No Acceleration

[ZacharyRitter]

I have 1600 with 34-Pict-3 Carb. It will idle and crank wonderfully. I can even rev the engine while sitting still with no problem. The only way that I can move the vehicle is to have the engine at high RPM and slowly release the clutch. It will hesitate and even spit back in the carb. Not sure how to proceed...

[Wildthings]

Giving us some information to work with would be a start. How long have you owned the rig? When did the problem start? Has it been sitting for a long time? How old is the gas in the tank? What have you checked already?

[mondshine]

The first thing I would check is ignition timing.
You haven't mentioned what distributor you are using, but in any case, you should see ~30 degrees of advance as you increase RPM to about 3000.
You'll need a stroboscopic timing light to do this.

Once you have confirmed that the ignition timing is in the ball park, look down the throat of the carburetor (engine off) while opening the throttle. Check that the accelerator pump nozzle is present, and is squirting gasoline right down to the throttle plate.

Hope that helps, Mondshine

[ZacharyRitter]

Since we are on the subject of timing, Please look at the pictures and help me figure out what kind of Distributor I have. There is no numbers or markings on the housing that indicates what type it is. I am looking to upgrade to electronic iginition. Thanks mondshine for your help. The carb is jetting fuel down the throat in a good stream. I checked the Distributor and noticed that the clamp is snug down but the distributor is not tight. I have ordered another clamp to securley hold it in place. Once I get it I will retime using the strob light.

[mondshine]

Your distributor looks like the so-called 009. The ID numbers are probably on the back side where you can't see them.
It is a centrifugal advance (only) distributor, and is not designed to be used with the stock 34PICT3 carburetor. Lots of people use them because they are inexpensive, but it's not a good choice. You would be much happier with a centrifugal/vacuum distributor, commonly known as an SVDA.

The stock distributor for Things is a DVDA (dual vacuum/dual advance). It is designed to retard the timing at idle to 5* after top-dead-center. I never liked the way engines equipped with those ran, but that's only my opinion, and besides, that's what came with the car.

If you have the original Solex 34PICT3 carburetor, I suggest you look into a replacement distributor; an SVDA. You will see an improvement in drive-ability and fuel mileage over the 009.

Good luck, Mondshine

[ZacharyRitter]

I have ordered an SVDA distributor with electronic iginition and will be here by the end of the week. I really hope this helps. Additionaly, I found out that the clamp that holds the distributor is not holding it as it should I will be replacing that this week as well. What should timing be using 34PICT3 and an SVDA distributor?

[Wildthings]

The accelerator pump has nothing to do with full throttle operation, it just provides a small amount of extra fuel as you blip the throttle. You didn't answer my questions so it is hard to know if your problem is fuel related at all. Rigs that have sat with old fuel in them end up with gummed up jets. This may or may not be fixable by dumping a bottle of FI cleaner into your gas tank and running the engine for long enough for it to reach the carburator which can take ten minutes or so is you can't rev your engine above an idle.

[ZacharyRitter]

I just bought this rig. The problem was there when I purchased it. It was driven from what I know infrequently. The gas is new, I pulled the tank and cleaned it (no rust) and the gas smelled "fresh". The tank had no buildup as well. I took the advice of Mondshine and checked the timing, it was way off. This was in part due to the clamp being stretched (unable to hold the distributor shaft securly). I have ordered a new clamp and new SVDA distributor and it should arrive this week. When I retimed the engine it had power with no problems, but after a few miles it "lost" timing and a drop in power was noted. So I feel it is a combination of factors #1 poor timing due to the clamp issue, #2 cant get the carb set correctly because of#1, and finally #3 from what I have read on the internet and as stated by mondshine - The 009 and 34PICT3 does not play well together. So hopefully when I rectify all 3 issues I should have a very stong running engine (hopefully!) Any other suggestions are more than welcomed!