I had one of those bright ideas and am still kicking myself. I had my 66 base small block dyno tested to get the max performance adjustment. The before and after were dramatic. 197 at the wheels 1st pull and 222 on the 4th. Problem is next day it is hard as heck to start and missing on acceleration. I fixed the miss by putting the distributor cap on tight(customer participation I guess) but the hard starting is now no starting and I am cooling my heals with the battery charger going :mad . What is the story on this? Should I have expected the advance to be so far forward that it can't start? The mechanic blames my starter which has always been strong and reliable. Now it just feeblely clicks when I try to crank the engine. Any quick fixes to save the holiday would be appreciated.


[Modified by midyearinterest, 6:14 PM 7/1/2002]

 

Many of these guys will max out the advance at WOT for max HP gains they can report that they found for you...
I would say that it is likely too far advanced, and that is causing the hard to turn over condition you report..
Try backing it off a tad and see if that helps.

BTW I wouldn't expect the starter to just click it would just turn over really slow. You might however just run the battery down trying..

You could also have a weak or shorted cell???
Double check you battery connections and try to recharge the battery.

Good Luck

Tony


[Modified by pittsaj, 4:43 PM 7/1/2002]

 

Those are excellent numbers for a 327/300, but I don't see how advancing the timing could increase power ten percent unless it was severely retarded to begin with.

The '66 300 HP initial timing spec is 6* with a range of 6-12. Centrifugal advance maxes out at 30 @5100; 12 plus 30 is 42, which is probably a bit too much for a SB, but even if he advanced the initial to 16* it should still start.

The guy should have told you what he set the timing at, or if he adjusted it while running to get peak power, he should have checked the initial after the runs to see where it was at.

Check the initial timing and tell us what it is. Also, assuming the guy used a dial back light at peak revs he should be able to tell you where he set the total WOT (initial plus centrifugal) advance.

There's also a chance that the starter decided it was time to go TU, and it's just a coincidence that it happened after the dyno runs. Also, dyno runs can be tough because the exhaust manfolds glow due to lack of airflow that you have through the engine compartment that helps cool them when driving down the road, and red hot manifolds can radiate a lot of heat to the solenoid and starter.

The plastic shock tower cover on my Cosworth Vega melted during a dyno run when the header was the color of a pumpkin and the engine was making 160 RWHP at 7000, but this was never a problem at the track despite sustained WOT high rev operation.

One last thought - check to see that your vacuum can is properly connected.

Duke




[Modified by SWCDuke, 5:05 PM 7/1/2002]

 

I am thinking the battery is (temporarilly)discharged. It is about two years old and lives in sunny so cal and it checked out fine last month. The starter is pretty dang old but has never failed. It even groaned and cranked the engine yesterday and the day before. But under a lot of protest. The only mod was a new coil and bypassing the ballast resistor which should be no problem with the petronix lsc module instead of points.
I didn't get any timing data so I am a bit lost there but have backed off the setting to give the starter a break when the battery tells me it is ready. :rolleyes: Thanks for the helpful info, it is keeping me on the right track.

 

Bypassing the resistor to feed the Pertronix is correct, but make sure you're still feeding the coil (+) through the resistor - otherwise you'll wind up with a fried coil.

 

A new hi torque starter has me back on the road again :) The timing is set at 12 degrees and with the new coil it is running smoothly with plenty of spark. The Battery made it but the heat and all was too much for the old starter. Thanks for the input.