hi guys

i recently bought a 64 220SE which i'm trying to get running correctly once more. the previous owner had the head rebuilt, and was never able to get it to run properly again. the previous owner said the car had always had a problem with pinging under load but that it always started easily (cold start worked).

as it stands now, the cold start solenoid does not engage unless given 12V directly.

i set the timing to 6 degrees and at this, it pulls nicely but pings even under light load. if i retard it to lessen the pinging, it stutters and doesnt accelerate cleanly (but still seems to ping a little bit under heavy load).

plugs, points, etc are new. the plugs are a nice tan colour.

the valve timing is set such that (viewed from the front) the right side of notch on the washer meets with the left side of the pedestal dimple (the chain is quite new)

when it is warmed up it SEEMS to ping less. when hot if i remove the hose from the idle screw to the air filter it still sucks air. if i block the hose the engine rpms lower a lot and then it stalls.

the cold start fuse is ok and if i jump the thermo or temp switch it doesnt engage the cold start. i think the two cube relays mounted on the relay rack on the firewall are the cold start/thermo time switch relays? if i swap them over it doesn't make a difference.

i think they are two separate issues, could the running problems be because someone didnt time the IP correctly? or could the problem somehow relate to the cold start issue?

does anyone have any ideas?

thanks!
kaydee