I'm trying to get my engine started and right now it will fire about 4-6 cylinders then just continue to crank over. Then I let it sit for 5-10 minutes then try again and it will do the same thing.

Things I've checked:

Fuel pressure - with the fuel psi gauge I get about 3-4 cranking psi. Float bowls are somewhere in the site glass, but not set yet.

Timing - with the #1 cyclinder in the compression cycle I stop when the balancer timing marks are at 10* BTDC, then I have the rotor hiting the #1 post. Seems ok to me and I've double checked this 3 times, what do you think?

oil pressure - around 30 psi cranking and 50 ish when it starts to fire

2 variables:

Battery - older battery but it turns over engine and seems to read ok on the gauge in the dash. However, it ran outa juice this afternoon and I'm currently charging it.

Gas - I tried to drain as much gas as I could from the tank before firing. I've dumped in an additional 4 gallons. The gas before was about 2 years old. I was hoping the 4 new gallons would dilute the old stuff enough.

Oh yea, Its a 383, with a 750 speed demon carb, mech. sec., full MSD ignition.

Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.

thank you

 

try putting in some new plugs ,if theyre 2 yrs. old probably not firing very well.also try pouring some fresh gas in the carb. (but be very careful,pour just a little in at a time) old gas is still in the carb mostlikely.old gas doesnt burn too well.pull dist.cap and check for moisture & corrosion ,clean or replace as needed if carb has been sitting for 2 yrs. it mostlikely needs a rebuild hope this helps jimmy

 

A couple of easy things to try-Pour a little gas or spray some ether into the engine just to be sure you are getting fuel. Next I would check firing order, and then I would loosen the distributor enough so you can move it by tapping on it. Then I would try twisting around on it and see if the engine fires. If you have fuel and you have spark then it must be timing related.
Have you modified the engine recently,or has it just been sitting along time? It might help to know what happened or has changed before the car quit running.

 

Yea, I'm sorry, I should have clarified more. Its a brand new 383, well, brand new everything. When I removed the old 305, I tried to drain as much as I could from the tank. The remaining gas is about 2 years old. I'm really thinking it is the old gas causing problems.
Initially I thought it was a timing problem, but I triple checked firing order and timing in general. I'm 98% sure its not timing related.
I'm going to try draining and re-filling the fuel tomorrow.
Thanks.

 

Pull the plugs and put 2 squirts of engine oil in each hole. Sometimes you just have to make some smoke. Freshly honed cylinders and new rings won't make much compression until they break in.
You didn't say what cam is in there. You probably need to crack the throttle a good bit (1/4" cable travel) if the cam is aggressive. Once you get it running you'll probably find it wouldn't idle (or start at idle) until the carb is adjusted. My

 

Good news, bad news type report.

Good news is I got it started. Put fresh 93 right into the carb and presto. Got the fuel pressure set at 6 psi, didn't get to the float bowls when the bad news happened.

Bad news, I have a nasty shake at 1800-2000 rpm and up. timing is about 16*-20* adv. at that range and it shakes pretty bad. It runs very smooth from 1000-1800 then it starts to shake. Not really sure. I'm going to go check all the valves and re-set them.

Its 383 with a hyd. roller 236/242 @.050, mildly agressive

thanks again