dallasite21

Just installed an HEI and cannot get the car to fire up. My battery is fully charged and all of my voltge readings are good. When I took the old distributor out I marked it and I dropped the new one in close enought thast it should have fired up. Not only will it not fire up but my carb is backfiring. I attached a video and the link t the video of an attempted start. I know that a backfiring carb could mean a couple of differentthings. Im hoping that someone could look and listen to what its doing and point me in the right direction. It acts like it is getting no spart at all. By the way, what do you do with the old wires that used to be hooked to the old coil? The new coil is self contained on top of the distributor. It is a Pro Comp PC-7000 by the way. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SD1RT57XH0

leadfoot067

sounds like its a couple teeth off...and possible the firing order isnt correct..18436572... if you drop the new dist in with the rotor close to the old one, i think you did. you also need to make sure number 1 plug wire is in the same position as the old ones.like if #1 was at the 4-5 oclock position(with 12 being strait back at the firewall6 forward towards the rad)on the old cap it needs to be in that same location on the new cap...

dallasite21

Thanks for the advice... I though I could be a couple of teeth off, but couldnt that be overcome by simply twisting the distributor left or right... I tried that and still couldnt get itto fire up. I have the firing order correct too. As far as the number one pin in the distributor being in the same position as it was on the old distributor, I have set it that way.

hamm36

Is that the same car I seen for sale in the Dallas area on Craigslist?

dallasite21

Yes... I bought it back in June in Rockwall...

Eightupman

its 180 deg off.

John

Yellowstatue

The HEI distributors usually have the wires attatched 180* opposite to standard distributor better layout of wires...

dallasite21

I only had about 5 minutes this morning, so I ran out real quick and changed my #1 wire to where the #6 was and re-wired the rest accordingly. It didnt start but it got much closer. It turned over faster and was almost running. I twisted the distributor left then right and it didnt start, but I feel that im so close that a little manuevering this evening and I should get it fired up. I am going to set it to TDC just to make sure my rotor is pointing to my new #1 which is wher #6 used to be... I think that will get me going. Hopefully!!!!!!!

dallasite21

I looked at an old picture of my original distributor, and it looked like it was set in a different firing order... does 1-2-7-5-6-3-4-8 mean anything to anyone. I looked an an old picture and traced the wires back to the plugs and this is what the firing order came out to based on the picture. Why would this firing order work if its supposed to be 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.. I have attached the picture as well.

bcracing

Double check it again. Oldsmobile rotates in a counterclock wise direction. Chevys rotate in a clockwise direction. I almost made that mistake myself when I first got my Olds, after working on chevys for years

gearheads78

Did you make sure you are on the compression stroke? Have someone bump it over while you have a finger on the #1 plug hole. When you feel pressure you are on the compression stroke.

dallasite21

I think you may have just solved my problem.... I have the distributor set in a clockwise order. If it turns counter clockwise then I need to go the other direction correct? Is this how my plugs should be hooked to the cap? 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 going counter clock wise?

joe_padavano

Yes, that's correct.

71 Cutlass

Dallasite..Where are you located? I live fairly close and may stop by if you simply cannot get things going. Also, do you own a timing light? You will need one.

59-59-59

Did you take out the resistor or resistor wire? HEI needs a full 12V

Mongoose

bcracing beat me to the solution. As I read through I had a feeling the firing order was run the wrong way around the cap.

I grew up an Olds guy... my first car was a '68 442, so to me all firing orders went counter-clockwise. In the 80's I helped a guy I worked with rebuild a vega drag car... full cage running a small block bow tie. I dropped the distributer in and wired it up... we were blowing flames out of the carb a good 2 feet. He was freaking out.... and I was like wtf... everything should be right. Half hour later of moving it a couple teeth... spinning it 180 degrees... etc... I was like "DING"... I said, "Oh that's right! Chebby firing order goes the wrong way!"

dallasite21

I actually got i started and timed and everything.. Turns out that I had it wired clockwise.... Thanks to all for the help.