SBC 283.. 66 Impala

Hello I own a 66 Impala 4 dr. with 283 auto all Original except Carburator and a New Paint Job.
This car has sat quite a bit in the last 2yrs due to the fabrication and new Paint.
I used a fuel stabilizer and started the car every now and then while it sat. The engine ran pretty good except for a small ping,little miss and seemed to run a little rich. When I would start it up, it would have black suit and then burn off as it warmed up. I recently finished the paint brought the car home changed Oil,Oil filter,Air filter,spark plugs,plug Wires,Cap and Rotor,and fuel filter. Car ran fine but still had a miss and less suit coming from tale pipe when first started.I had drove the car everyday for about a week and decided to get new points but in. So I had mechanic change the points and all was good for about 3 days. I took the car up to Fill it with Gas drove another 4 miles shut it off then restarted and started to Drive and thats when i had a problem.. It started jug jug jug and started losing power. I was going about 10 mph when this happened all of a sudden. I crawled the car to a parking lot and started to chk into the situation. Fuel was getting to carb, no wires had came off and nothin out of ordinary. kept tryin to start it and couldnt keep it going.
So I asked a friend to help me out. He came over and messed with the Timing and carb just to keep it running so i could get home. The car had barely any power and only would go about 5 mph and jug jug jug stalling along the way. He told me sounded like the Timing Belt Jumped.. Anyone else have any ideas ? Before I spend money I really dont have... Ty for your help :( p.s anyone in central Illinois wanna come take a look email me :P

it does not have a timing belt, it is a timing chain. you need to pull the plugs out, put a ratchet and socket on the balancer pulley center nut. Then you need to turn the motor over by hand using the ratchet, while holding a finger over the #1 plug hole. when you feel the air pushing past your finger that means the piston is coming to top dead center. you want to line the balancer mark at zero with the zero mark on your timing tab.

As long as they are still in the proper location you should then be at #1 top dead center. now locate your #1 spark plug wire and mark that on your distributor cap. remove the cap slowly, and your rotor inside the cap should be pointing close to the #1 plug wire on your cap. If it is then thats not your problem, if its not your chain has jumped. But your problem sounds to me like something else. But rule that out 1st.

your #1 plug is the 1st plug on the drivers side at the front of the motor, in case you do not know.

Does it matter that my friend has moved the distributor. and BTW yes i meant timing chain not Belt lol srry.. And also pull out all plugs or just #1?

Ok so I did what u told me...and when the air pushed out the #1 plug the pulley was not on TDC or even close. I would say about 1/4 to 1/2 a full pulley turn but, the rotor was close to the #1. However like I asked before does it matter if the distributor has been moved already? I would assume yes but im not expert.. Someone can give me new ideas or anything I really need some help here. I am so damn frustrated at the moment!!!! Finally my car comes home and now all this happening with my budget very low...

Kinda sounds like the cam gear is failing...the TDC should line up at compression....Although there won't be much compression if that's the case

I'd put money on the fact that it has jumped time.

Hello again, Ok i went back over to chk my car today and proceeded to do a Tow. I tightened the Distributor back down and adjusted the carb needles back out 1 1/2 turns to recheck. Got in and it fired right up WOW I then readjusted the needles again to make a little smoother it worked out just fine.. So with company tailing me I drove the car to my house up and down two hills no problem!!! I had full power and everything I cant believe I made it.. Why would this happen? Perhaps a 2 day of cooling off or pure luck? Or possibly I reset when i messed with it? Im really dumbfounded now!! Anyone have a clue what might have happened here?

I think I would be replacing the coil and condenser as well.

I had the same problem on a 65 Chevy truck and it turned out to be a short in the ignition circuit. Run a 12 gauge wire from the hot side of the battery to the + post of the coil with a toggle switch and ballast resistor in between. (take the old wire off of the + post, also) use the switch for your ignition on/off. Drive it a while and see if the problem goes away.

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Originally Posted by ScooterCO

I think I would be replacing the coil and condenser as well.

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Someone else told me the same thing.. I went out and bought new coil and a better set of new Points as well just in case the others ones i bought might be faulty. I also picked up a dwell Meter. This will be my first time using a dwell meter but I dont think it will be all that hard.. Wish me luck and I will report back
after I install. Ty for all your replies :P

When your pocket is at a point that you can invest, invest in a new ignition. On my 64 I went MSD and have no complaints. Pertronics makes an execellent conversion for the old point system.

:toocool:

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Originally Posted by falconvan

I had the same problem on a 65 Chevy truck and it turned out to be a short in the ignition circuit. Run a 12 gauge wire from the hot side of the battery to the + post of the coil with a toggle switch and ballast resistor in between. (take the old wire off of the + post, also) use the switch for your ignition on/off. Drive it a while and see if the problem goes away.

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.. New coil and points now the car wont start at all but will turn over. I chked the power to the + side of coil with old and brand new one on and its only reading 6 volts however battery is at 12. Is this normal or can we put this to the switch?

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Originally Posted by CHEVYLV3R

.. New coil and points now the car wont start at all but will turn over. I chked the power to the + side of coil with old and brand new one on and its only reading 6 volts however battery is at 12. Is this normal or can we put this to the switch?

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There's a resistor wire in between the ignition switch and the points. If you're bypassing this wire to test it, go to the parts store and get a ballast resistor for an early 70's Duster and run it inline with the switch and then to the + on the battery. Another thing worth mentioning is to check the wire that goes from the - side of the coil, into the distributor, and to the points. Make sure it's not cracked where it goes into the distributor or it could be grounding to the distributor casing and killing your spark.

Ok im not sure about this resistor wire but I do see two wires to the + of the coil. One is red and one is white and they are linked together with a lead. They both are leading down to starter but cant find were the white wire goes. The - side of coil only has the black to the distributor and seems to be fine. I used a Volt/Dwell/Rpm Meter to chk the + side of Coil and it was reading 6 volts with the key turned on (not turning over).. this is all new to me and I am trying to learn but not having any luck atm. Notice the ones im holding are the ones im talking about. the taped off wires are to a blower relay that is on order. If u need any other pics let me know.

here are the pics

The wire you have in your hand is for the high blower relay for the a/c heater system.has nothing to do with the ignition. You have either not set the points to the correct gap or did not install them correct. Connect the dwell meter to the negative side of coil, crank the engine. Make sure you have the meter set to 8 cylinder. You should read, while cranking, 30 degrees dwell if not reset them. Also make sure the condensor is tight.

The wire going from your ignition switch inside the car to the + side of the coil is a resistor wire. So take that wire off for noww. Take a length of 12 gauge wire and run it from the positive post of the battery to one side of a toggle switch. From the other side of the toggle switch run another wire to one side of a ballast resistor. from the other side of the ballast resistor run another wire back to the + side of the coil. That should be the only wire on the + side of the coil. Basically what you're doing is bypassing the factory ignition circuit and setting up a test circuit. The toggle switch will be your on/off for the ignition. With the toggle switch on, try and start the engine. If it starts, drive it that way for a few days and see if it runs normal. If it does, your problem is somewhere in the factory ignition circuit. If it doesn't, then you've got problems elsewhere.

Motor please look closer as the wires in Hand are to the + of coil. My last post I said the wires I taped off are to the blower relay that is missing in the pic.

Falconvan... I understand u better and will go pick up the ballast and switch today and have a go. Ty for your help.

Ok so I did exactly as u said and the resistor had a lil bit of smoke comin from it and I disconnected.. Is this normal? it wasnt burning or glowing it was just a lil bit. Not sure if this was normal so i decided to ask instead of cause more damage... I can show u pics of how i hooked it up if needed..

I see what might be a problem the little strap that holds the cam lube felt is hitting the little wire.. if u see anything let me know. On pic 3 BTW

Anyone who is listening.. O.O I put the old points back in and boom it fired right up.. Now i have to dial it in.. Which is my next problem.. The carb default settings damn I have to many defaults but hey ya know I am tryin to learn not sit here and hand it over to a Shop and pay 500 or more.. If anyone can assist me in this let me know ty I have a dwell meter and timing light let me know the dwell setting and the carb defaults so i can adjust from there please... BTW HEI will go in this soon LOL

Good friend, maybe, but don't let him touch your car anymore for starters.
Sounds like the choke is stuck shut or sticking. Use a clothspin to clamp it open to temporarily get it running, except now your "friend" probably has the timing all out of whack. Also check the points. They may have went shut if they were just worked on, the screw maybe wasn't tightened down and if they didn't lube them the rubbing block goes away real fast. I would change them out for a petronix. Very simple to install.
Also this is pretty remote and would only apply if it had the original exhaust but that vintage of GM cars came with a double wall pipe and there were known for the inner pipe to collapse shut. You couldn't see it from the outside. A vacuum gauge will show it right away and usually they will start spitting gas back out the carb just before it dies.

I'm afraid your simple choke problem has now turned into trying to fix the stuff that other people muddled up.
BTW, the ground strap is supposed to be under the screw, not jammed under the frame of the points.

That ground strap does not move.. It is in its permanent position there is no screw at that point.. My other points dont have that frame that holds the felt..
BTW Now dwell is at 30 and timing is 2 notches above TDC and this enigine Is back to the Original prob from post #1 again.. Seems like this Carburetor needs rebuilt or scrapped Im not sure at this moment. My next lesson will be in rebuilding a Carb cause i dont have money for a new one lol