i got an 86 camaro from a kid who was tired of F'n With it (its a t-top, but i donno if its a z28?). it wouldnt start, or stay running for more than a second or 2, i replaced the plugs, wires distributor, coil, dist roter, fuel filter, PCV, and air filter, and rebuilt Carburetor (first time by my self, or at all in 10 yrs).

it gets fuel in the carb when i pump the peddle so i dont think its that (fuel pump), i also put plenty of gas in the tank just in case. i was told it may be the timing, so on the advice of another mechanic i took #1 plug out and slowly cranked the engine until i got #1 cylender at or near the top. i looked at the timing line/noch it was at the top, and the roter was pointed at #1 plug wire, but i didnt notice if it was possioned right (need to check in the morning) anyways after that i started it without putting the plug back in (oops) and it seemed to run a little better aside from the gasping noise comming from the plug.

there are a few vacuum lines that are not connected to anything and i cannot figure out where they go, even with a vacuum diagram. there is one that looks like a PCV in the back of the carb and infrount of the dist that has a long hose and is not connected, the 'front vacuum break assy' is connected to the carb via a T but the other side of the T is not connected to anything. there is a part/valve that has 4 hose connections comming out of it at the front of the engine 3 of them are connected but the top one is broken and i cannot figgure out what hose was there. there is also a hose connected to a sensor but nothing else

what is the mostlikely / cheepest thing (lol) i can do to get it working? is it the timing chain? timing adjustment? could i have rotated the roter when i replaced the timing roter?

 

I Rented a Compression tester, and if i understand right i take out all plugs, put in the compressions tester and hopfully get 110+ PSI and check each plug that way. if not then its the valves or rings?... we shall see.

 

i tryed to do the compression test but didnt do it right so i have to try it again tomorrow. i think i have Good compression in 1 and 3 obut didnt get to the rest because the tool i have is hard to use in the small gaps and i ran out of time with the rest of the work i had to do today. i will post more and plus pics tomorrow. im sure i have a vacuum problem but have had no luck on getting that right, after this i will have a better idea of how to proceed.

 

i got a diffrent compression tester from Harbor Freight, i tested cyl 1-7 (pressure from 155 to 175, most at 165is) but didnt have enough juice left in the jump box to test #8. when i finally got to test #8 i got a pressure of about 150 ish but instead of taking 5 - 7 revolutions to get to full pressure it took 15+. i put the tool back on cyl 4 and it also took 15+ revolutions but also had good pressure. now that the tool has tryed out and the air has warmed up im going to try it again, also i suspect that i may have cut off the air, intake, when i placed the air filter housing ontop lazyily.
i tryed before plugging up all of the vac hoses but that didnt seem to help when i tryed to start it.
another mechanic said it might be a jumpped timing chain.

 

compression sounds about right. they should all be within 10-15lbs of each other. I would stick with the timing/ distributor position. I dont know much about the jumped chain but i would think it wouldnt run at all and just make random popping