HELP!!!

Benfrank6901 said:

Great advice, but it doesn’t help. I am stuck. I don’t know engines and I don’t know wiring. to I’ll just push it outside and let it rot You Know. I don’t like asking for help. Im trying to finish this so my Father can see the car he always wanted. He gave it up dream when he had kids. Always showed me pictures I even have a Matchbox ‘68. . Never mind.

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First thing: Slow down. Take a deep breath. None of us knew any of that stuff when we first started, but we learned it. So can you. It ain't rocket surgery.

The advice of taking things one bite at a time was spot on.

Step one: Take an inventory of what all you think it still needs. What's left?

• You mentioned engine. Does it run at all? are all the parts there as far as you know? Has it ever been "into" (overhauled, rebuilt, modified..) Can it be driven, even just a little? Do the brakes work? Has it ever been "into" (overhauled, rebuilt, modified..)
• You also mentioned wiring. Why? Is some of the wiring missing? Disconnected? Faulty?
• You said you used to do auto glass so I'm guessing that you probably have at least some basic tools, like wrenches (all kinds), screwdrivers, etc.

You also mentioned "top center" --- what you're probably talking about there is "top dead center", which is usually a reference to ignition timing i.e. at what point during the revolution of the crank shaft do the spark plugs get fired. Setting timing is usually done with a timing light, that's really just a strobe light that's connected to the #1 cylinder spark plug wire and will fire when the plug fires. There is a set of marks, called timing marks. One mark is on the harmonic balancer (the big round thing that the bottom belt pulley(s) bolt to), the other is on the front cover of the engine near the outer edge of the balancer. When the "main" mark on the balancer is lined up with the 0 or TDC mark on that cover, then that means that #1 cylinder is at TDC - top dead center - the very top of the cylinder. Remember that there are 360 degrees in a circle, so when the marks are lined up that's 0 degrees. The original factory ignition timing specs for your engine are (probably - just from my memory without looking it up) probably stated as something like "6 degrees BTDC --- 6 degrees Before Top Dead Center". So to set that, you'd use a timing light connected to the #1 (driver side, front of the engine) spark plug wire with the engine running (and the vacuum advance hose disconnected from the distributor and plugged - but don't worry about that now because I'm keeping this simple). The action of the strobe light will "freeze" the motion of the balancer as it spins so you'll be able to see the timing marks on the balancer "stopped" at the position where the plug fires. All you need to do at that point is "adjust things" (the "how" is another thing I'll skip for now) so that the mark on the balancer appears to line up with the 6 degree mark on the front cover. This means the spark plug fires at a point in the engine rotation that's 6 degrees before the crankshaft gets to TDC. Pretty simple once you understand what you're doing, no?

I made a lot of assumptions just to describe the process, like disconnecting and plugging the vacuum hose, how to actually make the adjustment, and also that the marks on the balancer aren't "lying to you" (there are three parts to the factory balancer: an inner hub, an outer ring, with a layer of rubber between the two. Sometimes over time that rubber can age, dry out, get loose and can allow the outer ring to slip some on the hub so that the marks on it are no longer accurate). I just wanted to explain the general concept without getting into all that.

Again, slow down - take your time - you weren't born knowing how to do auto glass, right? You had to learn that --- this is no different.

Everyone here is really good about trying to help others, so don't hesitate to ask.

Bear