1 bad lifter worth it?

[80' 427]

I was wrong, it was a hidden vacuum leak. Neighbor brought home a vacuum tester so I hooked it up to the trans modulator, that was fine, then the distributor. Bingo. Also tested my vacuum gauge

Distributor canister was just letting air suck through, so it caused a vacuum leak and didn't advance the timing. It runs a whole lot better at idle, and starts right up again.

Still no secondaries opening. I need to figure out if the linkage to the throttle plates aren't opening enough, or if my small bit of vacuum issues are the cause.

I have 15 on the mannifold, on the fitting behind the carb that screws into the mannifold, that I use for the transmission. I only have 10 on the bottom port of the carb. So I'm wondering if I have issues from rebuilding the carb.a

What carb? Adjust the airscrews? Timing? That cam should have 20+ hgs of vac. If it is a qjet first fix the vac leaks then you can adjust the air doors to open better but my guess they are opening but you don't feel the bog (what most people think is the 4 barrel opening).

 

[4xcrazy]

Uh, if I remember correctly, I don't think the secondaries on the Qjet pop open right away, like if you're sitting there with your hand on the throttle and hit it. I remember having this conversation with a good mechanic friend of mine a long time ago when I was still learnin' the ropes.

I believe they kind of roll in when vacuum reaches a certain level.

Been awhile since I have messed with those carbs, but I remember something like this with them.

 

[MrSchaeferPants]

What carb? Adjust the airscrews? Timing? That cam should have 20+ hgs of vac. If it is a qjet first fix the vac leaks then you can adjust the air doors to open better but my guess they are opening but you don't feel the bog (what most people think is the 4 barrel opening).

Still looking, can't find any more vacuum leaks, I replaced the pcv grommet today because it was hissing a tiny bit, and rock hard.

It's a Qjet. Now that the big vac leak is fixed, I'll try to readjust the A/F mixture again to see if I can bump up above 15 inhg. Trying to be 100% sure on the pump adjustment before I try to do it.

The throttle plates are opening all the way, primary and secondaries. I need to check to see if the choke pull off is releasing under load. I believe I did see it move, though like I've read, it takes 2 seconds or so.

I understand about the 'bog'. I don't have that, but I don't have any 'extra' power when I step on the gas. When I stomp on it, I just slowly go faster like I was putzing around town.

In the driveway pulling the throttle open by hand I get the WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP (and it's pretty cool ) but out on the street, I get nothin.

 

[MrSchaeferPants]

Ok, so here's what's happening now.

"All In"... 20. The weights in the distributor not functioning? I opened her up (no idea RPM, 3'ish or more) and changed my timing light till I read 0 on the dampner, and I ended up with 20. So I bumped up my base from 8 to 12, not like I'll ever ping.

And as for the secondaries, my choke pull off isn't releasing when I give it gas. Again had it around 3000 or more, choke pull off never released. What's the cure for that? Replace it? I figure if they go bad, they just don't hold vacuum. Also, not sure if it would in the driveway, not under load.

And my final question, if my engine is old and tired, IF my compression is low, that would reduce my vacuum correct? Which is why I'm only at around 15-16inhg. Maybe I can sweet talk my neighbor into bringing home a compression tester.