Believe it or not:I fixed my timing/stalling problem!

[Clark]

This is a happy day for me and my 69 393W. After trying to find why after my rebuild that the car would die when I put it in gear and why I needed so much timing to get my car to idle correct, the cam was the problem! I went in and removed my cam and installed a new one and everything cam right in and worked as advertised. I am not sure if that was the only thing that helped but I am glad it is back to driving

 

[69 302/351c]

What was the difference between the two cams? Was the first one installed correctly?

 

[Clark]

Yes, as far as I know there was no obvious problem with the old cam and appeared to be ok. The biggest difference was that the old one was used and the new cam was right out of the box. This cam was also for a 351W instead of 302, but besides that and double checking the assembly it now works.

 

[Max Power]

In all likelyhood, when you put it back together, you probably fixed a vacuum leak somewhere.

But, I have heard of bad cams before causing drivability problems, and actually seen it once. It was a problem with runout on the back side of the lobe. It would mess with the lifters and pump up.

 

[notny41]

I'm putting my chips on Max as well. I had very poor engine running conditions and found out the PO had installed incorrect carb spacer gaskets and I had a vac leak. Put the correct gaskets on and it immediately ran like a champ!

 

[Clark]

I hate to disagree, but before I changed the cam all external leaks were checked for pulled a solid 17 in. vacuum and when I disconnected the PCV line and left it open it ran great and would not stall. Plus I could advance the timing to 20+ initial with no pinging, I wish I could say it was simple but I had people from all over scratching there heads

 

[notny41]

If you got 17 lbs vacuum on a gauge then you probably didn't not have a vacuum leak.

 

[67stangboy]

Dont mean to hi-jack the thread but what do you use to check the vac? Sorry to sound like a newb.

 

[Max Power]

Interesting. Maybe it was runout on the cam. Don't see it too often...

 

[crushnut]

Dont mean to hi-jack the thread but what do you use to check the vac? Sorry to sound like a newb.

Vacuum guage available at any auto parts store