what is "Normal" .. Dauntless v6

[JaredTowne]

hey all.. I am getting this thing running... and I have a couple questions..

First.. this is the 225 v6, not sure whats all done to it, dont know the history very well. It has an offenhauser (sp?) intake on it, a holley carb. fenderwell headers, and turbo mufflers.

this thing at an idle sounds like it is just ready to rip apart. I dont know how these engines are supposed to sound. But it just sounds like a chugging. like it has a giant cam. then it almost sounds like its missing a cylinder. i checked each plug for spark and they are all firing. still has the points ignition.

also smells extremely rich, getting some unburnt fuel smoke. no idea the last time this carb was touched.

I was just curious what is normal for these.. I have heard they have a rough idle. it smooths out once you get it on. if you hammer it.. it does stumble, and get on it too fast it will backfire.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Have you checked your timing and put a vac guage on it?

 

[JaredTowne]

Hey, Thanks for the response. .. Bear with me and my ignorance to points ignitions.

I finally got some time to tear some stuff apart. tore the carb off its a holley 2300 series 2 barrel.. Which I may be wrong,, but rated at 500cfm .. I have the feeling this is way to much carb.. Besides that I dont think shes been cracked open and gone through in awhile.,, I ordered a renew kit, so I can atleast get this thing in good shape. if it turns out to be just too much.. Atleast I can sell it rebuilt and get something more practical..

Now onto the ignition... upon really getting into it.. I wasnt too thrilled with anything, the plug wires are that graphite strand type,, that I have never had a great experience with. The distributor is a prestolite..

My tool range for messing with ignitions is seriously Limited , Using an inline spark checker.. I do have fire on all cylinders.

I did pull out the feeler gauge and was going to set the points, but got sidetracked when I was looking up the gap by everyone saying find a delco.

I dont have a vac gauge and I wouldnt know what to do with it if I did. I have NEVER messed with a ignition of this sort.

I realize for alot of you it must be childs play.. but at the age of 27.. i've always turned wrenches on things much later that a vac advanced ignition.


I am just questioning if I should bother farting around with this prestolite or just dump it for something better?

Either way.. back to putting my nose in the manual and trying to learn and understand this operation.

 

[hagar]

Nothing wrong with a Prestolite for the V6.
Check the points, replace if necessary, set the gap.
Check the vac advance for proper operation.
Get your carb back together and on and see how it runs.
Baby steps are better then giant steps for you at this point.
Get it running properly now.
Plenty of time for modifications later.

 

[GARGOYLEJEEPER]

Basically what Buick did was take a 350 V8 cut it and made it into a V6, same distributor cap added longer duration strips, and for the Jeep added a bigger and heavier flywheel to keep it spinning at a lower speed. Also check your harmonic balancer to see if your rubber hasn`t started to come out, and the MM. If you don`t like points add a Pertronics set that replaces them or an HEI. And do what mtnwhlr & hagar said keep it running and keep it safe.

 

[JaredTowne]

Yeah. I have a bad habit of getting ahead of myself.

havent had much time to tinker with it, but here is what I have accomplished..

compression test - all cylinders fall between 135-140.

rebuilt the carb and installed new manifold gasket.

replaced dist cap and rotor.

seafoamed through intake

MMO in the oil..

I dont have a vac gauge, but I can clearly feel the suction, and if you suck on the vac advance line you can see it advancing.

I need plugs and wires before I can actually do a "base" run. its hard to find a problem when you are working with super dated parts probably well past there service limit. I pulled the plugs and they are black and show signs of blowby on the porcelain .

I just havent had the chance to stop and pick some up.. work and kids and first house renovations.. then throw a old rusty jeep in the mix.... (maybe thats why the wife nags on me?)

as of right now it will consistently start and run. just no power, and if you press the throttle with any speed at all it will just backfire and fall on its face. if you press it slowly it just chugs and chugs and slowly works up RPM's. Sometimes out of the blue you can hear the exhaust tone change and it will start to fire on all (or atleast more).

Either way.. beating a dead horse without replacing those plugs and wires I feel.

I was talking to my wifes grandfather about what I was working on... he gave me a oldschool "sears engine analyzer" . that has all sorts of hookups for testing dwell, points ,ohms, etc.. Looking for a manual for it . Like I said.. I have never messed with nothing of this "vintage".

I am not looking to modify or hotrod. I just want it to run good!

Will report back, thanks for the support guys.

 

[djbutler]

So, on these odd-fire engines the firing order is important. Meaning that you have to start with the proper distributor terminal for #1.
If you look at the distributor points cam, you see that they are asymetrically spaced. If you have #1 plug wire on the wrong terminal, you can end up with the engine running on only the left bank. Check to see if the right side exhaust manifold is getting as hot as the left side.
If the right side manifold is cold, use the next terminal over for #1 plug wire.
The reason for this is the uneven interval of the firing order. After #1 fires, the engine turns 90°, then the next cylinder fires, then the engine turns AMC 150 ° before the next firing impulse, and so on for all 6 cylinders. 90-AMC 150 -90-AMC 150 -90-AMC 150
Also, I don't have a very high opinion for using the holley carbs on these engines. Mine has the original Rochester 2G, runs just fine.

Don

 

[duffer]

So, on these odd-fire engines the firing order is important. Meaning that you have to start with the proper distributor terminal for #1.
If you look at the distributor points cam, you see that they are asymetrically spaced. If you have #1 plug wire on the wrong terminal, you can end up with the engine running on only the left bank. Check to see if the right side exhaust manifold is getting as hot as the left side.
If the right side manifold is cold, use the next terminal over for #1 plug wire.
The reason for this is the uneven interval of the firing order. After #1 fires, the engine turns 90°, then the next cylinder fires, then the engine turns AMC 150 ° before the next firing impulse, and so on for all 6 cylinders. 90-AMC 150 -90-AMC 150 -90-AMC 150
Also, I don't have a very high opinion for using the holley carbs on these engines. Mine has the original Rochester 2G, runs just fine.

Don

Generally what Don said. However, my experience with the stock 2G and then the same setup as the original post-excepting maybe the cam, I found both better mileage and power with the 4 bbl setup along with better low end response. You just need to pay some attention to which Holley carb is used and how you set it up. It can work very well if properly done.

 

[dodrosky]

Jared,

Sounds like fun. Go electronic if you have the cash. Points produced now aren't of the same quality as oem back in the day. I switched a 73 CJ5 304ci and love the hei.

The holley will work very well when tuned. So will a 2jet. I have used both successfully on other applications.

I only change one thing at a time when tuning a carb. Makes it easier for me to get to where it should be.

D.O.