i have an 1981 camaro with a new 355.i have the stock old distributor in it. it has a little surge to the idle (it will idle at a good RPM, then it will idle to a lower RPM). i have tryed adjusting with the timing, i was gettin inconsistent spark to some cylinders and weak spark to some. i was wondering if maybe i am a few teeth off on the cam?. i have new coil. wires. cap. and rotor. and it still does this. it's hard to get it to rev up when u just stick it hard. but it u ease it down not as hard it will rev really good. i adjusted it to the same spot on the intake. but i think i am a tooth or two off on the cam shaft. any real clues to indicate this to me? or should i just go and buy a whole new distributor? thanks for your help, Matt Jarrett
ignition timing questions
Feb 21, 2005
2 Replies
I'd go for rebuilding a distributor before buying new unless you want to really update the distributor. Have you checked the vacuum advance? As for being off by a couple of teeth on the camshaft... If you are referring to the teeth on the distributor into the camshaft then it's really no problem unless you can't turn the dist. to the correct advance.
...Ron
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68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert
And remember to use a timing light to set the timing. It sounds like maybe your trying to time it by eye which will fail almost all the time. Use the timing light and set it to the specs under the hood.
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