My Chevy 350 in a '56 Bel Air is turning over but won’t start. I hear air coming back out of the carb. I had the distributor flipped at first, which caused a backfire, so I put it back the way it is now. Any tips on how to get it running again?
Sounds like it’s 180 degrees out or maybe too far advanced.
Devlin said:
Put your thumb over the spark plug hole and have someone bump the starter until you feel compression. Then put a small screwdriver in the hole, and turn the crank until the piston is all the way up.
Yep, that’s the method. Make sure you’re feeling compression before you turn the crank to top dead center.
Devlin said:
Put your thumb over the spark plug hole and have someone bump the starter until you feel compression. Then put a small screwdriver in the hole, and turn the crank until the piston is all the way up.
Yeah, this is one of those things that can be tricky if you’re not familiar with timing and distributors.
Sounds like the timing is still way off.
Get a timing light if you don’t have one. Use it to check the timing marks while cranking the engine. You might need to pull the distributor and move the rotor by one tooth if it’s way off.
I always end up installing the distributor cap 180 degrees out somehow.
Make sure you find TDC on cylinder number one. The distributor rotor should be pointing at the number one wire.
Your timing is probably way off.
Keep adjusting the distributor a little at a time until you get it right.
Just a heads up, I’ve had a lot of bad luck with new distributors lately. A lot of the new HEI distributors are junk right out of the box.
Make sure you got the firing order right - 18436572.
Be careful, you might blow your exhaust out if the timing is off. Happened to me once when I was younger.
Eliot said:
Be careful, you might blow your exhaust out if the timing is off. Happened to me once when I was younger.
Same here! I blew the exhaust manifold off my old Chevy. Timing mistakes can be rough.
@Ben
Haha, yeah, it’s always a scare. One time I blew both mufflers off and peeled them open like a firecracker. It was a crazy experience.
Eliot said:
@Ben
Haha, yeah, it’s always a scare. One time I blew both mufflers off and peeled them open like a firecracker. It was a crazy experience.
Had a similar experience. Used JB Weld on mine and it ended up exploding right off and hit my friend in the chest. Not fun.
Sounds like it’s 180 degrees out. Pull the #1 plug, turn the engine by hand till you feel air from the hole. Line up the timing marks and check the rotor position. Firing order should be 18436572.
I can feel your frustration through the screen!
Did you make sure to mark the plug wires? You could have swapped them without realizing.
You’re probably way off on timing. Make sure you watch a few videos on timing distributors. It helps a lot.