Ok Larry, as you requested I got my wife to sit in the seat and tell me when the light goes out. I drilled it and she said it went out then I stopped at like 3 seconds later she said it turned on again. I did this about 5 times. And every time I let go of the drill the oil pump shafts rotates counterclockwise slowly until it hits a stop. I’m assuming that’s good?
Copy I will install the distributor with rotor pointing at #1 terminal on the cap and hopefully she starts
Alright guys, I’m frustrated. Idk what to do. She cranked cranked and cranked. My distributor is new my points I am almost positive are gapped at 0.016. Spark plugs are new and gapped at 0.030 and wires are new as well. The ignition coil and condenser are new. My plugs are at the right terminal in firing order. After I cranked and no start I went back and rotated the dizzy a bit and she cranked with a minor sound of her wanting to turn on but no go. I have the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged. What else could the issue be? Unless the engine is gone
When you put the distributor in did you verify number one cylinder was on the compression stroke. Easiest way to check is remove number one spark plug ( first on drivers side). Put your finger in the hole as someone rotates the motor. When compression starts to build it will push your finger out. Put the timing mark on the balancer at TDC (top dead center). Rotor should point to number one spark plug wire. If not correct it, then rotate distributor till the points are fully open. If you have spark and fuel it should start. Hope this helps. Good luck. Also forgot to ask when you gapped the points you were on the point of the cam not the flat?
I had to get away for a bit but if get time later today I will crank the engine one more time and get it to TDC as perfect as I can
Relax, there is nothing wrong with the engine. Have you checked for spark? Unhook the coil wire at the distributor cap. Position it near (1/4") a ground, the upper alternator bracket is good. Crank the engine and look for a spark. If you have a spark, the distributor is probably in wrong. The crankshaft turns 720* to fire and exhaust all 8 cylinders. Simply lining up the balancer mark with the timing tab does not guarantee that you are on the compression stroke where the spark has to occur. If you are on the wrong crankshaft revolution, you are on the exhaust stroke, not compression. The engine is a 4 stroke engine, Intake, Compression, Power, and Exhaust. The firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. As I stated, the crank makes 2 complete revolutions to fire and exhaust all 8 cylinders. On the first revolution, it fires the 1st half of the firing order, the other half is on the exhaust stroke. On the second revolution of the crank, it fires the 2nd half of the firing order, and the 1st half is on the exhaust stroke. See why just lining the marks up can be a mistake? What you need to do once you verify you are getting a spark is find the #1 cylinder compression stroke. Get the wife to help you. Remove the #1 spark plug. Cover the hole with your thumb or cork. Have the wife BUMP the starter a LITTLE at a time. Keep going a LITTLE at a time until you feel compression or the cork pops out. As soon as you do, STOP. Look for the mark on the balancer, it should be coming around under the water pump. Continue turning the crank Clock Wise with a breaker bar and socket until the balancer mark aligns with the 0 on the timing tab. Remove and install your distributor to fire #1 tower. Make absolutely sure that the distributor is seated all the way down, remember, it drives the oil pump. Be sure to tighten down the hold down. You don't want the distributor to pop up and stop turning the oil pump, that can happen. Good Luck.
Sounds good Larry I’ll will give it a shot in a little while. I appreciate you guys taking the time to respond
I will show you guys pictures later but what you said about the balancer and timing tab makes sense because I made 100 percent sure to line up those gears and teeth so the marks faced each other almost perfectly. When I installed the balancer the timing marking was about a degree or two off the harmonic balancer Mark. I left it alone tho and started it that way. I will get that compression stroke and the lines to match perfectly before installing the dizzy.
Larry, in the event that my harmonic balancer and my timing tab are not in sync or correct 100 percent. How can I compensate that? Do I have to install the dizzy in different positions or do I just rotate it drastically? Can I have my wife crank the engine while I rotate or will that make it worse?
That's exactly what I am talking about. The Compression Stroke and The Exhaust stroke both have the piston at TDC. You still have to verify compression, if you don't, you can end up on the Exhaust stroke. I hope you understand why this is so. Lets go back to the firing order, 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. There are four pairs of cylinders that form the firing order. Each pair are called companion cylinders. They are 1-6, 8-5, 4-7, and 3-2. For each of these cylinder pairs, when one cylinder is on compression, the other is on exhaust. Remember, 2 complete revolutions of the crank to fire and exhaust all 8 cylinders, or any one cylinder. This has nothing to do with the alignment of the timing gears, that is valve timing. Ignition timing is different, it is the timing of the spark. FIRST verify you have spark. Then remove the spark plug and check for compression on #1. After you have verified that you are on compression #1, before you remove the distributor, take the cap off and see where the rotor is pointing. If you had it in wrong, it will be pointing at the companion cylinder, #6 instead of #1. Remove the distributor and reposition it to fire #1.
That will make things worse. Follow my instructions and read the explanation in my last 2 posts. Read it ten times if you have to until you understand the mechanics, why things work the way they do.
Thanks Larry you truly are a wizard! I will definitely get this right. I remember cranking the engine with the valve cover off and verifying that both valves on number one are closed. Correct?
Yes, but that still is not reliable enough. The spark plug method is better. If you want to watch the valves, as you turn the crank, you will see the #1 intake valve (2nd valve from the front) open and then closing as you come up on the compression stroke. If you would rather do it this way, rotate the crank with a breaker bar and socket. Keep an eye on the #1 intake valve, watch it go to full open, and then as it closes, watch for the balancer mark coming around. Make sure you rotate the crank clock wise when looking from the front.
Just a FWIW, I have enjoyed following this thread. I am learning a lot reading what various guys have posted to help Jimmy. Shows a lot of what friendship and caring about your fellow man is about. Way to go guys! Jimmy, hang in there. Hope you get your car up and running real soon, and get to enjoy the happiness these cars are meant for.
Just remember that for your engine to run you need fuel, air and spark. If you're missing even one of those things its not going to run. Spark is easy to test, like Larry told you how to check. Then there is air, if the choke is stuck closed that may keep the engine from starting. Last but not least is fuel, another easy check if the choke is opened with the air cleaner off you should be able to look down the carb and be able to push the throttle open all the way while looking down in the carb. You should see a couple streams of fuel squirt down the throat of the carb, if in you don't see fuel entering the carb that may of been your problem all along? Good luck, hope you get her running soon.
Alright guys I will be looking at the car in a little while. Before I even do anything I will check to make sure I have everything connected properly. I will post pictures as I go along. Larry I read your directions over and over. I will go step by step. I have seen online people wire their ignition coil a bit different than mine. Currently I have my wire coming from the distributor hooked to the negative side of the coil, then the wire goin to the ignition and the condenser hooked to the positive, I have seen people hook up the condenser on the negative side. Does it even matter? Aside from this I make sure my spark plug wires are connected properly. Then start checking everything else.
Is it possible that your fuel pump lost its prime? Check to see if the carb is squirting fuel when you open the throttle. Try a dribble of fuel into the carb before cranking. (After checking spark). Patrick
