so heres what i got...





so anyways....... heres the problem. it wont start... fuel pump is bad (unless im supposed to prime it someway that i am unaware of), but poured gas down carb. no firing.. or starting. definitely have spark. definitely have batt power, even connected jumpers just because. the engine is older, and probably hasnt been run in quite a while. about the only thing wired is the ignition.

holley carb (brand new, not adjusted)
street fire hei distr. the tach wire is currently ground, because this is a '54 vette, with original mechanical tach.. (brand new, not adjusted)
block # 14093638
distrib stabbed @ TDC on combustion cycle, possible tooth or two off, though i still figured if this was the case, it would fire.

one thing i did notice, out of the valve cover DS, the hole was not plugged and i saw gasses? being expelled... and on the PS the valve cover was moving like a bottle when you press on the sides, like it was sucking in and then returning to normal.

any ideas?

edits: picture shows coil with point dist.. this HAS been replaced, as i couldnt get it to spark due to worm dist, and no resistor is run, just straight 14g from ign switch. block off for fuel pump is also shown, manual fuel pump reinstalled due to more room than anticipated. i have also disconnected the belt, so that the alt and waterpump are not slowing down cranking, the alt isnt wired anyways.

 

anyone?

 

Man, thats going to be a tough one to answer on here., without someone being there to look at it. im not an expert at all. Try to keep in mind you need three main things for "fire". Spark, Fuel, Timing. Id go back and check all three. Are you getting spark all the way to the plugs? I would recheck the timing next.

 

If the fuel pump is dry, it will not self-prime. You have to pull off the fuel line and blow back to the tank to start a siphon. Don't suck. If you have gas in the tank, it will flow back to the fuel pump. Once the pump has fuel to it, use a plastic bottle to prime the carb until it fires.

Put a timing light on the #1 plug to confirm that you are getting a spark.

It should try to fire with spark, fuel and air.

Good luck.

 

I just counted the # of teeth on an old distributor, there are 13. That means that if you are one tooth off your timing is going to be off by almost 28 degrees.

I have a strange suspicion that could be your problem.

 

rechecked stab like 6 times.. it definitely wont stab all the way at 180 off. it stays out of the whole 1/8 in.. so im definitely on compression stroke, and there is a mark on the intake, and my rotor is directly over it.. the mark could be off.. im having the guy that sold me the engine come and look at it, since ive had to replace the starter, the dist, the waterpump and a few other things.. he says hes been doin this for like 20 yrs.. so hopefully this works. if all else fails, i can always get me money back!!

 

teeth were not off... got it running. where the dist gears meet the oil pump, the oil pump needed to be turned about 1/4 turn.. it runs awesome now!