235 chevy help....

ok, my 235 was running mint! then all of a sudden it started back firing bad..
I brought it home.. wont start... I tried new point/condensor/cap/rotar and even a new coil and i have spark... carb is getting gas.. so i just did a compression test.
starting at the fan going back to the firewall here is the numbers
90
105
100
115
90
90
is that close? its a babbit 235... doesnt burn any oil.

I also checked the timing gears they were metal replacements(older) but the timing marks lined up.. and i also set the distributor facing the #1 cylinder(closest to the fan) with the timing marks lined up... did i miss something or is the compression too low?
thanks, jason

 

(I'm no pro) gas at the spark plug (wet plugs)? running a fuel filter? junk in the carb?

Larry

 

carb is good, plugs damp... im hoping its something simple but i think the compression numbers seem a little low...

 

It's kind of a dumb question, but did you check to see that your distributor isn't loose? When I had the 235 in my '53 I had a similar situation and I found the distributor loose. Good Luck!

 

yeah, i had it out to reset the timing and i made sure everything was nice and tight.

 

If plugs are damp REPLACE them ,good chance they are fouled. May look OK but will short out under compression.

 

I had the same prob. I couldent figure out what it was. Mind you this was on a 454. I was losing oil pressure and it was running like crap. turns out the shaft between the distributar and the oil pump twisted. Just sayen maybe its something along the lines of that.

 

had a similar thing happen on a later 235... chased it for a week.... since there is no stop on the distributor, only a slight groove for the collar to set into, it is possible for the dist. to slide down too far (almost unnoticeable), and you will never get it timed close enough to run right, and possibly not even start... definitely something to check... your compression reads a bit lower than mine(120-130), but should still run pretty good.... also check for any vacuum leaks

 

Same problem then just replaced the old distributor with a new electronic one.......problem solved and still cruising along. 2 options below

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEV...Accessories&hash=item1e666b5499#ht_3625wt_958

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-...Accessories&hash=item1e66295918#ht_1792wt_762

 

hey guy's, thanks for all the ideas. i actually got it running last night and its running great. basically operator error.....had the distributor set wrong... it wasnt 180 deg but was pointing at #1 cylinder on the block instead of on the cap. oh well at least i fixed it and learned the proper way to find tdc and set the distr.