OK here's the deal. I have an 83 Z28. I was having problems with my wipers and my bright lights and a loose tilt so I got a steering column from a junk yard and put it in. At the same time I took out my distributor to move some of the wires that were behind it because they guy who had the car before me had them all jacked up looking. Anyway now my car will not start. I have fiddled with the timing for three days. Let me see if I was doing it right.
I made sure I was on the compression stroke. Lined my timing mark at zero and pointed my distributor to #1. Tried turing the distributor 180..nothing. So then I tried it the old fashioned way and just kept turning until I felt the number one was up. nothing...
I had the distributor tested. Now its an older one with vaccumn advance. The pick up coil is good so is the module. I put on a new cap and rotor( Yes I checked the firing order). Now as far as the column goes is there anything like saw a wire that ran down the length of the column that im not sure what it was for? could be stopping it from starting? It is getting fire. The wire is small only about two wires width and it looked like it plugged into a spot so I plugged it in... Or Is there anyother tricks for setting the timing?
My car has been laid up for a week I need some ideas...

 

Comrade,

What car was the steering column from (model/year)? There were some wiring differences across the years, so even though the column would physically fit, it may not be plug-compatible.

 

Its from an 82 Z and The wire I was wondering about is in the right place by the way also I am POSITIVE I am on TDC now. Could it be a ground problem? Is there a way to check the grounding?

 

Ok I got it to start finally, it was the timing it just took some folling around to get it right. Of course now the wipers won't work so I bought a new wiper motor and pump and click click is all I get.