New to Grumpy's, And looking for advice

R

RXN

Member
I have a 65 Chevy C20, with a 283. Ended up cracking the block. My Dad a a complete 283 sitting in one of his shed's. So I tore it down and re-used the best of what I had to build it up. Anyways, a buddy of mine gave me a new timing chain set, I installed it by lining up the timing marks as followed. The Cam sprocket mark was at the 6 O'clock position, and the Crank timing mark was at the 12 O'clock position.
Which seemed fairly simple. finished engine off, dropped in truck and she won't start. cranks over lots, getting lots of fuel, but no start.

Removed the coil to distributor wire off top of distributor cap, held to intake and cranked, there was spark. Removed #1 plug wire stuck a screw driver in the end of it and rested against block and cranked engine over, again there was spark. Dad figures I'm out 180 degrees and I'm firing on the intake stroke. Any thought's
 
RXN said:
I have a 65 Chevy C20, with a 283. Ended up cracking the block. My Dad a a complete 283 sitting in one of his shed's. So I tore it down and re-used the best of what I had to build it up. Anyways, a buddy of mine gave me a new timing chain set, I installed it by lining up the timing marks as followed. The Cam sprocket mark was at the 6 O'clock position, and the Crank timing mark was at the 12 O'clock position.
Which seemed fairly simple. finished engine off, dropped in truck and she won't start. cranks over lots, getting lots of fuel, but no start.

Removed the coil to distributor wire off top of distributor cap, held to intake and cranked, there was spark. Removed #1 plug wire stuck a screw driver in the end of it and rested against block and cranked engine over, again there was spark. Dad figures I'm out 180 degrees and I'm firing on the intake stroke. Any thought's
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum !!! I think we can help you.

Sounds like you got the cam timing setup correctly. You need three things for an engine to run.....spark, compression
and fuel. Sounds like you have spark, but maybe it not at the right time.

Does the engine pop or back fire at all??? If so you need to set the initial ignition timing. If you just dropped the distributor
in when you put it back together, chance are very high that it didn't just drop into the right place by chance.
 
step one, READ THE PROVIDED LINKED INFO
a logical step bye step check list will locate the problem, don,t glance thru or skip over the info in the links and sub links

verify the valves are adjusted correctly,back off the rocker nuts until ALL the rockers all click lightly at idle and oil flows from the push rods, make sure youve got compression on all cylinders, and the fuel pressure correct

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=196

step two, verify TDC and ignition timing with a timing light and timing tape on the damper, and make sure the distributor rotor points at the #1 cylinder on the #1 cylinders compression stroke, verify your getting 12 plus volts at the coil and that the spark plugs spark as the distributor spins, verify your getting oil pressure and at least 5 psi of fuel pressure and verify the ignition firing order



viewtopic.php?f=70&t=967

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=751&p=1159&hilit=dropping+distributor#p1159

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=3401

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=3301

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=109

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=54&p=67&hilit=dropping+distributor#p67

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=1697
 
Indycars said:
RXN said:
I have a 65 Chevy C20, with a 283. Ended up cracking the block. My Dad a a complete 283 sitting in one of his shed's. So I tore it down and re-used the best of what I had to build it up. Anyways, a buddy of mine gave me a new timing chain set, I installed it by lining up the timing marks as followed. The Cam sprocket mark was at the 6 O'clock position, and the Crank timing mark was at the 12 O'clock position.
Which seemed fairly simple. finished engine off, dropped in truck and she won't start. cranks over lots, getting lots of fuel, but no start.

Removed the coil to distributor wire off top of distributor cap, held to intake and cranked, there was spark. Removed #1 plug wire stuck a screw driver in the end of it and rested against block and cranked engine over, again there was spark. Dad figures I'm out 180 degrees and I'm firing on the intake stroke. Any thought's
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum !!! I think we can help you.

Sounds like you got the cam timing setup correctly. You need three things for an engine to run.....spark, compression
and fuel. Sounds like you have spark, but maybe it not at the right time.

Does the engine pop or back fire at all??? If so you need to set the initial ignition timing. If you just dropped the distributor
in when you put it back together, chance are very high that it didn't just drop into the right place by chance.
Click to expand...



Engine made no sounds, Once I swore it caught and died when I pumped the gas but it happened to quick to really confirm.
 
RXN said:
Engine made no sounds, Once I swore it caught and died when I pumped the gas but it happened to quick to really confirm.
Click to expand...
It's looking more like you may not have the third component....compression or maybe the valves
are not opening at all. Therefore none of the fuel is entering the cylinder.

Did you adjust the valve/lifters ???

You said its getting lots of fuel. How do you know??? Are the spark plugs wet ???
 
Indycars said:
RXN said:
Engine made no sounds, Once I swore it caught and died when I pumped the gas but it happened to quick to really confirm.
Click to expand...
It's looking more like you may not have the third component....compression or maybe the valves
are not opening at all. Therefore none of the fuel is entering the cylinder.

Did you adjust the valve/lifters ???

You said its getting lots of fuel. How do you know??? Are the spark plugs wet ???
Click to expand...


Plugs are wet, plus can see the fuel getting squirted through the Carb. As for valve set, I split the firing order
1 - 8 - 4 - 3
6 - 5 - 7 - 2

When the intake started opening on #6 I set #1, intake open on #8 I set #5 and so on. Everything flowed in good order, I adjusted just until I saw the lifter move.

I did re-build by using the best of the used parts I had laying around. I haven't done a compression test but I don't think thats a problem.
 

Ok, I'm making these assumptions. The engine turns over, but nothing is happening. The starter is turning the engine, but it's NOT firing at all. If you have all three conditions; compression, fuel and spark, it should be making some noises. You need to VERIFY there is compression !

NOTE: This is NOT going to be good for the engine, it should start immediately. Especially if you have installed a new cam and lifters. You did prime the oiling system before you install the distributor......right ???


RXN said:
Plugs are wet, plus can see the fuel getting squirted through the Carb. As for valve set, I split the firing order
1 - 8 - 4 - 3
6 - 5 - 7 - 2

When the intake started opening on #6 I set #1, intake open on #8 I set #5 and so on. Everything flowed in good order, I adjusted just until I saw the lifter move.

If that's your criteria for adjusted valves, that won't work. Besides from what you said, "intake started opening", should be when the valve is at FULL LIFT as shown below.

Are you familiar with finding ZERO lash, then adding 1/2 turn ??? If not, then you need to read a manual or maybe Grumpy can point you to a thread on the forum here. If the valve lash is NOT correct, the valves could be staying open all the time, therefore NO Compression.

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=197&hilit=hydraulic+valve+lash
Intake Valve Adjustment: ENGINE OFF!

with #1 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #6 Intake Valve
with #8 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #5 Intake Valve
with #4 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #7 Intake Valve
with #3 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #2 Intake Valve
with #6 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #1 Intake Valve
with #5 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #8 Intake Valve
with #7 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #4 Intake Valve
with #2 cylinder Intake Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #3 Intake Valve

Exhaust Valve Adjustment: ENGINE OFF!

with #1 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #6 Exhaust Valve
with #8 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #5 Exhaust Valve
with #4 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #7 Exhaust Valve
with #3 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #2 Exhaust Valve
with #6 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #1 Exhaust Valve
with #5 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #8 Exhaust Valve
with #7 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #4 Exhaust Valve
with #2 cylinder Exhaust Valve at full valve lift .... Adjust #3 Exhaust Valve


I did re-build by using the best of the used parts I had laying around. I haven't done a compression test but I don't think thats a problem.
Click to expand...
Like Grumpy always says, you need to start with the basics.

Make sure you know how to adjust the valves, don't guess.

Set the ignition timing before you ever crank the engine to start it. You can't just drop the distributor in anywhere, there is a way to get reasonably close on the ignition timing before you ever start the engine.

Maybe you need to visit the local bookstore and buy a book about rebuilding the SBC, it should give you lots of the details you need.

Let us know what does not make sense to you, so that we can go into further details.
 
I,m beginning to feel like, I must be on serious drugs..reading some of these threads...we all ask questions and in most threads theres several answering posts , but I get the distinct feeling at times that the guys posting questions, never bother to look at the answers or read thru
the posted links or ask for clarification if they are confused ?????
theres frequently a great deal of info in those links but I get the idea the links seldom get read!
If theres one theme I see constantly repeated its , isolating problems is mostly a mater of verifying function,testing, and either verifying or adjusting..
"drop back to the basics and check each and every step before proceeding to the next test level"
yet I get the feeling many guys think they can skip that and expect to have someone just (POST THE ANSWER) without checking or verifying any facts, its always a process of checking and eliminating potential problems, by isolating the potential cause of the problem..

as an example I had grumpyvette , come over to re- do a tune-up I'd done recently, where the car just didn,t run as well as I thought it should have, before we really got started he checked battery and alternator voltage and checked fuses,and checked filters, oil and coolant levels and electrical connections and we adjusted the valves, and by that time the car ran great, it was not that something that I'd done on the tune-up , was wrong like I suspected, it was simply that the valves needed adjusting and the fuel and air filters were old , restrictive and I had a corroded battery terminal...that all contributed to the way the car ran,....I was chasing problems that I thought I had caused, that were really, not something I,d done , just things I,D overlooked
 
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