Ok, here is the problem, My motor lost a main bearing and a rocker froze, Replaced the crankshaft and the passenger side camshaft, now it idles rough, and time will not stay set(jumps up and down when timing light is shined on it)
The distributor is turned all the way clockwise, when turned counterclockwise the idle drops too low and it dies. There is also a slight backfire every now and then, not very often or loud, just like a burp. The oil pressure gage only goes up to around 30 when it idles, and at idle it is turning between 600 and 700 rpm's if anyone has any ideas please speak up, I really want to get this thing running right. It seemed to be running fine before all this crap happened.
Thanks

Double check that the timing marks are lined up correctly.
Try re-indexing the distributor.
How old is the fuel in the tank?

Timing marks have been checked and checked again and again, Distributor has been re-indexed twice, Fuel in the tank is about 2 months old, I would think it should be fine.

Turn the engine to the TDC marks on the compression stroke. Just in case you don't know which one is the compression stroke, remove the spark plugs, put your left forefinger in the #1 spark plug hole (as you face the engine, it's the first one on the passenger side) and turn the engine by hand until you feel air coming out of the hole as you approach the TDC timing marks. Stop on TDC. Remove the distributor cap and see where the rotor points. It should point straight back to the firewall at about where the center-line of the engine intersects the firewall.

Once that's set correctly, you need to set the ignition timing by the following procedure:

* Find the covered dead-end connector under the wiper motor.

* Remove the cap - inside you will see a pin. Using small alligator clips, ground the pin to the engine block.

* Start the engine and set the ignition advance to 5? BTDC (at idle).

* Remove the ground clip and watch the timing advance - it should jump to about 15-17? BTDC.

That should get you going. If not, you may have a spun harmonic balancer. If so, replace the harmonic balancer.

Edited to correct the stated #1 location.

Frank

Do you have matching camshaft grinds? Says you changed one.

Are you timing with the vacuum advance disabled? There is also something you ground out on the dizzy when you're timing it...but memory fails.

Use the "Search" function to look this issue up in past posts, might find something there.

a plug above the brake booster has to be grounded and then you set base timing, no vac advance on the 3.0 motor. I would personally triple check the timing marks, even though they looked fine, turn the motor by hand and make sure nothing moved, tension on the belt if not set just right will come back to bite you.

fuel can easliy varnish up in two months, especially gasohol.

Smell the exhaust while running. Does it smell, gassy, acrid, or like varnish? Smell the fuel at the filler neck. Is it varnishy smelling?

Follow the instructions from Frank about timing. I think that there is a pair of index marks on the dizzy shaft and body that you align as you stab it. They take into account the movement of the shaft as you engage the helical gear so the shaft ends up in proper alignment if you start the stab with the adjustment slot centered on the lock down stud.

Note that the position of the contact inside the dizzy IS NOT the same as the positions of the connectors for the plug wires on the outside - the inside of the cap reveals the path of the offset conductors. It's set up that way so the 123456 firing order does not require plug wires from one side of the dizzy to cross to the other side of the engine. Stock caps have cylinder numbers on them. You may be miswired on a pair, which will cause the spitting and trouble holding idle speed.

Ok, timing is set and holding steady, idle is still erratic and rough as hell, While trouble shooting, I took the Idle Control Valve off, and tested it per the haynes manual, Jump the #1 and #3 pin, then measure the resistance between the jumped pins and the #2 pin and it should be 28 to 33 ohms, mine is 15.9, Question I have is, has anyone else had this problem and was the solution changing the idle control valve.

Thanks

Based on my understanding & experience, the idle control valve/idle control servo only helps it idle when cold. Once warm, it should have little if any bearing on the idle. Effectively it acts as a choke for when the engine is cold... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Well Dang,,,,,I was hoping that was my Silver Bullet, guess it would be too easy, Still gonna replace it though, since it tested out of spec, and it relatively in-expensive. Any other suggestions to help "CURE" my idle issues are greatly appreciated!!