This may be a bit of a long read. Please be patient as any advice is helpful to me and very appreciated.

I traded a junker for this Camaro, and it actually has less problems than what I got rid of. It will not start and hasn't for two years. It sat in a friend's garage after he did a head gasket change. Once he put it all back together it fired up and idled but backfired out the carburetor. He gave up on it and we made a trade for it.

Currently, the engine does not run. Here is what I've done so far:

Fuel system
By either rocking the accelerator pump or pouring fuel into the carburetor it will fire up and die after a few seconds. Continuing to pour fuel as it tries to run doesn't help, it still dies. That rules out fuel delivery as far as I can tell. Fuel pump is operating at about 3.5-4.5 PSI, which is within spec. I rebuilt the carb and replaced the fuel filter with no luck.

Ignition system
Because it was backfiring I checked the firing order, it was good. Set the #1 cylinder to TDC and ensured the rotor was at the #1 spark wire. Advancing and retarding the timing at the distributor does not allow it to run any longer.

New plugs and wires were installed, they looked old. Cap and rotor look brand new, no carbon or anything in the cap. A new coil was put in when the head gaskets were done. I think the module is fine but who knows.

Electrical system
To crank the engine I'm using a red top Optima. I only run it to 50% charge before I recharge it. I always charge it at 2 amps until fully charged. A new ground cable is in it, new ground strap (old one was frayed, I almost thought this was the problem,) and I have a new positive cable ready to put in.

Mechanical stuff
Some people have disagreed with me so far, but I'm wondering if the valve lash is set too tight. It might be what is causing the backfiring although after I set the distributor I haven't noticed any backfiring but it does only run for a few seconds. But I think it may also be the reason on why it doesn't stay running. It might have enough compression to fire up but not enough to stay running.

I've been too busy to run a compression test or to set the valve lash lately. But I plan on doing that today or tomorrow.

Any further advice would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

back fireing out of the carb is a good sign of a bad timing problem..cylenders fireing with the intake valves open.. not good .. broken cam gear on the cam or timing chain is busted.. or the timing is just off id fix that before u try any thing else.. unfortunatly its a pita..

 

I should have mentioned that the timing gears have not been touched since before the last time it ran normally. So all the timing is at the distributor right now. Fully retarded and fully advanced doesn't fix the backfiring.

This is why I think it might be valve lash. Intake valves are definitely open. Maybe not by much, but they're open at combustion.

 

setting the lash means u gotta pull the valve covers..job in its self.. im still thinking is a broken timing chain or it skipped a tooth 2.8's are bad about the chain gides going bad.. id hate to see u set the valve lash and still have the same problem. if the valve lash is set tight the valves would be shut .. not open..