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i bought a flatbed chennyne w/ a 454 and i'm going over the engine and i can't set the timing......it runs pretty good when the mark sits at 30 -35 degrees but when i set it back to 8 deg it runs like crap.

the engine is a 1974 454 with headers and a carter afb. i've already replaced the vac advance and the carb spacer(somebody put a square 4 boreadapter on a q-jet manifold) and got all the vac leaks sealed. i just need this one problem fixed so she runs as well a she can.

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are you looking at the right timing mark on the balancer?

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

damn... sounds like you have the light hooked up to the wrong spark plug wire.

bring # 1 cylinder to top dead center. you can put a small screwdriver in the plug hole to help find it. it needs to be on the compression stroke, so watch the intake rocker. after it closes and the piston reaches top dead center , look at your timming mark on the balancer, it should be at the 0 mark, if not something is out of wack. any way it should run best anywhere between 8-20 deg. advanced. i rum my 468 at 38ttl . unplug any vac lines going to the distibutor when you check the timming. run the engine up to 2500 - 3000 rpm and check it there..

there's only one....



i have split banks the forward cyl is #1 right?

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drivers side farthest forward is cylinder 1.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

that's the one......is there a way to put the balancer on wrong or backwards?

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The H balancer is keyed to fit the crank so that's not the problem. Are you sure that ALL of the vacuum leaks are eliminated? It sounds like there's an open vacuum port somewhere. Run the engine and spray carb cleaner on all of the vacuum fittings, intake, carb base gasket and throttle shafts. The engine will smooth out momentarily if there's a minor leak or stumble and die if there's a major leak. It would be good to do this to be sure that you have a sealed motor.
When it's certian that the motor is sealed, I'd look in to the carb itself. If the motor is running rich (like the choke is closed) it will run like crap. It might be good to replace the mechanical weights, bushings and springs in the distributor. A kit is cheap to get a smooth ignition advance.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

there's a new dist in the truck......well.... new rebuilt i put new weights, springs and advance in the beast......i know for a fact that all the leaks are sealed. the propane torch doesn't lie.(similar to the starting fluid trick except the engine slows down)

the question about the h-balancer was if you could flip it inside out. the timing mark is not visible when you get it near the timing guage, the notch on the balancer does not cover the entire edge of the balancer, it only goes halfway across the edge and the timing guage completley covers the mark when you get it close. i'm pretty sure that you should be able to read it when it's under the guage.

this motor has amazing compression(175 psi on all cyl +/- 5psi) so the only other possibility i can think of is the cam being 180 out. to tell the truth i'm not up to tearing into this engine.......i havent torn apart a bbc since auto shop my freshman year of high school(1990) and there's still two valve springs burried in the acoustic panels above the head rebuild table to this day........(sucks to be a lesson on saftey for my little sis 12 years later)

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freshman in 1990... damn i am old

A stock h balancer is a one piece unit. It's not designed to be taken apart and it will only fit one way on the crankshaft. It's starting to sound like you have an aftermarket or wrong balancer. An aftermarket unit might be a 2 piece assy but this is extreme to find on a basic motor. Is there some kind of spacer missing between the crank and balancer? A spacer would keep the balancer more forward on the crank and the timing marks would be seem. But the fact that you stated that the mark should be on the forward side of the balancer leads me to think that the balancer is not specific to your motor. Is the cam chain cover stock, or is it an aftermarket unit? Or is the timing tab on the cover stock or a bolt on type. You might want to look in to this too. Mis-matched parts could be the problem all along.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

crank the motor over to TDC (use the thumb over spark plug hole 1 trick or pull the valve cover and look at the rocker arms for #1) Once you find TDC. look down at the mark on the balancer and see if its at the 0 mark on the tab.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

well i guess i'm gonna need a new shop bench to stand on to do anything under the hood.

a really haven't had a whole day to work on this thing since i got the s15 i'm stripping for the luv, but i'll plan on a day to work on it i guess.

thanks for the advice guys.....

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so how goes the s-15 stripdown??

slow and low......i think i'll be able to get away with out choping my crossmember to mount the trans , but i'm taking it easy right now cause i'm taking a trip to OZ to see the in-laws. i don't have a lot of cash to play with.

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i'd love to go back to OZ..but you go to places i haven't been yet... have fun..