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Need HEI and timing help

1K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  novaderrik 
#1 ·
Finally have a house and a few minutes to play with the 66 Chevelle. Took it out Sat, went a mile, and ran out of gas. My fault. Walked home and got the trailer. Second time on the trailer, in the last 3 trips...

Still, overall, it starts poorly after 10 minutes of running, and still stalls when put in gear. Overall, it runs very poorly.

I looked at the HEI power wire, and noted it was twisted on to a green wire from the harness. So I soldered it, installed a new neg bat cable, and cleaned up the ground connection. Turns over a bit better.

Is the original wire from the harness big enough for the HEI, or should I rewire it from the key, or put in a relay? The previous guy swears it is wired for 12 v full time, but I didn't check it yet.

And where should the timing be set? With the base timing apparently set at 8-10, it won't idle in gear. With some more advance it will idle a bit better. Yes, it has way too much cam and way too little torque converter.

Sorry to sound dumb, but I am not familiar with Chevy small block and wiring, or how this is wired yet, and the manual does not help much yet. Think I have a long way to go...

Thanks for the help.
 
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
Thanks. So far I am just trying to get this thing civilized enough to drive around. It apparently has a significant cam, as it has 12-16 in of vacuum at idle, at most, and the vacuum fluctuates steadily, and a stock converter.
It will idle fine and stall when put in gear, unless the timing is way more advanced than I am used to. My guess is that the cam is maxing out the valvesprings. The two wire twist ignition was a surprise find.

It also has an Edelbrock 1406 carb, with which I am not familiar either.

I will get there.

This thing gets lots of looks, even without any trim installed!
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Thanks, I ordered the HEI wire. The stock wire seems tiny for an ignition, but my yardstick is 25 years of small block Fords and a Jeep here and there. This will have a Duraspark soon if it doen't get better. Not really. I am trying to go at this slowly, and change as little of the remaining original stuff as possible. I think I will pull the underhood harness from the bulkhead connector and clean it up, and check it out. It seems to be starting and idling better right now.

I set it at 10 to 12 deg initial advance. With the vac can hooked up, its got a lot of advance at idle, but it works. My sbf toy is set at 6 base, no vacuum, and 26 mechanical. It will run fine and start ok at 8-10, but no more. I pulled the vacuum off and backed it down to spray it. So I thought more than 8 was too much. So far the 350 seems ok with much more base timing than my carbed 302's want.

Next up is to install some lock cylinders for the doors and trunk. Probably install some of the grille and rear panel trim!

Then cut the front springs and get it aligned.

Then we have a beginning driver!
 
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