OK, today we got everything bolted onto the original engine in the cradle. Temporarily wired up to start. Cranked over very slowly with a (new) 6 volt battery but wouldn't start. We quickly decided to use a 12 volt battery to get it to spin up quickly. It cranked, but wouldn't start, or even pop. Spark at points, but not at plugs. We looked at the distributor and cap for a very long time. Replace condenser, reset the points. We compared the cap to one we found way in the back of the parts cabinet. It looks like the distributor cap should have a dome of graphite(?) hanging down to make contact with the rotor. But the domeless cap was just running, so we doubted our eyes and took apart the little post that goes through the side of the distributor trying to find someplace where things were grounding out. That is a fun little thing to play with on a hot humid day in the full sun. After taking it apart and reassembling it several times (and of course ripping the gromet), putting little pieces of electrical tape here and there with no difference, we finally swapped out the distributor caps. Crank, crank, crank. Maybe squirt just a bit more starting fluid. BOOM. Backfire thru carb and now I don't have anymore hair on my knuckles....
It just backfires thru the carb, doesn't want to start. So, I think we solved the spark issue, but what would cause the backfire thru carb without running at all? Timing? Any ideas?
Thanks!
