Im new to the boards and need some help. I just bought a 1982 camaro, base model with the 305 v8 4barrel carb. as far as i can tell everything on the car is stock and it bad condition so i knew i would need to replace almost everything. today i changed the belts on the car and checked it over to see what else would need to be changed. put everything back and started it to see let the belts set and to check if they where too lose and then turned the car off. let it sit for an hour while i read the camaro book. then when i went to start the car it would crank but no go. i asked at the local store and they said that if it was cranking over then it wasnt the starter, i tried to jump it and that didnt work, i was told that left the plugs, wires, distribitar (sp?) or fuel lines, fuel pump.
any ideas on what might be causing it to not start?
btw when i tried to start it again i heard a little pop and then nothing. have no idea what the sound was but i hadnt heard it before.
going to take the car in tomorrow but wanted some advice so i dont have to deal witha shady mechanic.

 

B.A.L.,

You need three things to operate an engine - compression, fuel, and ignition.

You obviously have cranking. It's fairly easy to check for ignition. Remove a spark plug wire and hold it near a good ground while an assistant cranks the engine briefly. You should see a strong blue spark that will arc at least ¼". If you have good spark, check the timing of the spark.

It's also fairly easy to check for fuel with a carbed engine. Remove the air cleaner, operate the throttle while looking down the carburetor. You should see two solid streams of fuel being sprayed from the accellerator pump discharge nozzles. If the fuel is present, the engine should start if everything is timed correctly.

since you are experiencing a "pop", you may have a timing problem with either the ignition of the valves.

 

zero compression, the shop its at wont touch it now, i knew everything needed replacing but i wanted to wait on the darn engine till i was back in cali with my auto shop. so now i need to know if i should have them rebuild it or get one thats allready been rebuilt by a shop. any ideas on this?