Dwell should be 26-28 degrees.
It's almost impossible to find TDC with the heads on, hope for the best and test drive it. New dampeners aren't readily available, you might get on from John Mummert, I got mine from Falcon Global but they no longer list them, these are Australian made and you are looking at a $200 part. There are a few companies that rebuild them.[/quote]

Thank you, there's also a guy I know Big M who might have one. I'll think about it.

Load-O-Matic may have been the original on your car but the later mechanical distributor directly interchanges.  After more than 60 years for many of these vehicles, anything could have been done so I don't assume and ask.

And that makes total sense man, I totally see where you're coming from there. I'm silly to assume that's all original equipment. But you know, sometimes when you see the amount of wear on something you kinda get the impression it's original.

Since that is a Load-O-Matic, the next question is which carburetor are you using?

Like others say be sure you have correct 3 bolt 2v carb. these dist where not the best,but with some patience they will do fine

Well this might actually be interesting to you guys. I know the 2 barrel distributors were what were usually on the 272 from other people's engines I've seen. My car actually came with the 4 barrel Holley 4000 on it. The explanation I think is this: The car's first owner was a doctor who made home visits, it was his work car. I believe I read somewhere that they put 4-barrels on cars used by doctors and the like.. I guess to give them the extra get up and go in emergencies.
Like I said earlier, I just got the carburetor rebuilt last year by Carburetors and More.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVPMieHe_7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYKo7_dKML0

your dist is a load ematic(the tell tale is the large vacumediaphram)from my exp with the55ford(metior)to get decent go lots of initial is in order. do it by ear with say mid grade fuel when you hit the throtel hard should be only small ping.with vacume

Yeah that's what I was thinking of doing. Advancing it a little at a time, locking it down, putting it in gear and see how reacts to acceloration. Repeat until acceloration is smooth enough.

your dist is a load ematic(the tell tale is the large vacumediaphram)from my exp with the55ford(metior)to get decent go lots of initial is in order. do it by ear with say mid grade fuel when you hit the throtel hard should be only small ping.with vacume line hooked up.i would not change the dampner, just mark it when you are happey with overall performance.Like others say be sure you have correct 3 bolt 2v carb. these dist where not the best,but with some patience they will do fine

Load-O-Matic may have been the original on your car but the later mechanical distributor directly interchanges.  After more than 60 years for many of these vehicles, anything could have been done so I don't assume and ask.

Since that is a Load-O-Matic, the next question is which carburetor are you using?

You can use a piston stop. Turn the crank until it stops.  Mark the damper.  Turn the crank in the opposite direction until it stops.  Mark the damper.  TDC will be in the middle of the two marks.  That is the most accurate way with the heads still on.

There is also a damper installation tool.  You will need one with an adapter for 9/16-18 threads (same as the damper bolt).





Lawrenceville, GA

That looks like an original Load-a-Matic dist. First check that the advance unit is working, rev the engine while watching the timing with the light to see if it advances. Dwell should be 26-28 degrees.
It's almost impossible to find TDC with the heads on, hope for the best and test drive it. New dampeners aren't readily available, you might get on from John Mummert, I got mine from Falcon Global but they no longer list them, these are Australian made and you are looking at a $200 part. There are a few companies that rebuild them.

The damper has a keyway and there is a key in the crank so it can only go on one way. Yes that is the type of puller to use. I would strongly suggest washers under the bolts, unlike what is shown in the picture.
Someone else will have to jump in with accurately finding TDC with the head on, I have no ideas.

I will check both of these things. Thanks guys.

So I've never used a dwell meter before (forgive me I'm only 28 lol) but based on what I read tonight it measures the amount of time between when the points are fully open and when they're closed. So it makes sense to me it could calculate the RPM of the engine. You also want to get a steady reading, that indicates the points are opening and closing the same amount of time on every face of the cam-lobe. SO, that brings me to the final question. WHAT is the proper normal dwell number for the 272 Yblock?

Also Charlie. So you suggest changing the entire damper pulley right? I'm assuming you use a normal pulley puller tool? https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q42meP_LOV0/maxresdefault.jpg Is the shaft it rides on keyed or do you have to make sure you put the new pulley on with the timing marks in the right place on your own? I'm assuming the proper procedure would be to find top dead center then when you put the new damper on and then just make sure it goes on with the 0 mark under the timing tab. Right?

What IS the most accurate way to find TDC on cylinder #1? I heard the rope trick but I don't really follow how that method works.

I'm pretty certain it's Load-O-Matic, isn't that all that was originally offered like Sandbird said? here's a pic of it:
These were taken in 2013:

It is hard to believe that engine started with all that initial advance. Are you sure no 1 plug wire didn't get crossed with another wire? You need to do a few basics like a compression test to see if timing chain jumped a mile, and bring mark up to TDC and see if the rotor is pointing to terminal 1 or 6 on the distributor cap. An original 55 distributor has a full vacuum advance mechanism only, no mechanical. I have the manual and it shows that it can provide up to 29-32 deg. advance added to the initial timing. The vacuum diaphragm is very sensitive it only take 1.75 in's of vacuum for full advance so it would be a good idea to measure the vacuum going to the diaphragm.

Yes, you need a tachometer.  Either install one in the car or look for a tach / dwell meter, which is a diagnostic and tuning tool.

Feeling for top dead center is not accurate enough.  Because of the geometry involved between the crank, rod, and piston, the piston stays at or very near tdc for a small amount of time.  By the time you feel the piston move, the crank has turned at least a few degrees.  What you have done is determined that it is in the ballpark, probably within 5 or 10 degrees but when you are trying to track down a problem like the one you are having, that can make all of the difference.  Plus, as I said, the materials used to assemble the damper deteriorate.  Even if it is indicating exactly TDC, it is time to replace it or have it rebuilt if it is original or of unknown age.

Which distributor is it?  Vacuum only Load-O-Matic, or mechanical and vacuum advance?  If mechanical and vacuum, then advance can be at play if the idle speed is too high, even if the vacuum portion is disconnected.


Lawrenceville, GA

Well the advance couldn't have been coming into play during that reading, I had the vacuum line disconnected. Unless the springs are bad like you said . But I could literally feel the piston go back down right after the TDC mark.. doesn't that pretty much prove that it's right on the money?


So basically you're saying I need to find me a tachometer?