Two questions.

[Unkle Krusty]

77 B200 camper van. 318, 727. Edelbrock Performa cam, 1405 carb, new lifters and springs.
Book says line up the timing marks, but no clue about advance. Vacuum disconnected and plugged.
Any suggestions as to a reasonable amount of advance. Bought a new timing light. The old one was dead.
I have some valve train noise. Not really bad, but one lifter sounds a bit noisier. Especially under load.
This might get a bit quieter after more miles driven. So far only about 15. Should I drive some more, or lift the valve covers off and have a look?
Should add. The 727 gearbox is working as planned.

 

[Don Frelier]

I would start with about 10 degrees. BTDC
Drive it some.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Sweet. Thank you D F. We are at 7 degrees right now.
I will do a loop of my Island on Wednesday, about 20 miles.

 

[1967coronet]

Did you do a cam break in before the 12 mile drive ?
If you still have a lifter or two ticking you may want to pull the covers.
Roll the engine around and check the rockers on each cyl. Looking for any loose ones without preload.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Update. Yes to running in the cam.
Sixty minutes, that is how long it took to remove the engine cover, both rocker covers, fiddle with the rockers and push rods, turn the engine a bit, and put it back together. Time includes finding a new small bolt, after a couple blew away. With the new bolt in hand, I found the last missing bolt. No unusual movement in any of the rockers. Pushrods not under load, turn freely with no looseness.
The mighty 318 is running good, we might even get in to the high teens in the quarter.
But the test will be how well we climb hills. I think we will have enough giddy up for the job. We may be camping this weekend, test run for a bigger trip later.

 

[Don Frelier]

These work nicely but none of my stuff is this shiny.

 

[Cranky]

Do a compression check on the engine.....it'll tell you what it might like for timing. The lower the cranking compression usually means more timing that it will like. Been down this road many times! And who installed the cam? Even the lowest of the low performance engines should be 'degreed' in instead of just aligning the dots on the timing sprockets.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

318 was 160 pounds all 8 before I took it apart. Have not checked after assembly. I did all the work. Did a reasonable amount of checking about the dots, and that seems to be common practice. Followed the Edelbrock instructions. Did determine that the mark on the crank, was at TDC. Used a dial gauge on no.1 piston.
Inlet valves needed a bit of grinding lapping. I bought 8 new valves. Seats were mostly okay.

 

[Cranky]

318 was 160 pounds all 8 before I took it apart. Have not checked after assembly. I did all the work. Did a reasonable amount of checking about the dots, and that seems to be common practice. Followed the Edelbrock instructions. Did determine that the mark on the crank, was at TDC. Used a dial gauge on no.1 piston.
Inlet valves needed a bit of grinding lapping. I bought 8 new valves. Seats were mostly okay.

Never tested a stock 318 over 140.....160 ain't bad!

 

[Unkle Krusty]

I will check it next week after we go for a drive this weekend.
Probably do 200 miles. Make sure things are working okay.
We went to the Arctic Ocean, without checking very much at all. Mostly wyring and things that did not work. Rear end had silicone seal and no gasket. Radiator was mostly blocked. Steering was terrible. The new fridge worked so we had beer.
Vent / breather was missing off the gas tank, we spilled gas when it was full. Did not have a fuel gauge. The road beat the shocks into submission. Traded the new tyres, for four more heavier new tyres.

 

[dvw]

Generally rule of thumb for stock head small block Mopar is no more than 35 degrees total at speed. This would be with the vacuum advance disconnected. The engine would have to be reved close to 4000 rpm to check total timing. There could be a benefit of having the distributor modified for less mechanical advavace. This would allow more initial timing. More intial would provide more low end grunt. As for th eticking. If it's louder on accell check for an exhaust leak. Use a small hose to your ear or stethoscope. Place it close to the manifolds, plugs, heatriser, and upper pipe connections. It helps if someone has it in gear with their foot hard on the brake while giving it some throtlle at the same time.
Doug

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Thank you Doug. I will check the exhaust bolts, as well as listen. Also a chat with the E shop that checked the distributor. Long run this weekend planned, then boat work next week. After that I can work on the small things on the Tukvan. Had been thinking of getting a one person suction bleeding unit. I did it the old way. Pump pump, and jam a stick between the seat and the brake pedal. And maybe an expander for the front calipers / pads / pucks.