[73eldo]

IF you have the plastic fan housing and points from the factory that puts you somewhere between 82 and 86. I think 87 they went to electronic ignition and oil injection which went in the center of the fan too. Its also possible someone ripped all that off and put points in so from no on we will just assume you have a 82-86.

The way I set the timing is to just mess with it till it runs on jack stands. Once I get it to that point I put it on the ground and try driving it both forward and reverse. If one way is stronger than the other I make a slight adjustment if that gets them closer to the same power I keep going that direction till its balanced. If not go the other direction.

Make sure you have a good ground between the engine and body. Stock was a braided wire around one of the mounts. Just to be sure you can add one. Only thing that uses the ground is the ignition system. The starter/generator is not grounded through the engine, it gets its ground depending on the position of the F/R switch.

Yours should have a Walbro carb with a regular round float and bowl. Make sure the needle is not hanging up in its bore. Had that happen with mine and it flooded bad. Had it apart 3 times before I noticed it was just a little white corrosion in there hanging it up.

What is the fuel pump? If its a crank case pulse pump you should not have too much pressure. If its a pulse pump it could be bad and leaking into the crankcase. If its electric of some sort those can easily have too much pressure.