RonnieJamesDio

Hello again, this time I'm a little stumped and can't figure out what it might be, I recently rebuilt the top part of the engine (valve springs, seals, pushrods, rocker arms, intake manifold gasket, A/C Delco plugs and wires.) After reassembling everything I can get the vehicle to crank over but for some odd reason I can't get the car to run on its own and it backfires out of the carb, even getting flames at times and building up a fair amount of soot so I decided to stop and get some opinions first. I checked my spark plug wires and nothing is crossed, my HEI distributor seems to be working fine and I'm sure I've stabbed it in right per YouTube and this being my 4th time removing said distributor (set it to TDC, point it towards #1 etc), as for the rods/rocker arms/valve springs I'm very confident that following the YouTube videos I found I've also done those right. I know that most of the time "a carburetor issue is a timing issue" but that being said; I've noticed that my 1980 Rochester Quadrajet is only shooting fuel out of one jet when you press the pedal, and the gaskets seem to be leaking/soaking up a lot of fuel. I replaced the fuel filter today and I've never had this carb apart but it was "professionally rebuilt." The car wants to start with starting fluid but about half the time that's when the flames shoot out the top and sometimes are lit for a few seconds. If anyone could help me out I would sincerely appreciate it.

randallsteel

Are you 100% positive after you installed dot to dot you rotated the crank once to get to #1 TDC? Before setting valve lash?

Edit, was a cam swap part of your top end rebuild?

4-vettes

Having zero confidence in YouTube video's. I would question the installation of your distributor. The proper sealing of your intake manifold gaskets as well.
Have you considered following the factory service manual? It was written by the company that made your car. The step by step instructions in a factory service manual are correct and complete.
You Tube not so much.

bonesbrakr

If fuel is only coming out of one side of the carb then get that fixed first and go from there. WHEN was the carb rebuilt? Before the top end upgrade or during?
Also, at TDC do not line up the rotor with the #1 cylinder. You are going to be off. Try turning the distributor clockwise slightly and see what happens.

zwede

My way of installing HEI distributors: Rotate crank as you come up on TDC with finger in spark plug hole on #1. If there's no pressure it's on #6 so rotate crank one full turn. Put crank at 15 degrees BTDC.

Install distributor with rotor pointing at #1. Now remove rotor and turn counter-clockwise until the teeth on the pickup wheel line up.

RonnieJamesDio

I'm fairly confident, and no it was not. When I pulled out a valve lifter it had an aftermarket Crane from a very long time ago; and we assumed somebody put in an aftermarket cam. I did not replace the lifters or even attempt removing the cam.

RonnieJamesDio

I do not have a FSM, that being said I've done intake manifold gaskets on other vehicles. This one was pretty straight forward; silicone the end seals and silicone the water jackets. And I did not include the air restrictor gasket either as per Fel-Pro instructions.

calwldlife

does sound like you are 80 out on distributor install

RonnieJamesDio

I will try this, the carb I purchased from a fellow forum member sometime about a year ago or more. It worked fine but always required a lot of fine tuning to get it to run properly. I never rebuilt it myself or took it apart after I bought it.

RonnieJamesDio

Essentially it sounds like something is off with the distributor, I will attempt @zwede way of doing it and see if anything changes.

RonnieJamesDio

Update
I did exactly what zwede suggested, it fired right up at 3000 RPM, I started turning the cap to bring it down a little in small increments, I ended up turning it just a tad too much and the engine bogged down and died. Now, if the distributor is in the correct position do I even need to take it out and repeat the process or just turn the cap in very small increments until I’m able to start the car back up again? I’m assuming I flooded the carb when I turned it over by hand since I never took the fuel line off.

augiedoggy

You tube is great but you have to watch at least 3 videos on most processes to draw your own conclusion on which to follow. I learned how to build my engine, do my body and paint and the interior with mainly youtube videos

augiedoggy

I would back it off just that little bit where it will run and then use the timing gun to properly adjust.

RonnieJamesDio

Update again, I got it running at a smooth 1000 RPMs; I was just about to time it until it revved up high. I forgot to move a spark plug wire off the exhaust so the engine backfired harshly through the exhaust and the wire completely burned though. I still had my old set of wires so I replaced the burned out wire with my pre-existing wire which is still in good shape (not an A/C Delco but a Blue Streak.) Now the engine bogs down and dies at 1700 RPMs and now the passenger side header was glowing red. From what I understand that means its too lean. I'm not sure what's going on at this point; whether it be the wire I replaced or something else.

zwede

Header will glow if timing is off. I recommend you follow my procedure again for the distributor and then set the timing with a timing light and not by randomly moving it around. Also, when doing it the way I detailed I've never had the timing off by more than a few degrees. It has always been close enough to where it will run fine.

I don't understand when you say it ran at 3,000 rpm so you changed the timing? You adjust idle speed with the carb idle speed adjustment, not timing.

RonnieJamesDio

I technically didn't "adjust" the timing, I turned the cap a little bit so that the car wasn't going to be running that high (so yes it affected the "timing"). Then I was going to use a timing light to time it accordingly. But I understand where you're coming from and will try again in the morning. When I first stabbed it in using your procedure I got the car to run and it still does, but I will reset it and try it again.

4-vettes

Turning the cap is adjusting the timing. Turn idle speed up and down with the idle screw on the carb. NOT by turning the cap a little bit. Get a timing light on it. Then turn the cap to get your timing correct.
And do yourself a HUGE favour, purchase a factory service manual!