Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines NEED HELP ON MY 1960 235, ITS A DOG!!

I need help, my 235 starting acting up recently, so i decided to tune it up, i dropped new spark plugs and wires in it, new points and condencer, new vacuum advance, set the valve gaps rebuilt the carb twice dropped the muffler, replaced the intake gaskets and it starts and idles just great but when i put it in gear it totally dogs out and wont accelerate the way it should and forget going up a hill cause i can push it faster than it will drive! Any help will be awesome!!

Carb or ignition advance issue I would say. Since you rebuilt the carb twice, start there. It could be the power valve or something as simple as gasket placement. It's very easy to misalign them. There are small ports that have to be right.

yeah i thought about that the first time i rebuilt it thats why i took it a part again and went back over it, but i can do it over again if need be. i also thought it was starving for fuel so i replaced the fuel pump and filter but no difference. looks like ill just tare into everything again.

yeah i thought about that the first time i rebuilt it thats why i took it a part again and went back over it, but i can do it over again if need be. i also thought it was starving for fuel so i replaced the fuel pump and filter but no difference. looks like ill just tare into everything again.

You mentioned that you replaced the vacuum advance, but did you check the timing and verify that both the vacuum and the mechanical advance are working properly.

i didnt put a timimg light to it but i did do the looking through the window and lining up th bb to the pointer with top dead center. i advanced it to the max and that helped a bit

When you say you advanced it to the max, it sounds like you were messing with the bolt and slot on octane selector plate which is part of the vacuum advance which is not the correct way to set the timing. So try this just to eliminate one thing. The timing is set by loosening the screw on the vacuum advance, not the bolt. So, first, bring no. 1 cylinder up on the compression stroke (finger over the no 1 plug hole until pressure). Then line up the bb on the flywheel with the pointer on the bell housing timing window. Then trace the no. 1 plug wire to the cap and put a chalk mark on the body of the distributor directly under where the no. 1 wire enters the cap. Then loosen the bolt on the octane selector plate and center the bolt in the slot. If you wipe and clean the distributor pad on the block you will see a hash mark in the pad. If the vacuum advance is original or a good replacement, you might have the graduations marked on the plate. 0 in the center and 10 degree marks on either side, 10 degrees advance or retarded. They used to use this for minor adjustments for crappy gas of years gone by or high altitude driving but not for setting the timing. Set it at 0 (hash mark lined up with the 0 on the plate) or center the bolt in the slot if your advance does not have the graduations marked. Then pull the cap, if the rotor is not pointing at your chalk mark, your timing is off. Loosen the screw, not the bolt, and rotate the distributor until the rotor is pointing at the chalk mark. This will be very close to tdc with out using a timing
light. You should time it with a light. I actually forget but something tells me a 1960 motor gets timed at a degree or two of advance. Start the motor and confirm that the advance is actually working. Give the motor a quick rev up and see if the distributor moves a bit, it should. Try this and see if it makes a
difference. If the timing is set correctly and the advance is working then your problem is somewhere else, and I would go with what the others think, the carb.

use a timing light.

use a timing light.