1985 with a 350 carb motor.
This motor use to run like a champ but then collapsed a lifter. 2yrs ago I tore it apart, replaced all the lifters, re set the valve lash, and to this day I can not get this thing to run, start, sputter, nothing...

Guy that owned it 20yrs ago did the engine swap, horrible job in my opinion. So his paperwork says its a 79 year 350 motor. HOWEVER the Edlebrock Performer 2101 intake has always leaked coolant if it sat for a month or more. Now I finally got around to doing some homework and the heads have center bolt valve covers. Center bolt valve covers came out in '87... so the heads are 87 or newer. The 2101 intake is for '55-'86 so I finally understand why the bolts were always garbage trying to get them to tighten down and why they were 3 different size heads on the intake bolts. ANYWAY, back to the non start thing... I need help. Replaced the coil, plugs, wires. I've set valves the right way and I've set them 360 off "just in case". I've set the dizzy and i've set it 180 off. I took the timing cover off (to later learn its a 1 piece oil pan gasket so now i get to drop the pan before I can put the timing cover back on) to make sure the cam and crank were set right with both circles at 12 o'clock as should be. I've regapped the plugs. I've triple checked the firing order. It's got a high pressure electric fuel pump with a regulator that I've always ran at 3psi but i bumped it to 4psi to make sure i'm getting more than enough fuel to the carb jets. I've dumped gas in from the top side of the carb. I've checked for spark on all 8 plugs. WHAT AM I MISSING THAT IT WON'T RUN NOW!!

No answer is stupid, I'm taking any and all input and will do my best to reply to everyone if I've done it or what the outcome would be. I know the intake is the wrong one but it ran with this thing for 20 years so it's staying on until I can get it running, then I'll worry about changing it out. I'll also take any and all input on the correct intake since I'm confused on that too because the 2101 is for 55-86 but then I find Summit brand intakes that are for 55-95... well how can you do that if the bolt angle is different?? I know i've thrown a lot out here and a lot of rambling, but now it's your turn to ramble... WHAT AM I MISSING!!

 

Fuel, fire, and compression. Without all three of those the engine wont run. You are missing at least one if it wont even sputter. Since dumping fuel down carb wont make it run I would suspect fire (spark issue, check to make sure they are sparking), but honestly this thing has so much wrong on it and so much monkeying done that at this point its anybody's guess in an online forum. Figure out which of those 3 things you are missing.

EDIT: I just noticed you said you checked spark on all 8 plugs. Check for proper compression, maybe you set the valve lash wrong (very common).

 

i agree 100%. but even with the circus under the hood, it still ran great on the street and even at the track when we use to go. everyone keeps telling me i'm missing something but that's what I'm trying to figure out. I've got compression, and i've got spark, only thing is fuel, it's got fuel at the carb but not 100% sure it's getting to the cylinder because that's the only thing left missing IMO...

maybe I need to revisit my spark, maybe it's not enough spark? but with the new coil, new plugs, and new wires... what could be holding it back?

 

Fresh fuel I presume?

I've seen gas so stale that you could pour a puddle of it on the ground, throw a match in it, and the match would go out.

 

Check spark, put one of those little spark testers inline with one of the plug wires.

 

Fresh fuel dumped in the carb with no luck. Fuel in the tank was down to about 1/8 tank and i put fresh in up to half tank. Took a bottle worth of fuel from the pump line and it def is not stale lol.

 

I will go back to the city tomorrow and get one.

 

Nothing much to add except air and timing...
The issue with the intake, well that's just old school trying to make older intake fit on the later head. As you alluded to here's one of the intakes that I own and from the factory, yes the holes are elongated to accommodate either head. They do sell these angled/beveled spacers that correct the geometry that improves clamping and covers the gaping hole. I'm sure it'll still leak if you don't goop it up with some rtv.

 

Don't mean any offense, but did you possibly set the lash to tight on those valves or set them on the wrong stroke? They could be hanging open just a tad and you're not getting any compression. Since your issue started when you did the valve, I'd probably look there. Again, don't mean to offend your abilities but it's a simple thing to make a mistake on for anyone.

 

I agree it seems like valvetrain since it ran before and that's what was last touched. It's very easy to set the valve lash too tight. As soon as you start cranking it over, the lifters pump up and hold the valves open. I've done it. Drove me crazy trying to figure it out. I ended up backing every rocker arm off 1 turn and it fired up, then I set the valve lash with the engine running.

If you've checked for spark, made sure you're firing at TDC on #1 cylinder and wired to the right firing order, timing should be close enough for it to start. You can also try twisting the distributor a little forward and backwards while a helper cranks it over to get the timing close enough to fire.

 

 

I didn't want to leave this thread open ended... I gave in and sent the car to the shop.

Had 2 lifters that were stuck open, so my timing was right, but they weren't closing like they were suppose to so my adjustment wasn't right. Had 2 other valves that had debris stuck to the rim so they weren't seating right either. Got all that cleaned up, replaced, and put back together and she finally started. Then it needed a starter, flex plate, and a new distributor cap since the brand new decided to exit the group chat early.

She finally runs and drives, took it out for a little cruise and now i'm working on fuel/carb issues to get that set right because every time i let off the throttle to slow down the motor dies and takes FOREVER to start again. Going to bump the timing a bit and bring my idle screw up a hair too because I think i'm starving the carb at highway speed.

BUT FIRST I gotta replace the radiator since the side tank found out what the distributor did so it didn't want to tag along any more either. I've cracked radiators and seen them corrode through but even with the derby cars i've never seen a side tank explode from a radiator, that def caught my attention and made a mess of things! new 3 core radiator and dual electric fans will be here Friday. Hopefully get it back together and dialed in before Sunday for a memorial cruise.

Anyway, thank you to everyone for the input yall were spot on with things being out of time and stuck open, just took a bore scope to find it all and that's one thing i don't have!

 

If it is flooding when the throttle closes, it might be worthwhile to install a dashpot to slow the closure. Holley and its clone carbs were notorious for that, but it can happen with almost any carb. It's worse if the carb is adjusted to run masking a vacuum leak.

 

Interesting... had to google that one! I bumped the idle 1/2 a turn and advanced the timing a hair and so far I haven't had any issues tonight when I took it out. It did die on me when i got home for some reason and took a lot to get it started again, but it did start... but I had it out for about 3 hours and 100 miles of highway and small town driving around without an issue. I'll work with it more tomorrow and look into this dashpot a bit more. I'll have to get some new mounting bolts for the carb in order to put a bracket on to hold it though. As for vac leaks, I'm almost positive that I don't have one. That's not to say I'm wrong but all of the hoses are new and connections are firm everywhere.