Something has been bugging me about when I took the distributor out. There was no gear for the cam on the bottom of the shaft. I took a peak in the hole where the distributor was and the gear was sitting in there. Are these HEI unit's supposed to be 2 pieces? Any time I've seen someone pull a distributor on TV or youtube I could've sworn it came out in 1 piece. I attached a picture.
I looked at the .pdf for the 7564 and it surely does say it will fit both 2v and 4v. Has a 2v-sized port opening but the flange extends low enough to cover the 4v port opening in the head. This seems like a place where you'd want to use port stuffer gizmos. I was also curious to know what your builder did about the exhaust manifolds?
Yes, should not separate from the shaft. Is it possible that short bit with the gear indexes into the distributor? Won't run if it slips. Does it look broken? [working on a scenario where the vendor would want to use the upper part on more than one motor, by making the gear interchangeable]
It doesn't look broken though. It almost looks like it was designed this way as since they come together very cleanly. No marks or anything. But then again, I've never taken out a distributor and I don't know the model # so I can't look at instructions. I did a little research and Pro Comp made 2 piece HEI units like I described. I'm not sure if that's the model I have but I'll check for stamps on it tomorrow. Weird. If I had known I would've left the gear in there to make things easier.
I have seen the 2 piece ones. Pro Comp does a lot of wierd things. Also, a bumch of rebranders use Pro Comp, so you could find any name there.
I've got a stock distributor which is one piece that sits on a little rod that goes into the oil pump and runs that. I've never seen a two piece distributor before.
If you can read the date code casting on the heads you could determine the date cast. If they are cast in 70 or 71 then they would be closed chamber, after that they would be open chamber heads. The 2 or 4 denotes 2v or 4v heads, I don't know about the dots. The 4v exhaust ports are flat across the top of the head from the head bolt across to the manifold bolt, the 2v's curve down. I installed Port plates into my intake and exhaust ports and noticed a marked improvement in torque, I would definitely recommend them. The quench heads are more detonation resistant and make more torque. I had a performer manifold, but when I installed the plates they covered the bottom of the already small performer 4v manifolds ports. I felt like I lost top end, so I pulled the manifold and opened up the top of the port the amount the bottom was restricted. I would do a cranking compression check to see how the cam profile mates up with the compression ratio of the heads and pistons. 175 or lower should be OK, more than that takes some tweaking of the advance curve and jetting. I had a dampener delaminate, migrating the timing marks, they retarded so it looked like I had less timing then I had, I broke a piston on 150 shot of nitrous thinking I had retarded the timing sufficiently. A piston stop will show true TDC, If the marks are incorrect make a new one but mark the pulley also so you could tell if it moves more. How much total spark advance are you running? disconnect the vacuum line and rev the engine while watching the timing light to see what the total advance is. I have seen those GM style dist create a lot of total advance. The Ford dist could be configured to use the 12L or 16L timing stops, then you could bend the tabs to slow down the curve. You may have to slow down the advance curve or the total advance to cure your ping. As was suggested drive it with the vacuum advance disconnected to see if the ping goes away without vacuum advance as you can tune that as well. Make sure all of the rockers are oiling. I have seen the push rods wear into the rockers leaving a tit that blocks the hole in the pushrod. Good luck, Dave
Ditch that cheap chinese made disty! They are made that way, so they can re use the top section for multiple applications. Not what you want for precise timing. You should be quite happy with the Air-Gap manifold. Yes, the port size is small, but it doesn't matter. A few years ago Hot Rod Mag ran a dyno test on this manifold (I was quite shocked, as it's been YEARS since I've seen any Cleveland tech in the mags). Anyway, the Air-Gap made more power, even with the mismatched port size than just about every other Cleveland manifold out there.
I use to have one of the Pro Comp HEI's in my 67. I don't remember the gear coming out separately, but it's been a couple of years now since I took it out. I agree that it would be better to look at either a better brand HEI or going back to original style coil. I had a lot of issues that came with the cheap HEI.
So I haven't been able to work on the car since my last post due to a brand spanking new baby girl. Since she has settled in, I had some time to get back to work. I got myself a piston stop so I worked on verifying TDC on the balancer. It wasn't even close. The true TDC was 1.75 inches away from zero on the timing tape that was on the balancer. So when I set my timing to that mark, I calculated that I was setting my initial at somewhere between 30 and 35 degrees. No wonder it pings lol. I might be a coincidence but it looked like there was a white marking right near TDC on the balancer. You can see it between the 2 white blobs I made when I was approaching TDC from each direction. Maybe someone in the past made it or it could be a random mark. There are 2 timing tapes on the balancer right now so I guess it's the 3rd time the thing has shifted over the life of the vehicle. Looking forward to getting the new intake on getting it back on the road.
Kinda suprised it lasted thru the first 2 slips the bearings must be hammered with all the imbalance. Wait it prolly made it back to where it started from. Carry on...
Damn, that seriously sucks. One thing always leads to another with this truck. Do any of you know exactly what needs to be removed so I can get it out? I've been going by the shop manual but I didn't see a section for just removing the balancer. I know I'll be pulling the radiator because it was super tight just turning the engine over by hand. Does the timing chain cover or water pump need to be removed? The balancer was supposed to be new from when the engine was allegedly rebuilt 1,000 miles ago but I think the previous owner is full of crap.
It is easier to do with the radiator out, but it can be done without removing the radiator. Pull the fan and belts and shroud. Remove any pulleys attached to the balancer. Remove the bolt in the center of the balancer. Rent, borrow, or buy a harmonic balancer puller. Comes right off. When out, inspect the part of the balancer that goes into the front seal. If there is wear where the seal contacts the balancer snout, replace the front seal. Personally, I would change it anyway. Before you pull the balancer, check the slop in your timing chain. Pop off the dizzy cap. Put a breaker bar and socket on the balancer bolt. Rotate the crank back and forth noticing how far it turns before the rotor starts moving when you change direction. It should be practically imperceptible. If there is slop in the timing chain, it may have jumped a tooth. Also, before you pull it. With the stuff cleared out of the way, and the retaining bolt removed, note the position of the keyway on the shaft. With the engine at top dead center (based on the factory scribe on the damper), the keyway should be straight up if it is not, the damper has slipped.
Excellent, thanks for the detailed instructions. I bought a pulley/harmonic balancer puller from Sears last year to change my steering wheel so I have all the tools I need. Any tips on how to turn the crank bolt without the engine moving? I looked it up on youtube and a few people said to use a piston stop to jam the engine the same way I used it to find TDC. That sounds a little dodgy to me. I'd hate to ruin a piston due to some youtube advice.
Uhmmm ... not exactly clear what you are after here, but in my experience that big bolt will only be tight for a quarter-turn or so, after that you can unscrew it with your fingers. My shade-tree way of starting that is to whack the end of an 18" breaker-bar with a hammer once or twice. Of course, the radiator is out for this sort of rough work, and the pulleys have been removed. When you get your damper off, please tell us if the balance weight is attached to the center part of it, or attached to the outer 'slipped' part.
