I've been trying to figure out whats wrong for three days. I just put in a new intake.. And got the car to run a few days ago, but it was jumpy and the exhaust was making popping noises. People have told me it was the distributor, so I checked that out. I was told different tricks and what-not, but I found that there's only one spot that the distributor fully sits down all the way, so im guessing its in the right spot? Now I went to crank it 5 mins ago, and air/fuel is shooting out my carb. I know that my wires are right, I checked them earlier. Im beginning to lose faith!

 

Can't be guessing on anything! Bring No.1 piston to TDC on compression, Make sure dizzy's rotor is pointing to No.1 plug wire, If it doesn't fully seat, turn your oil pump shaft slightly until it does. Will need a long flat screw driver. I will bet this is whats holding it up. Same thing happened to me. Recheck timing with no guessing...

 

Could be 180 out.

 

Just like everyone said in your last thread, you cant guess, you need to know exactly where the engine is (TDC=Top Dead Center) and then you can drop in your distributor. Getting it to TDC has already been explained, so I wont go into detail, if you get it set correctly, then you can go check your timing, with a timing light. And there is a thread for doing that (use the search function). Sorry if some people dont like a newbie explaining things, but I have been around cars for a little while. Learn and Teach.

 

Im gonna sound dumb, but this is my first car and i'm on my own here. Where would the oil pump shaft be?

 

Well, for like 15-20 bucks at a parts store, they sell Haynes Repair manuals and Chilton repair manuals, they are about the same price, I prefer the Chilton manual. But they are going to steer you in the right direction most of the time.

 

I'm holding the chilton manual in my hand and it doesnt go into detail with the oil pump. Lord I wish I knew to mark the distributor.. Any general direction to look? My car's sitting with the hood open.

 

Pull your Dizzy back out and look down the hole. You will see the top of a round shaft with a slot in it. Thats the oil pump shaft. It needs to be turned slightly for dizzy to seat all the way down...

 

any specific direction? or just mess with it till it sits down. Sorry for all the questions, i'd be freezin my butt off out there!

 

It engages the distributor shaft at the bottom. If you turn the distributor over, you'll see what looks like a big screwdriver bit inside of the gear. The oil pump shaft needs to line up with the distributor shaft when the distributor is dropped in.

It's usually easier to find #1 firing TDC, put the distributor in, and if the oil pump shaft doesn't line up exactly, just bump the engine over until the distributor drops into place. Put it back together, start it up, and set the timing.

However. . .

Since you had it started once, that probably isn't the problem unless you've pulled the distributor back out and moved it. Check to make sure the spark plug wires are in the proper firing order - 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. The Chiltons should show you which cylinder is which.

You may also have an intake gasket askew. Making for a big vacuum leak.

 

While we're discussing other possibilities, the vacuum line going into the back of the carb broke in the beginning. But someone told me that was for the power brakes? Could this be adding to the problem?

 

I'm sure its not helping any. A vacuum leak is a vacuum leak. Fix it and see. Need to double check and make sure your timing is right.

 

That's not another possibility, it's vital information.

Of course it's adding to the problem if it's sitting there open. Remember all those suggestions to look for a vacuum leak? It's probably the whole problem.

 

Thanks for your help everyone. one way or another i'm going to figure this out. thanks for your time.