Projects Spark,No Start

Whoa dudes! Got a old, beat chevy small block 305 circa 1984: Carbureted, minimal wiring Not in the best shape so here is what Ive done so far.

- New battery
- New plugs and wires
- New fuel pump
- New HEI distributor; still have old rotor and rod assembly
- New edlebrock 4 bbl

Trying to follow F.A.S.T.E.C.
Fuel
Air
Spark
Timing
Exhaust
Compression

- Compression tested out okay, each cylinder in the 120 to 160 kPa range

- Adjusted timing slightly but it wont budge too far being up against the firewall with taught wires and all.

- Can visibly see fuel flow on each attempt

- Carb primaries wide open for air

- Can visibly see spark in cyl #1, each attempt.

- I have only adjusted timing slightly both ways, experimental, or maybe just mental! ;p The crammed-against-the-firewall engineering design and taught plug wires does not allow a lot of play to work with.

- Can hear slight exhaust only with starter fluid.

- Compression all tested between 120 to 160 kPa per cylinder



It seems to just refuse to feed off the gas line, it just overflows back into the gas can. Whats left to check?

jht

 

I dont' understand this sentence.

Do you have a timing light?

What do electrodes and insulators on the spark plugs look like? Are they clean? Black? Wet? Dry?

 

My guess would be ignition timing is way off.

 

Read the plugs and see what they are telling you.

 

Has the harmonic balancer been changed? I suspect this is a timing issue. Pull the valve cover on the left side of the motor, and #1 spark plug. Rotate the motor until you get it up on top dead center according to the harmonic balancer. Stick a small screwdriver in the spark plug hole and feel for the top of the piston. Confirm the TDC mark, the top of the piston, and the distributor rotor in relation to #1 cylinder agree. If the timing chain has jumped a tooth, the rotor won't be pointing at #1 terminal in the cap. The fact that the distributor has been turned so far is suspicious. An old worn motor could have a sloppy timing chain, leading to a jumped chain.

 

All spot on above ∆
Balancer could also rotate, rubber gets funky with oil/age... But still will run

 

Rotate engine to top dead center on number 1 cyl. Check timing mark on balancer. See where rotor is pointing. Should be to number 1 cyl. on cap. Check firing order. 18436572

 

Would it be possible that your fuel inlet and outlet lines are backwards on your new fuel pump? Just a thought.

 

its got no compression, 120 - 160 kpa is only 17 - 23 psi

 

I was wondering, but didn't ask, I assume it's a mistake reading the gauge, and not being familiar with the units.

 

Whoa dude! I'd suspect timing as well. A mention of new HEI sure points toward it not being timed correctly. Give us a little overview of how you installed it.

Where are ya from @JedsHillTruck ?

You might want to do a little research into what type of vehicles the HAMB is for. The 1984 Camaro in your profile info doesn't fit the description.

Gonna watch this thread as it seems to have potential for entertainment, what with a new guy and all.

 

If the plug wires won't move far enough to adjust timing, pull the distributor and move the rotor over a tooth so that you can adjust it.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

This may be something. Maybe not. (And Jed maybe got it started and moved on.) But this is for future reference for others.
If the engine (with HEI) was installed in a vehicle that had a points distributor, I recommend wiring it to the battery to see if it will start. I did that swap and wired the original ignition wire to the HEI. (Seemed logical) The engine would start but immediately died. The shop owner told me that that wire wasn't full battery voltage. (Who knew?) I wired it to the battery and it started and ran.
Also, I saw "pull the valve cover" but I didn't see that was to make sure that both valves are closed in the #1 cylinder (top dead center of compression stroke) to set the initial timing. Another method is to pull the #1 plug and feel for air coming out as the piston is coming up on the compression stroke. Turn the engine until the 12° mark on the balancer lines up with the timing pointer. Make a mark on the distributor body in line with the #1 wire. Remove the distributor cap. Loosen the hold-down bolt and turn the distributor until the rotor points to the mark on the distributor body.

 

post pics of motor, especially of distributor - if standard large GM cap, may be limiting even manual advance - but, as stated above, start from ground 0 and verify TDC, etc

x2