Even more tweaking

Yesterday I messed with the timing and the idle mixture to try to smooth out the engine. After trying one way after lunch and it running worse on the way back to work,  I decided to go even farther clockwise on the distributor when I was almost to work. I also put the idle mixture screw farther in. The result is a smoother running engine, nice power, and higher revving (got it over 5000 RPM this morning). Plus no bucking when not on the gas. It still likes to back fire out the carb before it is warmed up. Before adjusting the idle speed screw this morning on the way to work, it was idling around 400 RPM, now I have it around 900 RPM. The next thing to see with these settings is what will the MPG be.

A few things that I know need to be fixed are an oil leak near the oil filter (but not the oil filter gasket), a coolant leak, probably from the intake manifold to water pump hose and a leaky transmission, hopefully from the selector shaft seal.

New wheels and more tweaking

I had to rotate the tires on the 02 today and while I was at it I decided to try on the wheels my older brother gave me. Well, they fit and I think the ride is actually better with them. They definitely look better than the stock ones.

I've also done some more tweaking on the engine. I backed out the idle mixture screw some because it was still running a tad rough. I tried about 1/4 turn at first which improved it, but I did another 1/2 the next day just to see and it was a ton better. Surprisingly the idle speed lowered to about 400 RPM. I didn't think that was possible in an 02. There was some jerking though when lifting off the gas so I tweaked the timing a little clockwise (I can't remember if that is advance or retard). This smoothed out the engine more and then I brought the idle speed up to about 700. Can't wait to see how it goes tomorrow.