Thread: SBC 283.. 66 Impala

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Hello I own a 66 Impala 4 dr. with 283 auto all Original except Carburator and a New Paint Job.
This car has sat quite a bit in the last 2yrs due to the fabrication and new Paint.
I used a fuel stabilizer and started the car every now and then while it sat. The engine ran pretty good except for a small ping,little miss and seemed to run a little rich. When I would start it up, it would have black suit and then burn off as it warmed up. I recently finished the paint brought the car home changed Oil,Oil filter,Air filter,spark plugs,plug Wires,Cap and Rotor,and fuel filter. Car ran fine but still had a miss and less suit coming from tale pipe when first started.I had drove the car everyday for about a week and decided to get new points but in. So I had mechanic change the points and all was good for about 3 days. I took the car up to Fill it with Gas drove another 4 miles shut it off then restarted and started to Drive and thats when i had a problem.. It started jug jug jug and started losing power. I was going about 10 mph when this happened all of a sudden. I crawled the car to a parking lot and started to chk into the situation. Fuel was getting to carb, no wires had came off and nothin out of ordinary. kept tryin to start it and couldnt keep it going.
So I asked a friend to help me out. He came over and messed with the Timing and carb just to keep it running so i could get home. The car had barely any power and only would go about 5 mph and jug jug jug stalling along the way. He told me sounded like the Timing Belt Jumped.. Anyone else have any ideas ? Before I spend money I really dont have... Ty for your help p.s anyone in central Illinois wanna come take a look email me :P

it does not have a timing belt, it is a timing chain. you need to pull the plugs out, put a ratchet and socket on the balancer pulley center nut. Then you need to turn the motor over by hand using the ratchet, while holding a finger over the #1 plug hole. when you feel the air pushing past your finger that means the piston is coming to top dead center. you want to line the balancer mark at zero with the zero mark on your timing tab.

As long as they are still in the proper location you should then be at #1 top dead center. now locate your #1 spark plug wire and mark that on your distributor cap. remove the cap slowly, and your rotor inside the cap should be pointing close to the #1 plug wire on your cap. If it is then thats not your problem, if its not your chain has jumped. But your problem sounds to me like something else. But rule that out 1st.

your #1 plug is the 1st plug on the drivers side at the front of the motor, in case you do not know.

Does it matter that my friend has moved the distributor. and BTW yes i meant timing chain not Belt lol srry.. And also pull out all plugs or just #1?

Ok so I did what u told me...and when the air pushed out the #1 plug the pulley was not on TDC or even close. I would say about 1/4 to 1/2 a full pulley turn but, the rotor was close to the #1. However like I asked before does it matter if the distributor has been moved already? I would assume yes but im not expert.. Someone can give me new ideas or anything I really need some help here. I am so damn frustrated at the moment!!!! Finally my car comes home and now all this happening with my budget very low...

Kinda sounds like the cam gear is failing...the TDC should line up at compression....Although there won't be much compression if that's the case

I'd put money on the fact that it has jumped time.

Hello again, Ok i went back over to chk my car today and proceeded to do a Tow. I tightened the Distributor back down and adjusted the carb needles back out 1 1/2 turns to recheck. Got in and it fired right up WOW I then readjusted the needles again to make a little smoother it worked out just fine.. So with company tailing me I drove the car to my house up and down two hills no problem!!! I had full power and everything I cant believe I made it.. Why would this happen? Perhaps a 2 day of cooling off or pure luck? Or possibly I reset when i messed with it? Im really dumbfounded now!! Anyone have a clue what might have happened here?

I think I would be replacing the coil and condenser as well.

I had the same problem on a 65 Chevy truck and it turned out to be a short in the ignition circuit. Run a 12 gauge wire from the hot side of the battery to the + post of the coil with a toggle switch and ballast resistor in between. (take the old wire off of the + post, also) use the switch for your ignition on/off. Drive it a while and see if the problem goes away.

Originally Posted by ScooterCO

I think I would be replacing the coil and condenser as well.

Someone else told me the same thing.. I went out and bought new coil and a better set of new Points as well just in case the others ones i bought might be faulty. I also picked up a dwell Meter. This will be my first time using a dwell meter but I dont think it will be all that hard.. Wish me luck and I will report back
after I install. Ty for all your replies :P

When your pocket is at a point that you can invest, invest in a new ignition. On my 64 I went MSD and have no complaints. Pertronics makes an execellent conversion for the old point system.

Originally Posted by falconvan

I had the same problem on a 65 Chevy truck and it turned out to be a short in the ignition circuit. Run a 12 gauge wire from the hot side of the battery to the + post of the coil with a toggle switch and ballast resistor in between. (take the old wire off of the + post, also) use the switch for your ignition on/off. Drive it a while and see if the problem goes away.

.. New coil and points now the car wont start at all but will turn over. I chked the power to the + side of coil with old and brand new one on and its only reading 6 volts however battery is at 12. Is this normal or can we put this to the switch?

Originally Posted by CHEVYLV3R

.. New coil and points now the car wont start at all but will turn over. I chked the power to the + side of coil with old and brand new one on and its only reading 6 volts however battery is at 12. Is this normal or can we put this to the switch?

There's a resistor wire in between the ignition switch and the points. If you're bypassing this wire to test it, go to the parts store and get a ballast resistor for an early 70's Duster and run it inline with the switch and then to the + on the battery. Another thing worth mentioning is to check the wire that goes from the - side of the coil, into the distributor, and to the points. Make sure it's not cracked where it goes into the distributor or it could be grounding to the distributor casing and killing your spark.

Ok im not sure about this resistor wire but I do see two wires to the + of the coil. One is red and one is white and they are linked together with a lead. They both are leading down to starter but cant find were the white wire goes. The - side of coil only has the black to the distributor and seems to be fine. I used a Volt/Dwell/Rpm Meter to chk the + side of Coil and it was reading 6 volts with the key turned on (not turning over).. this is all new to me and I am trying to learn but not having any luck atm. Notice the ones im holding are the ones im talking about. the taped off wires are to a blower relay that is on order. If u need any other pics let me know.

here are the pics