Roy beat me to it, lots to check,
Fuel, compression, spark, oxygen, one of the four missing?
How does it crank? real easy, real hard, normal
How is the battery?
Is the coil wired correctly?
Will a plug fire when cranking? have you checked? a timing light will tell you
Walk away for awhile, get a drink and clear your head, then start over:
1- Pull valve cover and distributor.
2- Prime oil pump with drill and be sure oil is at the rocker arms
hydraulic lifters need to be pumped up so rotate engine while priming
3- pull number one plug and verify top dead center on compression stroke
hold your thumb over the hole to build compression while rotating engine
4- verify both valves are closed on #1 cylinder
5- check timing marks and verify TDC marks with piston position
6- verify rest of valves are set correctly
( 1/2 - 3/4 turn down from zero clearance )
7- prime oil pump one last time, and drop in distributer with rotor
pointing at #1 plug wire terminal
8- check for fuel at carb, does it spray when the throttle moves?
9- hot wire coil right off battery to bypass any wire issues
10- crank over and see if it fires, use 12 volt battery if needed to crank
it quickly. The points will survive for a while on 12 volts.
If it fires up, run a normal break-in period, read up if haven't already and be sure to use correct break-in oil.
If it still won't hit, check for proper cam timing, the gears could be miss aligned and no amount of tinkering will make it start. Open valves (miss adjusted) will also keep it from starting, no compression.
Either is not good on new motors, and it doesn't always tell you what is going on with them. I have seen it not fire one lick in a good running engine. Seems some cans work better then others. Just cause it won't fire doesn't mean it doesn't have spark.
Rotating the distributor while cranking is generally need, go both ways to see where it might like it, if it kicks back, go the other way. Keep your face away from the carburetor!!
Get some more information and report back
Joe
Last edited by Joe H; 05/03/2013 11:26 PM.
