Help me out please starting issue?

[Gman73]

Guy's I'm about to pull out what little hair I have left. My 73K20 just will not start, I installed a new summit HEI and removed the old coil wire and the resistance wire, ran an new 12 ga to the correct plug on the connector on the firewall, checked for voltage plenty there, put a plug light tester plenty of spark and consistent. Rebuilt Quadrajet pumping fuel from both sides. fuel pump pumping correct amount of gas. seems like i have all the necessary stuff for a start. What could I be doing wrong? Any suggestions appreciated. I'm doing a resto on this truck and that engine ran fine when I pulled it, it's a basic 350 sbc 5.7 could the fact I don't have any exhaust manifolds on it yet be affecting it?

 

[Grit dog]

Timing? Dizzy 180 out?
It will light off no problem with no exhaust.
What exactly is it doing or not doing?
Are the spark plugs flooding out or dry?
Does it pop and backfire but not actually start/idle, or just crank and nothing fires?

 

[Gman73]

No, the dizzy when I dropped it in I removed the valve cover and rotated by hand till #1 was on its proper stroke then it dropped right in. Yes the plugs were super wet so I replaced them and let the plug holes dry out over night. It will crank properly good sound, it did backfire once but I think that was from trying starter fluid

 

[Bextreme04]

If you have fuel and spark, there are really only two things left it could be. Either the timing is way off or you don't have any compression.

 

[WP29P4A]

I would pull the #1 spark plug (no need to pull valve cover) and bring it back to TDC, Check the timing marks, then pull dist cap and see where rotor points. Like Bex said, you got gas and spark. Timing WAY out is next possibility.

Double check your voltage with key in start position AND in run position at Dist.

 

[Bextreme04]

Super wet plugs usually means no sparky-sparky. Do you have a timing light on the #1 plug top make sure it is actually trying to fire while cranking? My Buick was doing exactly this and it turned out I was not getting ignition voltage while cranking or with ignition on. I figured it out when I put the timing light on it and was getting no flash. Ran a jumper wire from the battery to the distributor input and it fired right up(with only 4 plug wires connected).

 

[Vbb199]

If its truly 180 out, when you finally do get it to pop over, it's going to explode your exhaust and probably make you soil your drawers from the explosion lmao

^ everything above is where I would start, fo sho.

Sometimes that easy stuff gets overlooked and accredited as "it could never be something that simple"

Trust me.

 

[85K304SPD]

Take it step by step. Back to the basics. Fuel, spark & timing. Make sure the ground strap is on the coil. Check your firing order 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2. Bring #1 up to TDC, make sure the timing mark on the balancer is lined up with the timing tab/mark. Drop your distributor in where the top coil cover is straight across and the rotor is pointing at #1, just ahead of the center of the coil cover, on the drivers side, hook up the hot wire to the distributor, hook up the timing light to #1 plug wire, squirt some fresh gas in the carb and crank it over. Look for the timing light to flash so you know there is spark, listen to how the engine is turning, if it sounds like its locking up then back off the timing until it starts. You dont have to turn it much, maybe 1/4 or 1/2 inch either way. When it starts idle it up and work on setting the timing. Basic, but sometimes we get in a hurry and dont do it right.

 

[Snoots]

180 out.

 

[WP29P4A]

He got it started.

 

[Gman73]

Yeah but it won’t stay running

 

[Bextreme04]

Yeah but it won’t stay running

What's your initial timing set at? Plugs looking wet?

 

[Gman73]

No plugs are dry I can’t get it to run long enough to get a reading, it starts at 0 on my balancer, so #1 at tdc and 0 on the balancer

 

[Gman73]

if I pour a steady stream of gas down the carb it will snap crackle and pop but then dies

 

[Bextreme04]

if I pour a steady stream of gas down the carb it will snap crackle and pop but then dies

Disconnect your fuel line to the carb and stick it into a gatorade or water bottle. Crank it and make sure you are getting enough fuel to at least partially fill the bottle in a few seconds of cranking. You should be able to get a fairly close reading on the timing with it just cranking. Try to get it in the 4-10 degree BTDC range with the vacuum advance disconnected.