I should be smart enough to figure this out on my own. After re-stabbing the distributor about six times I still can't get the 307 started. You guys helped me rebuild the engine a couple of years ago so I know there is a wealth of knowledge here on the forum. A quick background: The engine had run well the last few months. I even run the skeleton of a car down the highway a hundred yards or so. I had to do some work on the firewall so I took the distributor out to get to where I needed. I put some marks on it and the block to make sure I could reinstall it correctly. I screwed up by not also taking pictures. I got the distributor reinstalled, primed the engine with gas and turned it over. Back firing up through the carburetor and other pops. Tried it again and still the same thing. I was putting my thumb into #1 spark plug hole and turn it over until the rush of air. It was on TDC. Set the rotor to point to spark plug #1. I am thinking that should do it. Nope!! In desperation I set the rotor to point away from #1 180 degrees. Nope!! I reset it with TDC and pointing to #1. I primed a little more and turned it over. A couple of soft pops and then a boom about the sound of a shotgun going off. Scared me so I thought I'd stop for the night and run this by you guys. I am thinking about re-stabbing the distributor and turn it one tooth at a time each way and maybe luck upon the correct setting.
Thank you guys!!
Charlie D.

 

Charlie, Great to see you back,

Does the distributor turn? Sorry to ask but, is there any chance the rotor was left out? Remove the rotor and confirm that the square pin underneath is going into the square hole in the distributor shaft. Also look under the rotor for burn through, Were the plug wires removed and reinstalled individually? Is there twelve volts to the distributor while cranking?

 

I wouldn't kiss her until the third date.

 

Just to confirm the basics: is the number 1 plug wire over the contact the rotor is pointed to while at TDC?
Then, there's the it's-an-Olds-so-firing-order-goes-CCW thing......

 

Is this a mechanical carburetor or the stock computer assisted one? If you did change out the carbuetor, did you also change the distributor? The computer on the carburetor controls spark advance on the stock distributor, unlike the purely mechanical carburetors.

 

I replaced both the carburetor and distributor with non-computer ones. The distributor does turn counter clockwise. I did some research and instead of priming the engine by pouring gas into the carburetor I am going to fill up the float bowl with a syringe. I may have had too much gas in the intake manifold which the research says could create a back fire on either the intake valve (back up through the carburetor) or exhaust valve (back through the exhaust pipe).
If things go right I am going to try to upload a picture of the project after the '55 Studebaker body was taken off the rotisserie and set down on the chassis. This was taken about 10 months ago and not much more has been done since then.
Charlie D.
P.S. First Date!! Timing set at full advance!!

 

Just pumping the gas pedal 3 times should be enough if there's fuel in the lines. If there's no gas in the lines you might need to do that a couple of times, but eventually it will. If you're putting gas in manually just remember the fuel bowl on the Quadrajet isn't that big, it doesn't take much to flood it.