'84 Spider VVT

[Bill Bain <BBain@xxxxxxxxx>]

The VVT was a hydraulic unit from '80 to at least part of '84, if not
'85.  It was later switched to a solenoid-driven one.  My '83 has the
hydraulic unit.  That's the danger of using the available CarDiscs, or
shop manuals since they generally use an '85 or '86 as the original to
copy from.  I would not assume that your timing is permanently retarded.
There is a way to verify that the VVT is working, but, I'm drawing a
blank on it right now.   It'll probably come to me at some point. :-)

There's nothing wrong with the hydraulic unit from a design perspective,
in fact, it's quite elegant -- it uses oil pressure to shift the cam
timing.  Joe Benson's book suggests it as a possibility for older
engines with "hot" cams to improve streetability.  

Bill Bain
President - AROC Atlanta
'83 Spider

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