1987 21 BR Project

[NWABoater]

Replaced the battery cables today but that had no effect on the situation. Still labors to turn the engine over. It typically turns over only maybe 2-3 times before I turn the key off. Anyway, guess I'll pull the starter tomorrow. :/

[Big Block Power]

Did you get the timing set yet? Does it run?

[NWABoater]

Yep, it ran. Several times throughout the day in fact. I purchased a timing gun later in the evening and took a stab at adjusting the distributor, adjusted it too far and the engine died. I nudged it back the other direction and called it a night. The following day it never could get enough juice to fire up. Now that I think about it, it wasn't cranking super great the day before but it was enough to get it started. I'm guessing the starter is toast but could it be a timing issue?

[NWABoater]

I should have taken a video of what it sounds like. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow but in the mean time here's a close example.

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[Big Block Power]

I should have taken a video of what it sounds like. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow but in the mean time here's a close example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUkedpLeHLQ

I'm like wait what engine do you have in this thing. Dohc? Lol
That's a timing issue.

[NWABoater]

I should have taken a video of what it sounds like. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow but in the mean time here's a close example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUkedpLeHLQ

I'm like wait what engine do you have in this thing. Dohc? Lol
That's a timing issue.

Eh, it's the closest example I found to what I'm experiencing. I tried adjusting the distributor but it didn't seem to make much difference.

[NWABoater]

In my one attempt to set the timing with the gun, I retarded the timing too far which caused the engine to stall. While I did rotate the distributor back the other way maybe I didn't go back far enough.

[akorcovelos]

At this point I would just pull the distributor, set the engine to TDC on the compression Stroke #1 cylinder then reinstall the distributor and start over.

[NWABoater]

At this point I would just pull the distributor, set the engine to TDC on the compression Stroke #1 cylinder then reinstall the distributor and start over.

I think that's good advice and I've considered that a strong possibility too. I'll give it a try.

[Big Block Power]

At this point I would just pull the distributor, set the engine to TDC on the compression Stroke #1 cylinder then reinstall the distributor and start over.

What's a distributor and this timing yous talk about?

[akorcovelos]

At this point I would just pull the distributor, set the engine to TDC on the compression Stroke #1 cylinder then reinstall the distributor and start over.

What's a distributor and this timing yous talk about?

Nothing you need to worry about with all your garage boating.

[Big Block Power]

At this point I would just pull the distributor, set the engine to TDC on the compression Stroke #1 cylinder then reinstall the distributor and start over.

What's a distributor and this timing yous talk about?

Nothing you need to worry about with all your garage boating.

Ok thanks. I haven't changed those out yet.

[NWABoater]

Removed the distributor and reoriented it back to TDS. I'm not sure if I was off before or not but it was worth trying. Running and starting seems better now but the timing still needs adjusting as it ran for a minute or so then stalled.. I'll pick back up where I left off later this week.

[capn272]

Was perusing craigslist a bit ago and saw your listing for this. Sorry to hear it got to be a bit overwhelming

[NWABoater]

I actually had a change of heart yesterday and took the posting down. At the end of the day I still need a project to tinker with so I'm going to keep plugging away at it. Working on the boat is better than any honey-do the wife comes up with . I do think I'll outsource the remaining timing adjustment because I just can't seem to get it dialed in just right. It starts but won't idle without throttling up. A carb adjustment may be needed, i dunno.

What pushed me over the edge of frustration on Saturday was the discovery of a small amount of gas sitting in the ski locker. I had put a few gallons of fresh gas in the tank when I started the project and did notice a very strong gas smell but didn't see any evidence of leakage. Well, that's because the bow was sitting lower and the spilled gas had moved to the bow and not out the back. My guess is that the fill hose needs to be replaced as it's deteriorated over time. I need to replace that section of the floor over the tank anyway so getting to the tank shouldn't be an issue. Just another task on the to-do list.