Debugging my 304

[tsm1@domain.elided (Tom Mandera)]

More debugging last night... after I (almost) finished installing the
exhaust.. I now have two Thrush California Boss Turbos... not too loud, not
too quiet.. a pretty fair compromise (tho' still not as "snotty" as the
glasspack was).. driver's side is rubbing against one of the heat shields
and annoying me... fix that tonight...

Tried to track down the miss I'm feeling... it wasn't performing like it
should on the highway the other night, and at idle the Scout now rocks back
and forth from the missing cylinder.

With the dual exhaust, it's easy to tell which side is misbehaving... looks
like the driver's side bank probably has a fouled plug... I can watch and
hear the rythmic puff-puff-puff- then a kinda pop then puff-puff-puff. :)

I changed the cap - it had some scores in it.  Interesting note: the new cap
has a "1" next to a plug fitting, the old cap has a "1" next to a fitting...
they are NOT on the same spark plug wire attachment!  Had to re-insert the
plug wires one hole "off" to get it to run at all.  I also couldn't make it
run with the new rotor... put the old rotor in, new cap (w/ plugwires in
right spot), runs OK.

So.. back to the fouled plug.  The 304 sports brand new Autolite AP85s,
purchased and installed while the engine was out.  I haven't put one tank of
gas through it yet.

I'll pull plug wires tonight and see which cylinder is the offending one,
pull the plug, and take a look.  Clean it up and regap, and see how long
that lasts...  (I need to see if it's running rich.. the carb has #61 jets
in it.. I have another set of jets at home, but I can't remember the size)

Well, while talking to my friend Dan (the '72s previous owner) at work
today, I mentioned the miss and suspected fouled plug - Dan's reply was,
"You took the motor out of the yellow '72, didn't you?".... NOW he tells me
that the 72 used to need a new plug or 3 every 3 weeks.  :-(

hmmm...

So, I'll pull the plug and have a look-see.  Then I'll ask everyone to help
me diagnose why it's fouling.

I was thinking as a possible "fix".. an MSD & new coil would raise the
spark, thus causing what would currently (w/ points & 26yr old coil) be a
"fouled" plug to spark... which, if this is a "permanent" fouling problem,
could be a medium-term solution.

Fun fun fun!  

*Almost* have it running to my satisfaction... finally put a longer vacuum
hose on the brake booster... after the hose popped off on my 3 times on the
way home from work yesterday... oops.

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'72 Scout II - just a frame, body, and axles now...
'77 SII - 304/crT19/D20/4.09s/Tracklok/Lockright/33s/4"/BesTop