[Bob Carriere]

...like Rob said it was a relatively nice day hovering around 0C and to avoid the exhaust fumes we worked outside by the barn door.

First thing to do was find TDC...... remove the half moon cover on the flywheel underneath and tweak the flywheel with a pry bar to get exactly TDC. We then remove the small inspection cover from the top of the bellhousing and installed a stiff wire between the two screws then marked the clutch housing with a chisel and yellow paint.

We checked the gap on the points twice..... checked wiring sequence at least 3 times..... applied juice .... no spark..... ran the 6 volt starter a bit too long..... lost all power.... Rob took off the starter... took it apart.....cleaned the segments with a hack saw blade.... washed the inside with degreaser spray.... lubed spline and bushings and reassembled. Ran good and strong.

Still no spark.... my fail safe test is to remove a spark plug wire.... insert a screwdriver in the rubber boot.... hold the screwedriver in my hand while touching the sparkplug tip with the back of my hand.... if I don't jump or twitch..... no spark for sure.

By process of elimination..... and thank God for all the spare parts I acquired from Ebay over the years.... finally found out the condenser was fried.... why???? who knows.

Got it running...... disconnected the vacuum line from the carb...plugged the open hole in carb....... timing was off..... loosen dizzy screw and twisted dizzy until yellow line was TDC....... this is according to the 58 GM manual for 235 and 261....... mine works that way to. Tightened dizzy screw.... checked again ...TDC...... reconnected vacuum line..... at that point the yellow marker moves away by 10 to 15 degrees...... as you rev up the engine the dizzy twists with the vacuum.....

The puzzle..... before the engine ran super smooth but backfired through the carb whenever the engine was revved up...

Now the engine does not backfire but runs rough as if something was out of balance..... back to checking the firing order.... still fine..... engine is not knocking or valves clacking and vacuum is steady at 22 inches..... picks up revs but shakes like it is out of balance...... removed on plug wire at a time..... no noticeable differences except a slight drop in rpm

Some older 235 or 216 manuals called for 5 degrees BTDC..... this is an early 235..... maybe.....

Well time ran out..... will have to do it again.....

The hilite of the day was using Phil's trick of removing the inspection cover from the bellhousing.... holding the strobe light just at 90 degrees you can see the shadow of the wire over the yellow line we had painted.

But now the timing process is a 3 man job.... me inside the cab on the strobe light....Grant holding a long screwdriver in the locking screw of the dizzy while trying to avoid the spinning fan blade and Rob twisting the dizzy ever so slightly and holding it while the screw is tightened. Sure makes it very intimate...... but it was fun !!!!

Suggestions and / or comments welcomed....

Boob