bobbydene

I had my car in for painting, They started it up to move it when they had to move it in the shop. The owner told me that it was hard starting and was running rough,Backfireing. Now that I towed it home it will not start at all. I had the carb rebuilt before and it ran just fine. The gas tank has been replaced along with the fuel pump so everything was clean. Gas is coming through the primaries just fine. I checked for spark, which I have. I pulled one of the plugs and it was dry with no sigh of gas on it. I was wondering about electrical but if I have spark and gas is pumping through th primaries wont it at lest try to start? What is next??

79MakoL82

Strange :confused: If you have gas coming out of the primaries, and the car is not starting, how are the plugs staying dry? My immediate thought was electrical i.e. timing. If you have gas, and you have spark, the spark must not be occuring at the right time . How's our timing chain? Is there a lot of slop? Could it have jumped a tooth?

shoptek

It sounds to me like a problem with the timing chain/gear. If it is original, some of the nylon teeth broke off and now the timing is WAY off. The rough running symptom, then no start is indicitive of this problem, especially if you have spark and fuel.
To check, bring #1 piston to top dead center on the compression stroke and verify that the timing mark on the balancer is very near the timing pointer and the rotor is at the #1 spot in the distributor.

Hope this helps.

73Ken73

Try a new set of spark plugs. They can be fouled and still look okay. Cars die at the autobody all the time. It is from being started up and moved around so many times.

bobbydene

I will check the timing tomorrow. I kind of wonder how I could pump the heck out of the gas, remove a sparkplug and find that it is bone dry? It won't even kick over at all!

Phlash

Check the timing by aligning the timing marks on the harmonic balancer and the timing mard on the timing chain cover. Align the marks to 0 degrees TDC. Then remove the distributor cap and see if the rotor is directly below the #1 spark plug wire terminal. If it isn't you have jumped a tooth or more. You can also check for slack in the chain by leaving the distributor cap off, and rotating the crank with a ratchet or breakover handle. Move the crank one direction until the rotor cap moves, then move the crank the other direction. A couple of degrees movement is not uncommon on an engine with some miles, but if it is 5 or more degrees, you have too much slack in the chain. Good luck,

Phlash 72 BB Roadster :seeya