I used to just line up the mark on the pulley and drop the dizzy thinking I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right. If it popped through the carb I'd just pull and rotate 180 degrees. Then after a few blown Holley power valves and some toasted eyebrows I learned it's far easier to just find TDC of the compression stroke.Solved the problem today, the booster/master combo is missing the intermediate rod so the pedal wasn't moving the master plunger more than 1/16" !!
I used a Might Vac and also made a pressure bleeding cap for the master before figuring it out. It seems that pressure bleeding is the best way, pro shops do it that way.
Got the engine started today!! Got a new starter to replace the dud one that came with the engine (why did I paint it?) and sorted out the plug wires. After barking up the wrong tree for a while I finally did it the tried and true way - stick a finger in #1 plug hole and crank the engine - when it blows your finger out you have TDC on #1. Distributor was 180 degrees off... (how many times have I done that???)
Pipes sound great, it was nice to have something go right...
One thing I've learned is to go large when slappin' on the mud, you can always sand it off.......
The combination of 78 years of abuse plus all the surgery I did on the body leads up to this point.... bondo time.
Yes, it's occurred to me that by just leaving the body the way it was, I could be driving it already - but that's just not me...
Nowhere is it more than 1/8" thick though, and lots of it will still get sanded off. I've been doing this crap for 40 years and I still don't seem to be any better at it than when I was 16
I wish I was one of those master metal wizards who can make the metal work smooth without filler but that's just a wild dream for me.
Plus everything in my garage looks all warm and fuzzy with a layer of bondo dust all over it..... (sneeze)
