the way could cause this. I don't know. Has anybody had this problem before? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Plumcrazy]

Checking your timing would be a good place to start.

[firefighter3931]

  You probably need more inital advance at idle to wake the motor up.


Ron

[Chryco Psycho]

there could be a lot of reasons , start with tuning it [timing & carb settings ]

[myk]

Refresh my memory guys, which way do you turn the allen screw in the vacuum canister of the distributor to advance or retard initial advance?

[Chryco Psycho]

counterclock wise will reduce the vacuum advance so more intial timing can be dialed in without over advancing at higher RPM

[CFMopar]

I just dont use the vacume advance

[myk]

counterclock wise will reduce the vacuum advance so more intial timing can be dialed in without over advancing at higher RPM

So.........if I wanted more vacuum advance sooner I go clockwise-thanks.  But, is there such a thing as too much initial advance?  Also, is it possible for the vacuum advance unit to be out of adjustment on its own?  I ask this because one day I decided to turn the allen screw 90* one way (I forget which direction), and noticed the car running differently.  The next few days or so, the car went back to running the way it did before I messed with the advance.  Did the car adjust itself?  Lol...

[Chryco Psycho]

yes you can have too much initial advance
I have never seen a vacuum advance adjust itself , sounds like somethings else is a problem , are you sure the dist is tight , is the timing chain old ?

[myk]

counterclock wise will reduce the vacuum advance so more intial timing can be dialed in without over advancing at higher RPM

Hmm...What happens when you over-advance the engine?  Also, the engine was rebuilt not too long ago, although I'm really not confident about how it was done.  Finally, the distributor was tightened down firmly...

[dodge freak]

Think about it, the spark is to fire when the piston is almost on the top, then the gas burns and forces the piston down to turn the crank. If its to soon the gas burns while the piston is still going up, got it?

[myk]

So....then you NEED vacuum advance.  How can you run without it?  I'm doing so now.  Also, I don't get where the engine is on timing if initial is set at 19* and vacuum advance is either disconnected, over or under advanced.   

On the one hand, you're telling the motor to start firing 19* BTDC, yet the vacuum advance can be set to spark sooner, later, or not at all? 

[dodge freak]

Think you missunderstood - The spark is to happen when the piston is still going up but once the gas is burning it should be pushing the on the down-power-stroke, If its too soon the gas will try to stop the piston from going up, thats why you don't need vacuum advance. The faster the motor is spinning -rpm's- the sooner the spark needs to happen or the piston will be going down before the spark fires. Thats what the mechanical advance is for, as rpm's go up the dist fires sooner. Really the way to set timing is the total advance, what the max timing is ,should be around 36-38 degrees. To set that you need to rev the motor till the timing stops going up anymore, might need to mark your balancer with timing tape. Draw a white line at 36 degrees and set it right there at around 4000 rpms, I wear some ear muffs for gun shooting. If you feel the motor needs more timing sooner then the dist. needs some lighter springs in it.

You may want to find a book or two that can explain how a motor works, I don't think I am too good at that.