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jasun
04-26-2015, 08:16 PM
I finally gave in to all of my friends saying get rid of points. I want to preface all of this by saying even with the points, she would start with a half a bump of the key.
I ordered a new distributor and coil from Summit racing and installed it today. When I took the old distributor off the rotor was pointed at 9 o'clock. I installed the new distributor with the same orientation. I also change the plugs and gaps of them to .045 (Autolite brand from Napa, they had 145 stamped on the side). When I took the old ones out, the gap seemed much closer than .045. After I got the distributor in the plugs changed, the thing would not start. It sounded like it wanted to fire but wouldn't.

I used a spark indicator and found I had spark that all of my plugs, at least current going to all of my plugs. One thing I noticed was the per Tronics distributor I bought said it would work with coils greater than .6 ohms. The coil that summit racing told me to buy was only .3.

I took the new plugs out and put the old plugs back in and it fired up but ran rough. I finally got the idol and the timing at about 10° advanced and it ran smooth at 1000 RPMs for about 15 minutes. I figured that once it was under load the RPMs a drop to a manageable Idle.

I was extremely happy because it ran extremely smooth for that 15 minutes. With the points, it never would have idled that consistently for that long.

About two hours later I want to back out and tried to start it and it would not start. I finally got it going, but it would not idle smooth it all. I had my timing gun hooked up to it and I could see the light blinking consistently, but when the Idlewood falter, the light would skip.

I am going to try and replace the plugs as the old ones were pretty foul... What does anyone use for plugs for the 454? I can't say I trust the young kid at Napa to give me my spark plugs.

Other than changing plugs, does anybody have any ideas?


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leetudor
04-26-2015, 09:53 PM
I thought Chevys used the AC Delco MR43T's.

jasun
04-27-2015, 08:55 AM
Well i checked napas website and the kid gave me the correct plugs. Going to double check my gaps in them and reinstall them...... 😡

When all you BB folks go to the auto store to get parts for your 454's what year make and model do you tell them??

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wotan2525
04-27-2015, 10:22 AM
Well i checked napas website and the kid gave me the correct plugs. Going to double check my gaps in them and reinstall them...... ��

When all you BB folks go to the auto store to get parts for your 454's what year make and model do you tell them??

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I usually tell them it's a 1977 GMC 3500 truck. I've never had a problem.

It sounds to me like you've got timing issues. These engines will still run even when things are completely mixed up. Have you checked, double-checked and re-checked your plug wire order? It is possible that your dizzy got 1 tooth off. I had that happen once and it was nearly impossible to start. I'd see if it's easier (or possible) to start with the dizzy advanced or retarded as far in one direction as possible. I know (at least on my boat) that there is a physical limit to how far I can adjust the distributor. If it runs correctly on the far end of either direction, you'll want to adjust it a tooth in that direction.

I'd be baffled if your plugs are the problem. With an HEI setup, .045 is right on.

jasun
04-27-2015, 12:04 PM
I just got off the phone with Summit racing, and they told me I have the wrong coil. I need the flamethrower 2 which is a .6 ohms not the flamethrower three which is .32 ohms (The flamethrower distributor has an ignition 2 module which requires .6 ohms or greater). and I had my timing light hooked up to it yesterday and it was just setting on the ground flashing and when it would sputter, you could see where it would miss on the number one cylinder as the light would not flash. The tech guy at Summit told me that sometimes those ignition modules can be very testy as to what coil you use.
It should be here tomorrow, so I will try it out and see if that rectifies the issue.


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lively
04-28-2015, 01:40 PM
I did the same thing , but used a HEI Chevy style and never could get it to run right , later found that coil was internally resisted and was wrong ohms , installed ballast inline and reinstalled new Mallory and never looked back . 8mm wires . It runs strong


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jasun
04-28-2015, 05:41 PM
The new coil came today. And it fixed everything! I never thought that it would Idle so smooth. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish I would've changed when I bought the boat. I'm hoping to get it in the water this weekend to see how it runs, but right now I would say that if you are still running points, it is a good investment to switch to electronic ignition.


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docdrs
04-28-2015, 11:04 PM
The new coil came today. And it fixed everything! I never thought that it would Idle so smooth. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish I would've changed when I bought the boat. I'm hoping to get it in the water this weekend to see how it runs, but right now I would say that if you are still running points, it is a good investment to switch to electronic ignition.


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Ive always was interested in the points , ei debate. I was at my mechanics and they were doing it on an old GS 400. They let me me play and basically I did about 60% of the setup on the distributor. It took about 60 minutes and the thing sure did idle smooth after we were done. The car owner was so happy, and it had looked like he just had someone else put in new points when we took them out. Definitely a diy project, i should have taken pics but im sure there is a video on you tube.