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

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.