OK. I've search high and low. I need help. 1951 Buick Straight 8. Been sitting for 30 years. Pulled off the old ignition and put mystery oil in the cylinders. Let it sit for a week then blew out the cylinders and turned it over by hand. New Plugs, Plug wires, Rotor, Cap, 12v Coil, Condenser, Points. Checked for spark and compression. Good. Checked TDC and firing order on wires. Good (I think. According to what I've found) Rebuilt Carb, gravity fed gas (for now), new fuel filter. Cranking 12v stand alone from the car system. Problem. When cranking without the plugs in it turns pretty good. Once I put the plugs back in it, of course because of compression, it bogs down. But the damn thing wont fire. It will crank to a slow stop. WTF...
First things first. Resolve the cranking issue. Bad starter, connections or maybe using a charger instead of a battery?
Gotta fully charged battery with a charger in start mode. Old cables though. That will be next. Good Call.
Recheck all your wires and firing order and TDC on #1 cylinder on the compression cycle . Which 1 is it ? Assuming you are getting spark, I would check that fuel is getting to the cylinders. Have you tried spraying something into the intake. Maybe even pull the plugs and spray a little in, then try with plugs back in. Also you want to prime the oil distribution system and maybe it won't bog down while cranking.
To check TDC I cranked until the intake on cyl #1 closed and right before the exhaust valve opens. Looking from the passenger side, #1 is at about 11 oclock, then counter clockwise 16258374. It may not be getting enough gas. I didn't want to flood it. I pulled the carb and there is gas at the bottom of the intake. I have tried to spray starter fluid down the carb. I will try pulling the plugs and spraying some in there. AFTER I change the battery cables. They do get warm when cranking. Could timing be an issue and how can I check it?
Their is a timeing mark on the passenger side of the bellhouseing. A hole to look through with your timeing light. The mark is on the flex plate-flywheel.
T Fritz n Dan. You guys rock. Using the peep hole (which I didn't even know existed) I checked TDC. Dude, 180* off. Dan, you were right on the money..... I'll fix it tomorrow and let ya know.
Let me back up a second. I think I spoke too soon. I can get the mark twice with 180* difference at the distributor. ????
The top dead center mark indicates TDC on the compression stroke and TDC on the exhaust stroke. To find TDC on the compression stroke remove the spark plug from # 1 cylinder place finger over plug hole and rotate crank intil you feel pressure from compression. Continue rotating until TDC marker becomes visible on fly-wheel. Check dissy and you will be at TDC for #1.
On the compression stroke the dizzy needs to be on #1 piston and the plug wires flow the order of fire. You can tell the comp. stroke by sealing the plug hole (with the plug out on #1) with your thumb. You should feel some pressure as the motor is cranked . Do you have a remote start button. This helps. If you have a comp. tester thats better. Either way when you feel comp. then the timing mark should be in view . With the flat motor it is hard to be close as you can't see the valves operate. Also with the motor bogging you don't have a chance to turn the dizzy while cranking to get it to fire. You ned another motorhead with you. LOL
Duhh. Why didn't I think of that. Got the remote start switch, got the compression gauge. Now all I need to do is learn how to use them......
<TABLE id=post6167686 class=tborder border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid" id=td_post_6167686 class=alt1>Straight eight Buicks are not flatheads, in fact, nearly every Buick ever built was an OHV <!-- / message --></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid" class=alt2> </TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid" class=alt1 align=right><!-- controls --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Carl, that makes it even easier. Well we are on the subject of flatheads, was the 50's vintage Pontiac 8 motor a flattie ! Whenever I hear straight 8 my small brain thinks flatmotor.
RD, when you can tear yourself away from the ST8 ,post a pic. Anxious to hear how you make out so keep us posted., Bob.
When you changed the wires did you do one at a time. The firing order 16258374 and look to see the derrect of dist rotor.Some times when they set for long time the valves get stuck,oil the rocker good and if stuck you can take a braker bar and move them little.See if that helps when turn under power.
OK I'll throw my oar in. Check your battery cables where they connect to frame or block for a poor ground. Dirt and corrosion can put up quite a bit of resistance with a 6 volt system. Take them off and clean around where they connect. The starter where it connects to the bellhousing could be dirty. Mixing up the ground (neg to neg or neg to pos ) can make things act real slow. If you are getting heat I would suspect a bad starter.
I got new battery cables today and did a little more research. Team Buick had a good dist. wiring diagram. Tomorrow I will tear into it and post the results. Im betting on old cables and bad connections. I do have good compression so when I get the cables and connections checked Im going to put a lil gas in a few cylinders and crank tha baby up. Pics and results to follow...... To be continued....... Thanks......
on my 50 buick (still six volt) i had the positive cable burn up because some one put a 12 volt cable on it,
Excellent point. I plan on only getting the engine running with the 12v gauged cables. 4ga and 2ga. Then I will decide if I will convert or not. Depends on the Beast's destiny.
Removed the old cables and figured out where TDC is. Yeah I think the cables are a problem. Off to the auto parts store. The cables I bought are way too long.
Id also check to see if the valves are opening and closing.I recently ran into this problem with a engine i was working on.
I checked for compression and all cylinders had some compression. Couldn't get real accurate reading with the cranking issue.
That cable end is probably most of your problem. It is probably as rusty on the inside as it is on the outside. The cable appears to have some corosion as well. Put heavy guage cables on and you will not be sorry. 6 volt cables will work well on a 12 volt system. Double check the firing order on the plug wires and you should be good to go.
Wow. What a day. The Beast Is ALIVE!!!!! I installed new battery cables. Then i put a little gas in the first three cylinders. I pumped the carb six times and cranked her over. She started right up. I kicked down the choke and she idled very nicely. It's cool to get a car running after knowing it's been sitting for almost 30 years. It turns over really easy now. The cables were definitely the major problem. Thanks for all the help. Oh, BTW, I need some headlights. HA
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