Time and timing

There are two lessons I'm learning fast. First, looking after a classic car is like painting the Forth Rail Bridge. Second, apparently completed jobs are often far from complete.  So, you need lots of time, especially when it comes to timing.

How difficult does this have to be?

Very, is the honest answer.

I thought all would be well with engine following the work done to the valves. But it just wasn't right. Unlike before, everything was OK in the first three gears. But after changing up from third to fourth gear, acceleration was poor. And fourth gear struggled with any form of incline.

The problem was definitely timing.

In my ignorance, I thought it was just distributor timing.  So I tried various small adjustments to the distributor, all to no avail.

But then I realised it was probably the timing chain that needed adjusted.  So first I had to find the timing mark for top dead centre on the fly wheel. (Well, actually, I first of all had to find the hole through which to see the flywheel. And could I find what the 'inspection cover' looked like or how to remove it? Of course not. Eventually, I realised that I had been staring at the hole, and that it didn't have any cover over it.)

Everything I read and was told said that I should be looking for "1/4" (for a four cylinder engine).  But all I could see were some strange numbers and nothing that looked like top dead centre. It was only after a chance remark from Andy that set me on the right track.  There was a sequence of numbers quite close together that looked like this:

12...8...4...|...4...8...12

Which signify degrees before and after top dead centre.  (Each interval of 4 degrees is about 0.5 inch.)  How did I end up with that?  Is it something my Dad did?  If so, it's very useful since it allows you to judge the timing very accurately.  Or is it a flywheel from a completely different car?

So, now all I had to do was adjust the timing chain.  Not having a clue about that, it was another case of 'call Andy'.  And then the fun began.  There's not much room in a Singer 9 engine for fiddling about with the timing chain and, of course, soon enough it managed to slip off the middle and bottom sprockets. 
However, you learn from your mistakes and eventually we managed to get it back on and, with a bit more care and patience, were able to adjust it one link at a time.  (Pull the middle tensioning sprocket back to loosen the chain and then move the whole chain one link round the top sprocket.  And then turn the engine slowly with the starting handle to make sure all the links settle into their new teeth positions.)

Trouble was, I couldn't get it to adjust precisely enough compared to any if the settings in the original handbook. Each movement of a link would shift the timing by about 8 degrees (or 1").  And then I remembered seeing some of my Dad's notes on timing. Looking at these more closely I realised that he had the same problem and that it seemed you couldn't actually get close to the factory settings. But I could get close to my Dad's most recent measurements.

So,  did that do it? I don't know yet because the car has been sitting on stilts for most of the winter while the wheels are being refurbished.  But I'll find out soon enough!