Put it back together and it won't start!

[Mercracer]

Suppose for a moment that I had the cam off by a tooth. Wouldn't it still run, but just not that well?

1 cam tooth wouldn't do much harm.

[gadget73]

Yes it will run if the cam is a tooth off. I put 30k miles on my car that way, it ran fine, just lacked low end power and got horrible fuel economy. Mine was 1 tooth retarded. It would run if advanced too, but should run out of power at a lower rpm. In either case it would still idle as long as the cam is reasonably close. You did put them dot to dot, not both pointing straight up, correct?

To set the preload with a pedastal mount rocker, you use shims under the rocker or different length pushrods. Easy check, set the engine to TDC on #1, loosen the rockers for #1 a little and slowly tighten till you hit zero lash on the rocker. From that point till you hit the 20 ft/lb torque, you want to see about 1/2-3/4 turn of the ratchet. If its in that area, the preload is good. If you want to be more exact and have the proper tooling, check it with a dial indicator set against the rocker arm directly over the pushrod. You want the pushrod to go down about .020. Ideally this should be checked on each cylinder to be sure its right. Rotate the crankshaft 90 degrees, check the next cylinder in the firing order, etc. There is also some sequence you can use that involves less crankshaft rotations but I don't know it offhand. The 90 degree per cylinder method is pretty foolproof though. Only variable here is if the balancer itself is spun, then you'll be working in the dark. If you can verify that #1 piston is at the very top of the stroke and the balancer reads 0, you're OK.

Stupid balancer related question, but you are using the 0 mark, and not that groove, yes?

Have you tried pulling a compression test? That should tell you if there is something grossly wrong with the valve adjustments or something else.

[gadget73]

Maybe a newb question, but I don't want to run into this issue when I do my HO conversion...

Could this have been prevented by marking the positions of the dampener, distributor, etc?

Not really, the damper fits on one way so thats not an issue. The cam comes out, which means the timing chain is off. You have to rotate the crankshaft to line up the timing set, and since the cam and all would be in a different spot after installing the timing set, the distributor would end up pointing different. Basically all new engine builds go through this with setting the engine at TDC on #1, and dropping the distributor in the right spot.

[87_crown_vic]

yes hitting a timing lite on the crank will show if it is off...if it isnt hitting the numbers and is shooting the bottom of the balancer...it would not show on the numbers and prove it is off...now if it was where it should be it would be hitting at the #10 on the side of the balancer that has numbers going to 30*...this happened recently where the timing was 180* off...it wasnt hitting where it should have on the balancer

[Mercracer]

yes hitting a timing lite on the crank will show if it is off...if it isnt hitting the numbers and is shooting the bottom of the balancer...it would not show on the numbers and prove it is off...now if it was where it should be it would be hitting at the #10 on the side of the balancer that has numbers going to 30*...this happened recently where the timing was 180* off...it wasnt hitting where it should have on the balancer

IF it was hitting the bottom of the dampener, then the distributor would only be 90 degrees off 1 way or the other and not 180 degrees. If the distributor is 180 degrees off, it will hit exactly on the correct timing marks since it takes 2 complete crankshaft revolutions to rotate the distributor (cam) 360 degrees.

[Nathan in MI]

Stupid balancer related question, but you are using the 0 mark, and not that groove, yes?

Hmmm...

Update, though--just for grins, I switched to 302 firing order this morning just to see if Edelbrock screwed up on the cam, and it comes an awful lot closer to running...fires several times in a row, and about the time it's about to start, it fights the starter like suddenly it's too far advanced, which I don't quite understand. Gonna check and see if I was using the wrong timing mark, but the way it fires it seems like it ought to be awful close, though.

[Nathan in MI]

Another update...I marked the real zero mark on the damper (not using the mystery groove anymore...) and set it by that. Turned the engine over to where the exhaust valve was closing and the intake was opening, and then went one more turn. Set the dizzy to one, and now it only fires rarely, and when it does, it fights the starter like it's too far advanced. I've set the dizzy several times, so I know it's not 180 out.

[Mercracer]

You do know that the number 1 cylinder is the front passenger side cylinder, right? It is easy to accidently pull out the number 2 plug if all of the garbage is in the way and you aren't paying attention. Also, the firing order is counter clockwise on the distributor so you trun the distributor counter clockwise to retard it.
Did you put the firing order back to the HO firing order like the cam says?

[Nathan in MI]

Yes, and yes.

[Rodentkiller]

I hope you got all of the sensors hooked up properly or you may have a dead computer or a crank or cam sensor off kilter Nathen or it could be as the other guys say disty off a tooth.

[Mercracer]

I forgot a plug on the back of the carb one time and it acted like that because of the huge vacuum leak.

[DuceAnAHalf]

I forgot a plug on the back of the carb one time and it acted like that because of the huge vacuum leak.

i do that pretty much everytime i take off my booster line, ill go to start it and it will run like shit. thats when i relize i forgot to reinstall that hose

[Rodentkiller]

One thought crossed my mind are you using a H.O. computer or the one on the car? You may need a H.O. computer but if you lined up both marks to reinstall the timeing chain as no.1 at TDC and the marks lined up and the disty rotor pointed at no.1 at TDC you should start and run or you may have a bad ignition module or coil or air in the fuel lines or the biggest vacumm leak Nathen you may have to go to the beggining to diagnose this problem of no start and good luck to ya. Nathen.

[turbo2256b]

Another update...I marked the real zero mark on the damper (not using the mystery groove anymore...) and set it by that. Turned the engine over to where the exhaust valve was closing and the intake was opening, and then went one more turn. Set the dizzy to one, and now it only fires rarely, and when it does, it fights the starter like it's too far advanced. I've set the dizzy several times, so I know it's not 180 out.

Is the mystery grove your talking about a grove on the damper about 1/8" wide? If so that mark is 180* from the 0* mark. If you went one more turn from were you stated the exhaust was closing and the intake was opening did you check to see if no 1 cylinder was compressing air?

[gadget73]

One thought crossed my mind are you using a H.O. computer or the one on the car? You may need a H.O. computer but if you lined up both marks to reinstall the timeing chain as no.1 at TDC and the marks lined up and the disty rotor pointed at no.1 at TDC you should start and run or you may have a bad ignition module or coil or air in the fuel lines or the biggest vacumm leak Nathen you may have to go to the beggining to diagnose this problem of no start and good luck to ya. Nathen.

He has a car with a carburettor, so the computer isn't really a factor here.