"49 Distributor Timing Issue

P

pebo va

Member
I have a distributor problem on my stock "49 Ford wagon. I am experiencing a power loss when I accelerate. I believe I have figured out the problem but I don’t know how to make the correction. I am pretty sure it is a timing issue.
When I line up the pointer with the bump on the bottom pulley,
the rotor is pointing at number 1 plug. With the timing light I can see that it is advanced about 2-3 degrees. I find that the best setting is retarded about 4 degrees. But I cannot rotate the distributor counterclockwise to retard it because the vacuum canister is hitting the head. What is the solution?
Thanks for any advice.
 
The distributor turns clockwise,so turning the housing counter clockwise will advance the timing. If you need to retard it, you'll have to turn the housing clockwise, same as rotation direction.
 
Sorry. I mistyped my question. I want to advance the timing about 4 degrees by turning it counterclockwise. Not retard it.
Thanks.
 
Well, you need to pull the distributor and move the gear a tooth and reinstall it. What is the timing at around 2000 to 2500 rpm?
 
Which way do I turn the rotor to change one tooth?
I don't have a tach to measure RPM. The carb is fine. No problem here.
 
Now how do you know it's fine if you can't check it. Initial timing shouldn't make all that much difference. Your issue with acceleration could be the advance canister or the carburetor itself. You need a dial back timing light, but not easy to come by for 6v.

Need to come up with a way to map the timing curve out (roughly) to see what is going on.
 
JSeery said:
Now how do you know it's fine if you can't check it. Initial timing shouldn't make all that much difference. Your issue with acceleration could be the advance canister or the carburetor itself. You need a dial back timing light, but not easy to come by for 6v.

Need to come up with a way to map the timing curve out (roughly) to see what is going on.
Click to expand...
Just hook the light to a 12 volt source. Not hard to do. The modern car pulled next to it works fine. The spark trigger does not care.
 
The only way to check these distributors ,is with a distributor machine with variable vacuum source, This is a vacuum advance distributor, and it sounds like your not getting the advance.
Gramps
 
There are two tiny passages in the carburetor - one to manifold vacuum and one going to venturi vacuum. If they are plugged it will run smoothly enough but be a dog because you are not getting any rpm based advance (this is what the venturi vacuum signal accomplishes, since it rises with RPM even when the throttle is wide open). A quick check is to see if the timing advances when revving up engine in neutral. A distributor machine will tell you if the advance is in spec, but can't tell you if those passages are plugged. These passages were clogged with crud on my engine when I first got the car, and fixing this issue made a huge difference!
 
Remove the dist cap and advance line. Using a hand held vacuum pump, pump it and see if the dist plate moves. That at least will verify that the can is good.
 
JSeery said:
Now how do you know it's fine if you can't check it. Initial timing shouldn't make all that much difference. Your issue with acceleration could be the advance canister or the carburetor itself. You need a dial back timing light, but not easy to come by for 6v.

Need to come up with a way to map the timing curve out (roughly) to see what is going on.
Click to expand...

You can use any timing light on a 6 volt car. You just hook up the power leads to a 12V battery or have a 12V car next to it.

Sal
 
I like the hand held vac pump. Much simpler for checking dist advance. If the distributor works check carb???
G
 
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