maksik7

Well heres the story. I used to have a pretty strong 355 in my TA which is in heaven now. So I swapped in an old 305 I had laying around and used the intake and carb from the 355 (Edelbrock Performer Intake and a rebuilt non-CC Q-Jet). Today I started it up and didn't like what I saw:

-Starts and idles fine, but when I rev it up to 3K and let go, it stumbles and what sounds like muffled backfires, and the RPM's are pretty slow to drop.
-Then I took it for a ride around the block, and the car would barely pull at all. Low/mid/high RPM's: almost no power.

Now I know the backfires may be timing related, so does anybody know what timing I should run with the 305 motor and the Q-Jet?

Anyway what would you recomend I do to make a little more power through the powerband? Now please be gentle, I'm a newbie when it comes to carbs so please give me some quick easy solutions.

Thanks everybody,
-Max

Jester

Does sound more like an ignition problem than carb. set the timing to about 6-10 degrees at idle and make sure no plug wires are crossed.

try that and let us know what happens.

maksik7

Now forgive my stupidity on this but I got a couple of more questions:

When you say 6-10* do you mean clockwise or counter-clockwise from the 0* indicator?
Also do I nned the hose going from the carb to the distributor (vaccum advance?) disconnected whne I set the timing?

Thank you for your help,
-Max

jeffs82z28

Yes, dis-connect the vacuum hose at the distributor and plug it, (I use a golf tee)
Make sure your timing pointer is clean and make a mark with a white or yellow crayon at the 6* mark. It will be sort of like this:






use your timing light to set the marker on the dampner to the 6* marker on the timing tab.
Test drive and adjust as needed.

jeffs82z28

Some day I'll figure out how to attatch files
Any way there is a timing tab/pointer on the timing cover with numbers on it.
Look in a service manual and it will help.

maksik7

Thanks for the help,

Do you mean 6* counter-clockwise or clockwise of the 0* mark? Also my idle is pretty high (11600rpm) with timing at 6* and vac hose disconnected, is this normal?

Thanks for the help,
-Max

jeffs82z28

as you are looking at the front of the engine, you would want the mark in the dampner to be at the mark on the timing tab, counter-clockwise from the 0* mark.
you also need to bring the idle down using the idle set screw on the driver's side of the carb.
Try setting the idle down to 500-600 rpm with the set screw, and re-adjust your timming to the 6* mark.
You may have to adjust the idle and the timing, in small increments to keep the motor running.
When you have the base timing set, hook up the vacuum advance hose and if your car is a manual trans, test drive it.
If you have an automatic, then have somebody step on the brakes and with the car in drive, set the idle to about 650 rpm. Then test drive.
You can play with the timing to find out how much initail advance it likes for the best overall performance.
Also, you can play with the centrifical advance springs to change the curve, BUT you need to get a few books/manuals and understand what you are doing BEFORE you start doing that kind of stuff.