Fw: My 300F

["Mark Schueller" <f41324@xxxx>]

I am forwarding this email to the 300 Club at the request of Jim McMullen. He is unable to access the listserver.

Mark Schueller
300F

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jim McMullan 
To: Mark Schueller 
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 5:42 PM
Subject: RE: My 300F


Mark some thoughts.When I was in the Air Force working as a recip engine mechanic we used a devise called a time-right. It had a lever that went through one of the spark plug holes and was bent to hang over the piston.It had a fulcrum point at the plug boss and the lever on the outside next to a scale (protractor).Whit this devise we could always find T.D.C.of the compression stroke.It would be pretty simple to make one.Also I have a old Hemmy manual that suggests that you ground every other spark plug in the firing order.Disconect the vacuum line and plug,start the engine and let it warm up,advance the timing (at idle or as close as you can get) until the engine quits.Mark the distributor base at the block.Do the same thing Retarding the timing an mark it.Set the dist. 1/2 way between the 2 marks and lock it down.You will have timed to best performance for the fuel you are using and your altitude.Please forward this message to the list server as I cant get through to it. Jim McMullan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mark Schueller 
To: Jim McMullen;Karl Peterson;John Roth;Geprge Riehl;Warren Anderson;Joe Savard;Pat Grant;Dave Grove
Sent: 4/28/2002 8:54:25 AM 
Subject: My 300F




Dear Jim, Karl, John, George, Warren, Joe, Pat & Dave:

My car is running much better thanks to your help. I really appreciate all your ideas and the time you took to send them to me.

I went through the carbs, adjusted the floats, reinstalled the 824 pumps as recommended by George Riehl, and adjusted the pumps stroke to 7/16" in the center linkage hole. The float settings were off more than expected in one of the carbs. No one to blame but me for that problem.

Dave Grove suggested I installed a new fuel pump so I installed a NAPA M3672. The rubber "fuel in" hose matched up nicely but the "fuel out" did not. I saved the original fuel out piping between the pump and the fuel filter and bent a new one. It was easy to do with a 5/16" pipe bender. When I started the engine fuel squirted out the rubber fuel filter hoses because of the higher fuel pressure. I eagerly replaced the spring type hose clamps with screw down hose clamps. The leaks stopped and I knew fuel pressure was good.

Performance improved but it still wasn't good. Many of you suggested possible engine timing problems. Vacuum advance (retard) and centrifugal advance concerns were mentioned. The vacuum advance "suck" test worked with the advance snapping back sharply when vacuum was released. Dave Grove suggested that the damper timing mark could be in the wrong place. He had seen this many times before ... I had never seen this before. I decided to do some experimenting.

I started advancing the timing by hand one small tweak at a time. Just in case, I first marked the original spot where the distributor meets the block with "white out". Performance improved with each minor adjustment in the advance direction. The car now leaps off the line and performs much more like it should. I still get an occasional hesitation but no more backfiring. What fun! All these years I thought engine timing was correct. Live and learn.

Now I don't know where to stop with my tweaking. I don't want to go too far and hurt the engine. The engine is not pinging. Is there any way to tell top dead center on the engine without removing the front timing cover so the engine can be timed with a light. Pulling #1 spark plug and finding the compression stroke will get me close but I'd like to be exact so a timing light can be used.

Any way, I'm a happy 300F motorist. Thank you all again for your helpful suggestions. This summer will be much better with my new high performance 300F.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Schueller


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