[Quick Pic: My father-in-law and I installed an electronic ignition on the HoonTruck. On first try, we didn’t quite have the timing correct.]
Timing is everything…
About
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Did you pull the distributor out? And did you reinstall it, 180 degrees off?
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And, certain plug wires don’t like to be next to each other on some Fords (like my former ’95 F-150), to avoid cross-firing.
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Backfire … timing is advanced.
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It’s all fine now – I was just rolling the camera as we tested things and grabbed this from the footage. Timing is all set now and the truck fires right up.
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What you did there, I see it.
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Show of hands, who here hasn’t singed their eyebrows in the exact same manner?
Just be glad it wasn’t a Holley and you blew out the power valve.-
Never singed my eyebrows on one (lucky never to have had my head directly over the carby at the time).
Once, quite a few years ago, I was out on my “Tuesday Answer”, part of a group ride, when the bike in front of me (an old Harley) backfired through the carby and set fire to the air filter. Very spectacular, especially with the girly scream from the rider, “F#%$!!!! I’m on fire!” – he wasn’t actually on fire, but having an open flame suddenly appear a foot or so away from one’s private parts is likely to have that effect on anyone. After the initial surprise, he handled it like a boss – kept the throttle open so it sucked the flame back into the engine and turned off the fuel tap, pulled over to the side of the road and let it coast to a stop when the engine stopped, then discarded the smoking remains of the air filter element and continued on his way. -
Most of one eyebrow to the stumps and all eyelashes.
That was a freaky-feeling few weeks.
Courtesy of a 1980 F-100 with the single-barrel 300 CID “big” six.
I hated that fucking truck with all my will. Still hate it, even though it was likely crushed about 28 years ago.
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Nailed it.
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I once wired my wagon completely backward. Thought the distributor was clockwise, but was actually CCW.
It actually ran, just really really badly. -
I once had a couple of wires swapped on to the wrong plugs and it ran, though terribly. It took me a while to diagnose since I assumed that misfiring on two of eight cylinders would keep it from running altogether.
Live and learn.-
I had one coil, of three, fail about 90% on my ’95 E320 Mercedes back in about 2009.
Ran like crap on four and 1/3 cylinders, but it ran. MPG went to mid-teens, but it was my only ride to work.
Bought the last coil Amazon had, and it was on closeout for some absurdly low price.
That car is in motion, to this day. Still doesn’t have a functional reverse, according to my stepson…to whom I gave it.
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A friend bought a used car one time (one of many he bought) where the previous owner had installed the distributor 180 off, and instead of taking it out again and putting it in the right way, swapped plug wires around. It ran like crap, but it ran. My friend tore it all out and fixed it.
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