Yeah. Thank you so much, man! These are great!Notmikeb wrote:That pop pop is detonation. Occasional detonation under heavy load will happen every now and then but if it is every time you are under load (up a hill for example) it is not good for the engine and can lead to permanent damage if it goes unchecked. Your timing is probably now too far advanced. Try backing the distributor timing down a few degrees and see if that makes that noise go away.
The alternator just looks like the rubber boot is torn. Not the end of the world and isn't likely causing you any problems. It helps prevent accidental contact with an electrical ground (I've hit it with an extension while changing spark plugs. Loud pop and a little bit of smoke. It's just plain missing on mine.). As long as the wire it covers is in decent shape it is fine.
On that note, get yourself a proper battery tie down system. A bungee cord is NOT a proper system. A battery that is moving around the engine compartment is a big problem waiting to happen. Like a "your car burned to the ground" big problem! If the positive terminal contacts anything grounded (like the hood) it will get very hot very quickly. The battery should be held down tight and shouldn't be easy to move at all (it should feel like part of the car). If the factory hold down clamp is missing you can adapt a universal hold down kit (available in any auto parts store) by drilling a few holes in the battery tray. If it isn't clear how to do so, let me know and I can take pictures of my setup as that was one of the first things I had to do when I got mine.
And there's no hold-down clamp for it, the plastic strap that seems like it might've originally done that has snapped. And there's this garbage bungee cord solution in place. If you can snap any pictures of how you've got yours mounted, I'd be super appreciated--can easily hit an auto parts store for the kit.
Cheers!