After attending Tuning for Beer in NJ, I hace been jonesing to pull my distributor nad see what's going on there. Got distributor gear shim kit, a vc-1810 advance unit, and finally, the time. Pulled the distributor and measured the end play at the gear- .0052 a fair amount of play. Lars said 4 to 7 thousanths is correct. I began to dissassemble the distributor and just like PRNDL's distributor, the little rubber stop bushing fell out onto the table. The rest was the same also, 40 year old grease was like clay, etc. Reassembly went well except that I tried to use a new snap ring to hold the disributor plate down. You can't do that, the reason being that the little tabs get in the way of the points cam and will not allow the shaft to seat properly. Had to use the original retainer clip. Set timing to 36 degrees mechanical advance. Plugged in the advance and had 52 degrees. And the we had to let her sit because of all the rain. This morning, after the sun came out, she started right up. I let her warm up for a few minutes and then pulled her out for the test drive. Started up the block in first and the I punched it......busted the left rear spindle flange and mangled the half shaft flange (I may have to detune her). Had to get all the kids on the block to push me home. So after I round up the needed parts and get her fixed I'll let you guys know if she runs "like a scalded dog".

 

Somewhat related...

No offense to Lars, but everyone throws his name around quite a bit here on the forums.

However, I haven't been able to figure out what it is exactly that he does...Carburetor rebuilds? Dyno tuning?

Is he the "Go to" guy who can set up a Vette engine to make gobs of power?

Sorry in advance for the ignorance.

 

And so you should be!
Lars is Da man when it comes to knowledge of the GM (and other) tuning. He worked for GM training mechanics on the Q jet and ignition systems. He willingly passes on this information on the "tuning for beer tours" at no cost (expenses paid by the participants). All round good guy and consumer of beers.

 

Lars, aka "Dios del Martillo del Oro" (God of the Golden Hammer) is a top-notch tuner who travels the country (World Tour coming soon?) and helps us mortals excise the demons from our ignition & fuel systems.

 

all hail our god LARS!!!!!!

 

Lars is world wide!!! I don't remember where it was he went but I seem to recall him going over seas to do his magic.

 

Vette Dent- glad to hear that the Lars method gave you such an improvement.

I am happy to say that I was very suprised by the power gains I saw as well at "tuning for beer" in NJ. I arrived there with a fresh 357 (350 .40 over) with camel hump heads, rochester carb and stock exhaust manifolds dumping into 2" exhaust. I had tuned the car up and driven it about 1,000 miles before Larsfest, confident that I got all the bugs out and was very happy with the power output.

He 1st "clocked" my distributor so that I did not need the tach drive adaptor. (Lars told me that they were not good for the distributor housing since it can wear out the distributor gears faster) He then disassembled my distributor, noting that I had a "B1" vacuum advance can which was for a base, non performance application. He then pulled out a B26 can out of his stock and said that this was the correct can, giving me more advance in lower rpm's. Also, he found that the plate where the points rest had some play where the vacuum advance can rod mounted into it. This would cause timing scatter when observing the harmonic balancer timing mark. He proceeded to pull out the "golden hammer" to shrink the mounting hole for a tighter fit. After lubing it and shimming the distributor for proper play, he reinstalled it.

The quadrajet that was on the car was one that I bought brand new from GM a few years ago. Similiar to the original in design. The car ran very well with it, no hesitation or stumbling. However, when Lars took it apart, he found a few things wrong with it. The jets and metering rods were not the correct size for that model number, and the power piston was not set at the right height, resulting in a lean condition at wot. (Just goes to show, GM set up this carb for reliability, not performance) He put in the correct jets and metering rods, as well as setting up the power piston to its correct specs. Also, he found that through my adjustments (read bubba) the primary and secondary butterflys were not opening to their correct specs. He adjusted them so that the primaries opened up all the way and the secondaries opened up the correct amount.

He then put the carb back on and did some further adjustments to timing and fuel mixture. Lars drove the car with me in it. I could tell that it ran smoother with better throttle response. Checking out his work, he had my car up to 20 miles and hour and punched it. The nose lifted up and the rear tires broke loose. He shifted into 2nd at @ 6000 resulting in about 20 feet of more rubber on the ground. I could not believe the difference. Needless to say, Lars and I were both impressed.

Anyway, for anyone thinking about inviting Lars in for a beer and tune session, I would not pass it up! His knowledge, expertise, and willingness to help others makes him an invaluable part of this forum. Thanks again Lars!

Darrell

 

Does Lars have a tuning paper on rebuilding the distributors?
Also, where did you get the shim kit and how/where do you check for end play?

 

You can probably find something here.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/listing.asp?group=1&sub=11

BigBlockk

Later.....

 

I bow my head to the great Lars and wield to the power of his hammer. No doubt the added power was the proverbial "straw" that broke the camel's back.
That being said, if you look closely at Vette Dent's avatar, I believe that undue stress was placed on that side of the car and was producing sufficent metal fatigue.
My advice, keep the cows in the field, not on your vette.

 

There are many lars tuning papers at corvette FAQ. To check the endplay, insert a feeler gauge between the distributor gear and the distributor housing. I bought the distributor shim kit at a local auto parts store. It is a Mr. Gasket kit and this shop had to order it. VC-1810 is the advance unit and that is a NAPA part number. There is also a stop bushing that needs to be replaced. The "how to" tips from Lars were great.

Lars was very impressive. I had promised my kids a trip to Great Adventure, so I was unable to spend the entire day at tuning for beer. But if Lars comes around to my vicinity again, I will do my best to make the time and even do a road trip.

 

Damn Hobbiests.
Carb and ignition tuning best be left to the PRO's.
I think the thing that stuck with me most after Lars' visit was that most of the guy's performance gains were achieved after making several small tweaks... The little things added up, made a big difference in all the cars....

Stewie (Grand Poobah of the Hobbiest Nation)

 

Or to your "All Business" neighbor.........who never opens his hood.

 

Ha Ha Ha! Hey grand poohbah, what did Lars find on your car? Sorry I had to leave too early.

 

Hi Darrell,
He gave me props on getting the Dist end play correct but I had the gear on 180 deg off... He noticed that I wasnt getting full voltage from the coil due to a stupid resistor I had installed per MSD'd instructions. He said that the cars timing was too aggressive. He re-set the timing, re-jetted the carb and used a BFH to adjust my throttle cable linkage. He also changed my Vac routing....Ported to Manifold...or vice versa....I cant remember now....anyhow......
Runs like a scalded ape now....

FYI....The ALL BUSINESS Vette has a flat....its sitting in his driveway......what a putz.

Stewie

 

...I think you guys are being too harsh on "DDB." You need to attend a sensitivity training class, damned hobbiests.

 

 

 

FYI....The ALL BUSINESS Vette has a flat....its sitting in his driveway......what a putz.

Imagine that.... now he has to work on it!


George,

FYI, great videos! Sound was a little low, but still awesome for all the details.

 

What is this tuning for beer thing and how do you know where they are held?
How do you get invitied?