distributor and carburetor questions

[go2eleven]

Hey guys. I have been having some starting issues lately. Let me tell you what I'm certain isn't the problem first. Since I got the car in March, I have replaced the alternator, battery, battery cables, ignition coil, spark plugs, cables, fuel filters, main relay, distributor cap & rotor, as well as a number of other unrelated things. The previous owner replaced the fuel pump and fuel tank. The starter is certainly working also.

I have become convinced that it is the distributor/timing issues and/or the carburetor tuning. So I have two questions:

1)When I changed the distributor cap, I broke off one of the bolts holding the cap onto the distributor. I didn't have the capability to drill it out at the time, so I JB Welded the cap on and figured I would replace the distributor later. Well, that worked for a while, but the weld has come off. So now is the time to replace it. I figure I can pull one at the local Pick-N-Pull and give it Dr_Snooz's lazy rebuild. My question is this: what do I look for when I am pulling a used distributor? What should I avoid, what points to a good one? Will one off an EFI work as long as it is TEC like mine?

2) The car has run before, but at some point I decided to turn the screw on the back of the carburetor. Not sure what I was thinking at the time, but I did it. I figured out I was doing something wrong when it felt like it was about to come off in my hand, so I turned it as far back the other way as I could. Where is this screw supposed to be? All the tuning procedures for this screw in the service manual seem to based on already having the engine running. What can I do here?

Thanks for all the help you guys have already given me with your previous posts. Love the site and the community.

[jzdude]

The distributors for carb and efi are different:
EFI:
1. Made by TEC only (I think)
2. Vacuum advance on top of distributor (pointing toward windshield)
Carbed:
1. Made by TEC or Hitachi
2. Vacuum advance on bottom of distributor (pointing away from windshield)

For carbed get the same model as your original so you can interchange the good parts if you find the new distributor is broken. You can tell the difference of the models by looking in manual.

[Dr_Snooz]

If I were in the market for a distributor, I would consider buying one of the new Richporters from eBay. At the junkyard, I would look for a distributor that is not filled with either motor oil or red dust. Make sure the shaft spins smoothly and the mechanical and vacuum advance mechanisms operate smoothly too. If you manage to find a vacuum advance diaphragm that holds air too, you're doing pretty well.

[go2eleven]

Thanks guys, that's a big help! I'll have a look at the junkyard first, and if I don't have any luck with that, I'll get one of the one's on eBay. Thanks for the link, Snooz.

Anyone have ideas concerning the carburetor?

[go2eleven]

Update: It seems to have been the idle screw after all. I spent an hour fiddling with it today and actually got the car to start! I can hear a big vacuum leak coming from under the air cleaner on the driver side though, so I guess that's my next task. That and tires, power steering, a/c, ....

Thanks so much for y'all's (sp?) help!