Finally got back to it...
Well I finally got a good look inside the timing cover with the Dist, fuel pump, and the oil pump removed. I was not prepared for the secrets my Lily had been hiding from me.
The last month or so I had been having problems with detonation, low speed hesitation, dieseling, unstable dwell, and inconsistent ignition timing. I assumed, Yeah ***-Sumed, that they were just issues that needed to be ironed out with a 50 year old car. This is where I made a great error in judgement.
As it turns out, these issues are all actually one - a disaster under the timing cover. The cam and distributor gear have been wandering all over the place, there are bits of gaskets and RTV, metal from pretty much ever piece under there, chunks of unknown goo, lots of scorching, scratches, cracks, and stress fractures all over the cover as well as the water pump, and oil pump housing.
I was in denial at first, so I did what anyone in distress would do - I had three beers and tried to clean up the mess with a wire brush and a lot of good intention. It did not improve the situation, but I was able to tell that the timing set had been replaced already, more than likely right before I bought the car a year ago.
So, I am left with the decision of what to do... I have two 340's that may or may not be rebuild-able , but I think that I would be much happier with a 455!
Doug
