Technical 235 Head / 261 Stovebolt Surprise - Proper Spark Plugs

You should see the ball at idle and those motors are only supposed to idle around 500 according to my old motors manual.

 

Excellent, and thank you. That's what I needed to know. So I have something wrong.


Sent from my Pixel using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Timing is probably retarded,loosen the screw and the base of the distributor near where it attaches to the vacumn advance and time it that way.

 

a real quick way if the timing is way to advanced is it cranks real hard and then pings under acceleration.. if its way retarded it will crank really fast but diesel when you shut the key off

 

Ball should be on pointer at normal idle (450-500 should be OK) with vacuum advance disconnected. As RPM increases centrifugal weights under the plate will advance the rotor. Remember, you have 2 places to move the timing - the bolt in the slot (10 degrees each way) and the clamp on the distributor that is attached to the vacuum advance. Clamp slotted piece at '0', use timing light, lossen clamp at base of distributor and turn until ball matches pointer. Tighten everything down, reattach vacuum advance and if point gap is correct it will run fine.

 

I got the bolt set to zero, but I can't figure out how to get the screw area down here set the zero. It looks like it's set at 4 almost...... There was so much dirt there I did not even know there was any markings there until I cleaned it off. Thank you




Sent from my Pixel using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Wrong bolt - check your PM's / Conversations

 

Okay everyone!!! Got this thing tuned and purring like a kitten thanks from a quick call from Dave and everyone else in this post!!!! Thanks HAMB family.

Now driving it is another issue....

Going to officially close this thread as it is tuned up and sounds great at idle....





Sent from my Pixel using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Ride on!

 

For 40 years I've used a STATIC timing method, never fooled with a timing light on the stovebolt sixes! I mark the distributor housing for #1, make sure the rotor is on or near your mark, pointer on the flywheel ball. Next, I set the Octane Slector to 0. Loosen the pinch bolt behind the dist. housing, above the block. With the key ON, remove the coil wire from the cap - hold it near the head about 1/4", as you rotate the dist. housing, looking for spark. Take a couple sweeps at it, watching for spark. See spark - STOP! Tighten the pinch bolt, then move the Octaine Selector to 6 degrees ADVANCE as a baseline. A 261 has LESS compression than a 235, so it might run better at 8 or 10 advanced! A couple test runs usually determins how much timing I run - with NO PINGING and easy hot-starting.

It can't hurt to pull the distributor housing to clean and lube the mechanical advance with motor oil, recheck the point gap. Just make dang-sure the tang on the bottom of the distributor shaft engages the oil pump during installation. It WILL start and run without the tang engaged!

Adjusting the valves might add some power too! I mark each terminal location on the distributor housing, then adjust each pair of valves at TDC for each cylinder. If you like, adjust the lash HOT for one pair of valves, then come back to recheck stone-cold, reset the other valves at the same clearence. I don't know what the lash is for a 261, but the 235 specs should work - I just can't remember the STOCK spec right now or find the right book! Good Luck, Tim