Section : General

3 Questions. 

Posted By : Stephen Abbott, 13-May-2006, 10:06am

• 3 Questions. 

  Posted By : Kevin Rochfort, 13-May-2006, 10:23am

  Rear suspension refurb - with the swing spring, it is much easier than rotoflex. The tools you need depend on how far you want to go with the refurb.
  
  Spring lifter - usefull but not essential with a swing spring - makes the job a bit safer. I've done one rear end with one and one without. The next time I do one, I'll use a spring lifter, but thats because I have one that I made.
  
  Hub puller - essential if you intend to strip down the halfshaft to remove the brake back plate and replace the bearings. If the stripdown and refurb is not going this far, then it is not necessary.
  
  Kevin

• 3 Questions. 

  Posted By : Philip Charlton, 13-May-2006, 02:14pm

  put yer white mark on the pulley and twist the distributor. advance and retard is not that hard to work out from there.

  • 3 Questions. 

    Posted By : Vin Poonwassie, 13-May-2006, 03:12pm

    advance, retard, take dizzy cap off, turn engine over, see which way the rotor arm goes, put cap back on, advance is to turn the dizzy in the same way as the rotation of the rotor arm, retard is the opposite way.
    
    but if I were you I'd wait for the timing light......

    • 3 Questions. 

      Posted By : Stephen Abbott, 13-May-2006, 05:00pm

      Thanks Vin, Kevin and Philip, I know the direction of rotation is anti-clock on the dizzy, so retard will be clock-wise, I think I'll wait for the timing light and set it as per book to start with, I usually put 99 octane un-leaded in so I'll see how it runs, I have a feeling that I'm a bit advanced at the moment as she tends to run a tad on the hot side
      The rear suspension rebuild will probably be a partial strip, I want to replace some UJ's as there seems to be some slight play. Chance to get some paint and waxoyl under there as well.
      
      Cheers, Steve.

      • 3 Questions. 

        Posted By : Van Hamlin, 13-May-2006, 09:10pm

        Surely the dizzy turns anticlockwise so to retard it you turn it anticlockwise. Think of it this way - you adjust it by turning the body and if you turn it in the same direction that the rotor turns in then the rotor will take longer to get to where its going and the spark comes later - retarded.
        Good luck!
        Van
        

        • 3 Questions. 

          Posted By : Stephen Abbott, 13-May-2006, 09:21pm

          My Brain hurts, I hope Postman Pat hurries up with that bloody timing light. I am not going to touch it until then, I'll let you know for sure !!
          My Dad knows onions about engines and I got him confused, mind you, he is 1000 miles from me and his current car doesn't have a distributor (as such). I think it has been too long since he had his head under a bonnet, anyone know of a decent Vitesse convertible for sale near Alicante?
          
          Steve.

          • 3 Questions. 

            Posted By : Chris Taylor, 16-May-2006, 05:58pm

            Van is right about the distributor. Advancing the ignition means making the spark happen EARLIER, so you turn the dizzy the OPPOSITE direction to rotor arm direction. Retarding means a LATER spark, so turn dizzy body the SAME way as rotor arm turns.
            
            You do not need a timing light to set optimum timing, although one is useful to see if the dizzy advance curve is behaving as it ought to at various revs.
            Simply set the correct static ignition timing as per manual.
            Then advance the ignition at little at a time until the engine just pinks when accelerating hard in a high gear at low speed (eg from about 20mph in top) with engine fully warm. Then retard just a fraction. This may sound a lot of hassle, but it doesn't take that long. Just make sure you take the right spanner with you to losen the dizzy body clamp so you can adjust at the roadside between between "tests." You will then have the optimum advance for your engine in its current state of tune, carbon build up and wear, and for that grade of fuel.
            Without a thumbwheel adjuster it may be helpful to mark the dizzy body and adjacent bracket when you have found the optimum so that you can reset to that position again should you have to disturb the dizzy.