Well I tried to fire it up about 15 minutes ago and nothing....if I cranked it long enough it would eventually run at about the same speed as if it were cranking, but only if I kept the gas floored.
Anyone have any ideas why? The only thing I can think of is that when I had the motor tilted back to take my tranny out for my rear main seal leak the ignition module on the back of the distributer hit the firewall, but ony enough to crack some of the plastic where the connector goes into it.
I'm really stumped for ideas here.

 

Not quite sure what the question is... Did you replace your head gasket? Then where does the work on the rear main seal and removing the tranny come in? Didn't you remove your HEI when you removed the head? Do you think maybe you put it back in wrong? Certainly you would have taken a look at it and replaced the cap if that was FUBAR... right? If it was your ignition module (typically located under the rotor), then your car would not run at all. Or do you mean your coil on top of the HEI? I'd make sure you didn't put the HEI in a few teeth off first...

 

Sounds to me like the distributor is in wrong.

 

Some more details would be nice. But it sounds like the distributor is off a few teeth. Either that or your timing is horribly off.

 

Ok here's the deal ...I had a head gasket leak and a rear main seal leak so that's where ther tranny being out comes from. I have the HEI with the seperate ignition coil...my car is an 89. When I removed the distributer I marked the location of the housing against the intake and the position of the rotor. It should be nearly perfect to how it was before. I will check it tomorrow, but I'm almost certain it is atleast close. If anything it could be like 1 tooth or maybe 2.....would this cause it to not run at all?

 

I usually get bit in the a## when I've missed something simple like a misconnected wire.

I always seem to get my dist in 180 out but it always tries to fire (or backfire that is). LOL

A few teeth off should not prevent firing

 

give the dist. a crank to advance it and see what happens. When i put my 454 in, i thought i had everything lined up, it was a bitch to start, and when it did it would idle at like 300 rpm with the pedal to the floor then stall out. Give it a try, nice and easy.

 

I'm thinking timing too, but I don't see how it could be that far off. I marked where the distributer body met the intake manifold. Then I marked the position of the rotor when the distributer was in as well as when I pulled it up. I just don't get it! This should prevent me from being 180 out shouldn't it?

 

I had the same problem when I replaced my intake gasket. I also marked the dist, rotor and intake so I could get the dist back in right. I was sure I had the timing right so that was the last thing I checked. Guess what, it was the timing. I would double check the timing...

 

Hmmm... just making sure... you didn't crank the engine over while you had the distributor out did ya? I would just find tdc for cylinder 1 and start the whole timing thing over again... assuming you do have spark, maybe you forgot one of the connectors or did damage something when the distributor hit the firewall. Are you sure you put the wires on the cap in the right order? BTW... Biochem, what does FUBAR mean? (only thing I can think of-- f*cked up beyong a____ repair? I'm at a loss here lol.)

:lala:

 

you did line the marks up AFTER the distributor was against the intake right? if you lined it up before you dropped it in, it will be off as the distributor will turn once it's gear meshes with the cam gear. Just a thought.

 

I fixed it!! Thanks guys. Here's what happened I think. The timing ended up being off. I think that when I hit the firewall with the distributer there was enough pressure to rotate it slightly and throw my timing off. It's all good now. I just have to adjust my valves and throw the valve covers back on.
Thanks again for all your help.