Ok here's the skinny,
I have an 84 Z28 carb. Got rid of the quad and put a holley on. With the stock distributor car was hard to start, had to press accel. pedal 3/4 of the way and it would fire up. It would shut off right away if i didnt keep up the rp's. A lot of folks tell me it had carb issues, so i went out rebuilt the carb it has 54 jets and 6.5 p-valve. I was also told the problem lied within the distributor. SO, i buy a new HEI Mallory distributor w/v-advance, install it and car is a no-start at all. Backfires too. So, i pulled it out again found TDC put it back in, no luck, same prob. This time I only take the cap off and rotate the rotor 180*, put'er back together, still nothing! WTF is going on here? I need some advice please. Any help is appreciated. If i cant figure this out myself she's going to the shop. And i dont want to do that......yet.

 

Bump, I really hope someone chimes in....

 

Several problems here.

One, you say you "got rid of the quad". Attitude problem. You just took off the best street performance carb available anywhere at any price.

Second, you just took off the best street performance carb available at any price.

Third, the Holley does need a different distributor. The stock one, which is part of the best street performance carb system available, does not work properly with a Holley. You must not have gotten something back together properly when you put in the Mallory. Double check everything.

Or, better yet, put the q-jet back on. It is, after all, the best street performance carb system available anywhere at any price.

What intake do you have? What Holley did you put on? A standard square-bore Holley won't bolt to a stock intake manifold.

 

Its a 600 cfm holley and i did add the adapter plate. The q-jet had major issues...before i purchased the car it was sitting in the guys front yard for 7 years, there was a lot of deposit build up and the throttle plates were all bent to hell and the choke was inopperable. Plus my buddy sold me his holley for $125 once used. And its the stock intake.

 

I'm sayin you need to very carefuly reinstall the distributor. It's very easy to get it a tooth or two off and create a run problem. The rotor contact should point right at cylinder #1 when it's in right and you should be able to time it with no interuption to the advance can (hitting the calve cover or engine brackets...I don't know how to say this...)

You might try closing the choke to check for lean jetting, or check for vacume leaks.

 

Sounds like you had spark the first time you put the distributor in, but not the second. Double check your electrical connections.

Also double check your firing order.

 

Ok so today my buddy and i tag-teamd this issue. I bought intake gaskets and valve cover gaskets and replaced them while the distributor was out for the 4th time, but thats beside the point. So we got the distributor in and after 5 min of cranking she finally fired up...BUT.... now when ever i go to floor it, it boggs out. We messed with the timing from the distributor end and got it the best we could. Maybe its the fact that this car was sitting in this guys front yard for 6 years and stale gas my be a factor? What do you guys think given the info i have provided. Again... any info given will be greatly appreciated, and thanks for the current info..obviously it worked.

 

Fresh gas will help. Gas gets stale quick and a tank sitting for an extended time will develop moisture (water) inside.