Ok guys...I'm stumped. Been working on the TA for a while and just put on new intake. Here's the fun part:


Retard the timing (and I'm talking a lot...almost 1/8 of a turn on the distributor) and the car starts just fine...no power.

Screw in the idle screw all the way to make it run without feathering the throttle

Slowly turn the distributor back and the RPMs will rise...back off idle screw to keep RPMs down.

Continue to do so until knocking starts. Rotate the distributor back until knocking goes away.

Now, it should be at optimum timing. Car absolutely flies.

Turn off car and try to restart. Never starts and backfires. Rotate the distributor past TDC and car fires up, but no power again and start the process all over.

Why won't it start after I adjust the timing?

 

I would recheck my TDC again - make sure I'm on the compression stroke. Recheck firing order. And spend the $25 on a timing light. On my 350carb swap, I made sure of TDC, set #1 plug wire to rotor, and she cranked right up 1st lick. Wasn't pretty, but it cranked, then I adjusted timing til she ran good - this was about 6* BTDC. Later, I had to advance to about 11* BTDC and reduce idle on carb, in an effort to get more vacuum for the brake booster (which worked, and improved my brakes tremendously).

Lesson is, there are many "places" in timing and carb settings that a car will run - you'll need a timing light (so you have a reference point) and a vacuum guage (to set carb adjustments to optimum) in order to hit that "sweet spot". (Oh, and you'll need a 10lb. can of patience while you try different adjustments!)