The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop help clear my mind!!!!

I am banging my head against the wall ,may be a brain fart?I have a problem with my 72 350 ,it has a hei distributor other than that it is stock,getting spark to plug wires ,getting fuel still won't bust off !What do I need to check next ? It had been sitting up ,emptied tank changed fuel filter,started and ran... but rough ,gas stank.I changed plugs thinking since they were wet that would be it but still no dice,thanks for any help......MITCH

The first thing you need to do is run a new 12ga. wire from the Bat terminal on the distributor to the fuse block or ignition that only supplies current when the ignition is on. I have a 70 Chevy 1/2 ton and installed an HEI and connected the 12ga. wire to the ign terminal on my fuse block.

The next thing you need to do is pull #1 spark plug and have someone tab the motor over while your finger is on #1 spark plug hole. Stop when the piston pushes the air out past your finger..."your at TDC". If you go too far the piston will be down in the cylinder and you'll have to sneak up on it again. I keep my eye on the notch on the harmonic balancer coming up on the timing tab. When you get the piston up on top then pull the distributor cap and the rotor should be pointing at #1 spark plug wire. If not then you have to pick-up the distributor and move the rotor and try it all over again until the piston is at TDC and the rotor is pointing at #1 spark plug wire on the cap. Then make sure of your firing order 1,8,4,3,6,5,7,2 . Should fire then.

Joe

Pull your distributor cap and place it out of the way a little. Look at the rotor and crank the engine just a little,,,,, see if the rotor has moved.(hopefully it moves)(should be clockwise)
Do the check that chevy1 has mentioned.

Thanks guys I will try out your suggestions this evening .I did rewire the distributor ,it was spliced 3 times with two different guages of wire,I ran it to fuse block ign terminal ,I had that problem with my other 72 before.It is possible the distributor is off a notch or so ,the P.O. had put this motor in and said it always had a miss.Thanks again ....MITCH

Oh I was looking at my first post and it looks like I implied it is still running ,but rough,It actually ran a little while ;30 minutes or so ;but I tried to restart later that evening ,turned over would not bump off,hope this helps

Just a thought,, have you adjusted the valves?
they may be too tight. It couldn`t hurt to loosen them up no more than a 1/4 turn and see.

Make sure you're getting power in "start" position. Some old cars/trucks cut power to the ign circuit in 'start' and the starter sent full 12 volts to coil. Upon returning key to 'run', the starter circuit cut out and the points dist was fed by resistance wire from ign circuit.