Dorsil

OK brief history.


bout 20 years ago my dad bought a 1962 vette on the side of the road near where he lived. Car can great. couldnt ask for more etc.

Should add its a 1962 vette with the 327/340 horse motor.

Fastforward to 2 weeks ago.
Its finally nice out and warming up from the cold winter

I go out to start the car (been sitting at least 6 months for winter storage)

I run by everything. check air in tires battery all wires and connections.

Prime the carb with a shot of gas.


*Turns over and over....... Nothing. *Sigh*


I let my dad know. He says check this that blah blah.

We replaced the Points on the Distributor and got our spark back which wasnt there when i first went to start it. Dwelled it to spec and yay we have spark.


Go to start.. Car now backfires a bit outta the carb and if we go ahead and pump the carb as if giving gass it shoots some gas in which is promply ignited and Shot back up outta the carb in a fireball. (Scared us half to death the first time)


*Trouble shooted*

Replaced plugs, wires, Coil and Fuel. (drained system put in new hightest) Checked fuel lines nice pressure upto the carb. Checked timing as best i could by eye .. (top dead center lines upto No 1 wire on distrib)


Car still backfires a bit and will not Fire up.

IM planning on replacing the distributor just to make sure its ruled out. Other then what ive tried Can any of you Corvette gods shed some insite into my poor car?

Now another note. The car was parked running. I myself had it running and backed it into the garage before storing it. So it was running fantastic at one time. So what could have happened during the winter months that would cause it to just not start like this?


** I will be checking the boards incase you need info on somthing. Ill do my best to get it back and posted here asap.


Thanks!

andy60

It could be a bunch of different stuff but back fires are usually a result of wrong timing. Timing could be as easy as plug wires, have you checked the firing order? Working from front to rear the cyls are passenger side is even 2-4-6-8 and drivers side is 1-3-5-7. If your distributor cap has a window for to adjust the dwell #1 plug often is just above it or one to the drivers side?

OPS sorry, did not see you replaced the points, check your gap, make sure they open and not to far .

Also, I would not put much gas down the carb. If you pull back on the throtle and see the carbs squirt gas that is more than enough.

If you have to poor gas in the carb usually an oil bottle cap full is more than enough.

Best of luck...

jerrybramlett

Condensation has left a layer of crud inside the distributor cap.

Distributor condenser has failed.

If you don't have an inductive timing light, then get one. You can use it to see if each plug is firing consistently (bright, even pulse). Initial distributor timing wouldn't have changed by itself over the winter, but you could also check that.

Several valves are stuck open in heads.

It would help some if you would say where on this planet you are located and what type of weather protection the car had "in storage". Humidity and extreme cold do affect car parts.

Dorsil

I have replaced the distributor and the cap now.

getting good spark on all wires. Still not starting.


I live in NY. the car was kept in an unheated garage =( but it was safe from the snow and rain lol =).

Im mechanicly incline.. but only with newer cars.. ive never really had to work on the vette besides like replacing the intake mainfold a while back granted im no dummy but I just cant figure this out.

Would it be possible for someone to give me the run down of how to time the car without it being able to run? figure i can go back and just double check the timming before ripping the engin apart going after stuck open valves etc..

SWCDuke

Does the engine have the OE type dual point non-vacuum advance distributor?

Did you index the wires IAW ST-12, the AIM, or other reliable documentation?

Static time the engine by placing the balancer notch on "A" with the rotor pointing to #1 terminal on the cap, which is 10 deg. BTDC.

Connect an ohmmeter between the coil negative terminal and ground.

With ignition off loosen and rotate the distributor to the point where the meter needle jumps back and forth between zero and infinitiy.

If the engine does not start and backfires, and you are sure it has adequate fuel, the most likely cause is a plug wire indexing or routing problem, assuming the distributor shaft gear is indexed properly to the drive gear on the camshaft.

Duke

Matt Gruber

i'd do a compression test.

67L36Driver

Bet you have some valves stuck.

Dorsil

Well bad news... I did compression test.... and compression came back all good across the board =(..



So now ive checked. spark.

Im getting spark on all plugs
Compression is good.
Fuel is good. (have tried starter fluid as well)
Carb is wide open for air.

now timing. Ive tried adjusting the distrib a little bit each way and back and forth while somone was turning engin over.. and i cant for the life of me figure this out =(



Anything else i can possibly try and look at other then keep fooling with the timing trying to get it right?

Dave62

sounds like timing is out 180 degrees to me.....
crank turns two rotations for every one rotation of cam...and distributor.
Time by bringing #1 cylinder up to TDC....intake valve should have just closed. Drop in distributor to #1 cylinder plug wire....
As others have said...be sure to check that wires are in correct order.
Check points....open to about .015 inch as a rough setting when on lobe of distributor.
Dave62

Larry P

Fuel or fire. If it was running when you parked it, first guess would be bad gas. Todays gas doesn't react well to 6 months of storage. But, It should try when you prime it with good gas. If you know you have spark,timing etc. shouldn't have changed. I would make sure your getting good fuel.
LP

Just went back and read your post about replacing the fuel.
???????????? don't know.

dp57

check your ballast resistor. you should have voltage on each end. if you only have it on one side it's no good. i have had these go out but not often.

60vettedude

my 60 was stolen last month & i had it wired to "almost" run if someone swiped it,
Good luck on your 62,
& if the bastards who stole my car are reading this,
learn to read a schematic, get a new wiring harness, and i bet you still won't get her to run

K2

You didn't say if you replaced the plugs. If you're checking for spark and getting it at the plug wires it doesn't mean the plugs are firing. If you haven't changed the plugs I'd bet your plugs are fouled and grounding out.

vettes1st

If I read correctly, you replaced the intake manifold. A sure bet the distributor is installed incorrectly.

Matt Gruber

so psi is good? 160-180 is good.
anyway, i'd try a radical timing advance. turn dist sharply while cranking.
i'm thinking a slipped timing chain . maybe a slipped balancer. EDIT i just noticed....
.
i'd have to agree that changing the dist. was a bad idea WHAT COULD THAT DO EXCEPT TEST YOUR SKILLS? In fact this qualifies you as BUBBA. Almost. More trainng is needed to reach this level. (as even bubba does get it running)

JohnZ

OK, back to basics. Make SURE you're at #1 TDC (not #6 TDC) - both valves for #1 should be closed, rockers parallel with each other; if not, turn it one more revolution so they are. Pull distributor cap and note where the rotor is pointing, and mark the bowl there; put cap back on and make sure that the wire tower directly above the mark you made has the #1 wire in it, and the wires are indexed 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 clockwise from there as viewed from above. Move the balancer so the index line points to the 10* Advance mark on the timing tab and remove the cap. Put a test light across the points, turn the key "on", turn the distributor clockwise until the light comes on, then turn it slowly counter-clockwise until the light JUST goes out (#1 firing position), and tighten the distributor clamp. Put the cap back on and it should fire right up - then check the timing with a light, adjust as required, and you should be in business.

don peters

If you are near the Horseheads, NY area maybe I could stop by and give some hands on help. Been fooling with these for over 40 years.
Don