trying to get this no start issue figured out. I have traced it back to a no spark issue. Ok i have a lisiele spark wire test light. it is a light bulb thing that you plug inline with your sparkplug wire. when the wire gets spark the light lights up.
I put the key in and crank it. the light lights up once (only sparks once) then no more light (no more spark). crank and crank no more spark. each time i cycle the ignition i can get it to spark only once. new coil and distributor is new. supposidly new (bought used) HEI MSD vacuum secondary distributor for 5.7 sbc any ideas

 

check out the magnetic pickup under the rotor.... Had a friend with a truck that had a similar problem, changed that module and truck fired right up. I don't know how to test it, but if you search online you should be able to find a way. Is it an HEI with coil in cap or divorced coil?

 

coil in cap

 

i would def look at the pickup. Search on this site, or your favorite site on how to check the magnetic pickup. If the dist. is really new it would be really strange that this is bad. Check the wire going into the dist to make sure that it has power while the key is on. This should be a 10 gauge wire if my memory serves me right. make sure that the coil is seated right in the cap, and make sure you have your distributor wired correctly and installed at TDC on the #1 piston on the compression stroke.

 

Check the coil ground.

 

Check all distributor connections, make sure that they are clean.