'77 Wont start...help :(
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 221
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From: Sylmar CA
'77 Wont start...help :(
In some earlier posts I explained that the power suddenly died and that messed up my timing somehow. I redid my timing and the car seemed to be running all good again. But when taking it out to the street it seemed to miss a cylinder or something. like stopped at a red-light it would want to turn off. It'd idle at like 600rpm, and for a split second drop to 450-500 approximately, then jump back up to 600 for a few seconds, until one second it drops again. Then stepping on it to get on the freeway it'd do the same thing but more often and i could clearly hear it coming from the headers(running open headers). I thought it might be my Moroso Blue Max Spiral Core spark plug wires, so I replaced them with Moroso Ultra 40 Race Wire set. From the moment I unplugged my old wires to the moment I put on my new ones I did not even put the key in the ignition to avoid messing up my timing. Now it won't start. I redid my entire timing again and now all I saw was a few puffs of smokish looking air shoot from the carb and the engine won't start up at all. Anyone have any idea whats going on? Ive been waiting for about 2 weeks for these wires and haven't been able to use my car and its actually pretty frustrating. Help please? 
Pro
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 577
Likes: 6
Sounds like a timing / ignition problem. Can you walk us through a list of components and tell us what is new and what is old. Also explain your process of redoing the timing after you changed the wires. By the way, the symptoms you spoke of before you changed the wires sounded more like a vacuum leak than an ignition problem.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,740
Likes: 3
From: Aurora Ontario
In some earlier posts I explained that the power suddenly died and that messed up my timing somehow. I redid my timing and the car seemed to be running all good again. But when taking it out to the street it seemed to miss a cylinder or something. like stopped at a red-light it would want to turn off. It'd idle at like 600rpm, and for a split second drop to 450-500 approximately, then jump back up to 600 for a few seconds, until one second it drops again. Then stepping on it to get on the freeway it'd do the same thing but more often and i could clearly hear it coming from the headers(running open headers). I thought it might be my Moroso Blue Max Spiral Core spark plug wires, so I replaced them with Moroso Ultra 40 Race Wire set. From the moment I unplugged my old wires to the moment I put on my new ones I did not even put the key in the ignition to avoid messing up my timing. Now it won't start. I redid my entire timing again and now all I saw was a few puffs of smokish looking air shoot from the carb and the engine won't start up at all. Anyone have any idea whats going on? Ive been waiting for about 2 weeks for these wires and haven't been able to use my car and its actually pretty frustrating. Help please?
Jim
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 221
Likes: 1
From: Sylmar CA
All wires were connected correctly.
The engine is rebuilt with about 1.1k miles. Distributor is old with new springs from mr gasket. Spark plugs and wires are new.
I tried redoing my timing right now right now and I tried starting it. Nothing went. I turned the distributor to advance the timing and flames shot out of the headers but the engine didn't start. Any ideas? >.<
The engine is rebuilt with about 1.1k miles. Distributor is old with new springs from mr gasket. Spark plugs and wires are new.
I tried redoing my timing right now right now and I tried starting it. Nothing went. I turned the distributor to advance the timing and flames shot out of the headers but the engine didn't start. Any ideas? >.<
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 221
Likes: 1
From: Sylmar CA
Oh and for the vacuum leak what could it be? Seems odd to me that it would randomly start doing that. And only in the street. Parked in my house it worked perfectly. (This was before the wire change)
turns out it was just a timing problem somehow. I got it running after the third time I redid my timing. Third times the charm haha.
