Ok i just bought an accel non cc hei distributer and put my other coil in it and hooked it up. I lined up the rotor where the #2 cylinder terminal was going to be like the way it came out and tried to fire it got nothing. Gas was spraying a little bit out of the carb so i turned the distributer clockwise and then the volts would jump from 12 to 8 back and forth and there was alot of power drain so i turned it back and just spit out the carb. So i pulled a plug and watched it while i turned the engine over and there was no spark so i check another and no spark. They plugs are kinda oil covered and smelled gassy but they worked fine with the other distributer. I checked the rotor metal contact and it had a little black by it where it gets power from the coil. so im thinking its the plugs but they worked fine with the other distributer so is it the timing? I tried turning the distributer clockwise and counter clockwise but either way got nothing. So im stumped and pretty pissed so i really need some help.

 

Did you hold the spark plug on a metal part of the engine whilst you cranked? The plug won't spark unless the spark can get to earth, so you must do this to establish whether the plugs are shot or not.

If you do that (after cleaning the black deposits off) and get a spark, then it could be your timing. The best thing to do is set it from scratch. Bring the engine to #1 TDC and then point the rotor arm at the #1 position on the cap. That should get you running so you can set the timing accurately.

Also, check and double check you have the leads in the right positions. Many amatures and professionals alike have made that mistake.

Si

 

The spark plug was sitting on my air cleaner but not touching it. About bringing the engine to tdc i was thinking that but i cant turn it by hand and has to be cranked and also how would i know its at tdc?

 

pull no1 plug out, put your finger over the hole, have someone bump the motor over, whenthe compr. forces it off the whole its AROUND tdc, also you need it to be on the intake stroke i beleive, you can also pull the valve cover an crank until you see the no1 intake rocker start to open, or you could bring the timing marker to 0.

 

What he said, except that when #1 piston is at TDC both valves will be closed, because the spark plug fires at the end of the compression stroke. The exhaust valve on #6 will be closing when you approach #1 TDC, and when you go past it the intake on #6 will begin to open. #6 is the third one back on the passenger side head.

The air filter would likely not be a suitable earth for the plug to spark. Try holding it with the electrode touching the exhaust manifold (or better still, a milimeter away). You may need to get someone else to crank the motor, unless you have a remote starter or inspector gadget arms.

Si

 

yup, hes dead on, i was just havin brain fade on the valves sorry, ive been tryin to find a short on the girls car all day, sorta frazzledindahed

 

I GOT IT STARTED!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't get the motor where i needed it to be at tdc so i just kept moving the spark plug wires one spot clockwise till it started moved the distributer around a little. Now my car runs great and have amazing throttle response. only problem now is the vacuum advance port is hitting the firewall and theres not enough room to run a vacuum line so i dont know what im going to do about that? and i get the vacuum from the carb port that has vacuum under load right?

 

If you move the spark plug wires around one position, you can rotate the distributor the same distance and the wires will be in the same position they were before, so you can move that port away from the firewall that way.