1955chris-craft

[joe1955]

I am trying to help a friend sort out a newly purchased 1955 continental w/flathead 6,does anyone have practical knowledge of this motor,kbl model.I do not have a shop manual to work with yet.specifically the motor will run but there is no timing mark on flywheel and the firing order is wired as #1 as # 6?Any help w/basic set up would be greatly appreciated!..........joe

 

[gcboat]

Re: 1955chris-craft

Might try to give these folks a call : http://www.foleyengines.com/home.html

 

[MikDee]

Re: 1955chris-craft

In general, Usually the firing order is molded into the head or block somewhere, take a look, if not, and you say it runs then the firing order should be right? If you're looking for TDC (top dead center) of #1, it usually is the first cylinder in line on the front of the engine, but could be the last cyl in line, #6 also. Again, assuming the engine was running, Try this, pull out the first (front) spark plug #1, and slowly turn the motor over by hand, in the proper rotation, and check with a long screwdriver in the spark plug hole till it reaches TDC, (top of it's travel), look for a mark then somewhere on the crank pulley, and front of the block, then take off the distributor cap, and see what cylinder the rotor is facing? If it's facing #1, then that is the #1 cylinder, if it's not, find out which cylinder the rotor is facing, and that is #1 cylinder in the firing order (maybe cyl. 6?). This will tell you that the camshaft, & distributor, is set to fire on that particular cylinder. (it was already running like this).

 

[joe1955]

Re: 1955chris-craft

Thanks mikdee for the response.the motor I'm working with is a flathead so the screwdriver in the cylinder is sitting on the valve,not the piston.I dont have a shop manual but do have a owners manual which shows the #1 cylinder at the flywheel end,so I know that much for sure.the mystery of the backwards firing order seems that it will run either way but cant seem to find the sweet spot at higher rpms.This setup also dosent have a vacuum advance so it runs errattic at higer rpms.Maybe the final dialing in of the timing has to be done while cruising while a 2nd person dials in the timing?Since it was just purchased its a trial and error,bought on e-bay sight unseen from chicago and delivered to north carolina.On its first run we had it going for 15 or 20 minutes and then a clatter which sounded like marbles in a coffee can and then died,took it out of the water and after much thought feel that after heating up from the first run the timing was off for high end and thats the direction we are going.now it is running but still wonder what will happen after 20 minutes next time?