2011 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

Plugs were sooty but cleanable....... loss of power when throttled hit for accellaration..... almost to the point of stalling...which it did on occasions!!

Problem maybe with big boots and accidently hitting the dizzy while shifting or just plain getting on and off.

Gas.....Yes.... maybe old..... a few gallons fo fresh stuff may help..... with added Sta-Bill for safe measure.

It was running so smooth and accellareted well last time out a few months ago.

Timing will need to be checked..... and man do you have to be double jointed to do that.....even if half the sheet metal is missing it is still difficult to twist your head around to see the pointer and TDC.....

As we will need to disconnect the vacuum advance to tune up we will check the holding power of the vaccum advance diaphram.... or leaks on the way over to the carb.

Two solutions come to mind........ go underneath and once timed properly with the engine turned by hand until pointer is at TDC.... grind a notch in the flywheel where it meet with edge of flywheel housing.... always dark there and easier to see....although it becomes a two men job....

Second temporary solution....cut, fit and install a piece of sheet metal to protect hitting the dizzy......

Hopefully it will not be minus 20C when we do that.....

Boob

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Plugs were sooty but cleanable....... loss of power when throttled hit for accellaration..... almost to the point of stalling...which it did on occasions!! Problem maybe with big boots and accidently hitting the dizzy while shifting or just plain getting on and off.
Gas.....Yes.... maybe old..... a few gallons fo fresh stuff may help..... with added Sta-Bill for safe measure. It was running so smooth and accellareted well last time out a few months ago. Timing will need to be checked..... and man do you have to be double jointed to do that.....even if half the sheet metal is missing it is still difficult to twist your head around to see the pointer and TDC.....
As we will need to disconnect the vacuum advance to tune up we will check the holding power of the vaccum advance diaphram.... or leaks on the way over to the carb. Two solutions come to mind........ go underneath and once timed properly with the engine turned by hand until pointer is at TDC.... grind a notch in the flywheel where it meet with edge of flywheel housing.... always dark there and easier to see....although it becomes a two men job....
Second temporary solution....cut, fit and install a piece of sheet metal to protect hitting the dizzy...... Hopefully it will not be minus 20C when we do that.....

Boob

Bob, The gas is new. I did not check to see if there was anything caught in the carb (shouldn't be as the breather is covering it). I think it is the boot to the dizzy thing causing the problem. We will see.

I won't be barning it this weekend as I will be down east attending a family funeral. Sometimes CMPs have to take a back seat...

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Bob

I've done just what you are talking about of moving the timing mark to somewhere you can actually see it. The little inspection hatch on the top of the bell housing. I just line the timing mark up carefully through the normal timing window behind the starter. Then with a lettering punch I make a corresponding "O" on the back of the clutch housing in line with a fine wire strung between the two bolts. See the picture.

Not really shown in this picture but something I've started doing as I resemble engine and clutch units is I paint two inches to on the advanced side of the timing marks both new on clutch and on the normal flywheel position. This really helps when the timing is way off to find the timing mark.

I have copies of this photo with my manual on the computer in the shop to remind me on which side of the bolt to wind the wire.

Cheers Phil

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Bob I've done just what you are talking about of moving the timing mark to somewhere you can actually see it. The little inspection hatch on the top of the bell housing. I just line the timing mark up carefully through the normal timing window behind the starter. Then with a lettering punch I make a corresponding "O" on the back of the clutch housing in line with a fine wire strung between the two bolts. See the picture...Cheers Phil

We can re-institute the underground railway, or if things keep going "south" with the US ecomony, you could apply as an ecomomic refugee...in any case, you would be a welcome addition to the Hammond community.

Failing that, keep up the great work on your website and on MLU. We hamfisted non-technical types really appreciate your work!

[Bob Carriere]

Phil you are a genius......

....I actually set my flywheel on the pointer .....then crawl underneath to spray paint the flywheel black then draw a yellow line on it for TDC.....

....... now I will not have to crawl underneath anymore..... which is a good thing as I get older.....

I still can't believe it.....even smart ass GM engineers never thought of that....

Thanks a million......

...... as Rob said we will adopt you if need be.......

Bob

[Phil Waterman]

Couple of things that I have really noticed down here with the E10 fuel, it does go off (stale, water logged, what ever) very quickly. The best cure I've found is an electric fuel pump. Both big trucks have electric fuel pumps and letting them prime the carb before trying to spin the engine makes all the difference. They don't seem to care if they have sat for a day or a month both of them also are reasonably fresh rebuilds. My HUP is a different story it still has only a mechanical fuel pump and if it is started every week regardless of temperature it starts fine, evens out and runs smooth quickly. If it sits for a month then it doesn't want to start and when it does it takes a long time to smooth out. I suspect that it is the all the stale gas being pulled out of the carb.

Another suspect for the rough running is the vacuum advance, is it working?

Cheers Phil

[Wpns 421]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

I still can't believe it.....even smart ass GM engineers never thought of that....

"And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks" Being an engineer with a piece of paper on the wall is nice , but it will never, ever beat the knowledge of a guy with greasy, dirty hands that has a big smile on his face because it now works. Gilles

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Wish I could say I thought of that little trick the first time I timed my HUP back in 1978. No such luck. I'll have to find the periscope timing light made up out of plumbing parts on 90EL, Y joint and a mirror sort of worked. Or the next version mirror taped to timing light. But it wasn't until I had the third or forth stovebolt engine on the test stand that I started to really get smart.

But there is a further generation of thinking ahead, which I have done only on one engine, putting a TDC on the clutch housing and on the front pulley for each of the cylinders, this makes adjusting valves easier the one on the pulley lets you turn over the engine with the crank to the TDC for each cylinder to adjust the valve of course you still have to look at the valves to determine the valve closed position but if you remember the pairings you 1/6, 3/4, 5/2 it gets the job done quicker.

Cheers Phil