Trouble shoot 1950 8Ba initial start up Help

Can you hook your timing light on #1 and turn Dist. Until you see a spark. This should tell you it's timing is good or 180 off.
 
ok just bumped it until i saw spark ...pulled the cap and its on #1. Also eyeballed the pulley dot when the finger pushed off and it was 2" before the pointer and the rotor is at the plug before #1 (not sure that even matters)?
 
anyone else before i tear in to the engine? I hope i screwed up the timing marks cause thats where i am headed first and then on to valve adjustment
 
Another thing to consider, in addition to those ideas already mentioned, is the primary resistance in the coil. This is assuming that you have retained the original 6 volt system. The coils sold by most suppliers are incorrect for this application having a primary resistance of 3.5-4.0 ohms instead of the correct 1.5 ohms. I had a very similar experience when attempting to start my completely rebuilt 8ba v8. The spark was present, but weaker than necessary for ignition. After changing to an Echlin IC-7 coil, which has the 1.5 ohm primary resistance, the engine fired on the first turn of the key. Just a thought.
 

Attachments

  • Coil Testing.jpg
    Coil Testing.jpg
    63.8 KB · Views: 21
Bustingear said:
Just took another shot at it.
1. Inspected distributor and it is the one with the extend portion after the gear and looked down in the timing housing and it has the proper guide for that Distributor
/QUOTE]
Then it appears that you are using a stock distributor.
If that is so, what are you using for the vacuum source?

The stock set up uses a carburetor port for proper timing.
Click to expand...
 
Piston can be at the top and be on the completion of the exhaust stroke.....
Two revolutions of the crank to complete the four strokes....
Intake....compression One revolution
Power.....exhaust Second revolution
Timing mark and pointer line up twice in a full cycle
 
51 MERC-CT said:
Bustingear said:
Just took another shot at it.
1. Inspected distributor and it is the one with the extend portion after the gear and looked down in the timing housing and it has the proper guide for that Distributor
/QUOTE]
Then it appears that you are using a stock distributor.
If that is so, what are you using for the vacuum source?

The stock set up uses a carburetor port for proper timing.
Click to expand...

One of the carbs has the vac port . I dont have it hooked up yet and read where it can be disengaged to set initial timing. Its just not even getting to the sputter point yet that i thought i needed to worry about it?
Click to expand...
 
Jake dalka said:
Piston can be at the top and be on the completion of the exhaust stroke.....
Two revolutions of the crank to complete the four strokes....
Intake....compression One revolution
Power.....exhaust Second revolution
Timing mark and pointer line up twice in a full cycle
Click to expand...

Of course but always needs to be said
 
Before you start taking things apart, need to check what you are doing. A compression gauge will give you a good indication if the valve clearance is anywhere near correct. If there is a spark and fuel an engine will fire, so something is way off here. You have verified you are using the #1 cylinder on the passenger side as number one? The cylinder numbering for the firing order is 1-4 on passenger side and 5-8 on the driver side. It is correct you can insert the distributor in any position you want if you move the wires in the cap around to match, but why complicate things? If you are using a stock distributor it is not going to work with the carburation you have.
 
I strongly suggest getting the distributor position and plug wires back to factory spec. I know you can get it running with them in just about any position, but if you are going to ask others for help, having them set up correctly helps everyone greatly.

Sometimes it can even make tuning impossible. I had a 327 Corvette that I could not get the advance set where I wanted it because the vacuum can hit the intake manifold, preventing it from being moved enough. I found the distributor was one tooth off and the wires had all been moved one position from where they were supposed to be. The car ran and drove OK, but was, quite frankly, a slug.

Resetting the distributor and positioning the wires properly allowed the advance to be set correctly, which woke the car up tremendously.
 
Tore into the timing cover.......lined up tdc and made sure pointer was close to pulley dot then pulled the timing cover off then saw that the slash in the cam timing gear and the dot in the crank gear were aligned. The pointer/dot and the slash/dot are both a little after which means they are aligned so strike that one off.

Really looks like things point towards valve adjustment? I mean does that vacum advance need to be hooked up to even get a sputter out of the engine??
 

Attachments

  • flat4.jpg
    flat4.jpg
    29.5 KB · Views: 101
  • flat5.jpg
    flat5.jpg
    32.6 KB · Views: 58
Last edited:
I agree with Tubman, I think your ignition timing is way off. Especially if your timing by eye appears to be 2" advanced. That is way too far off for the engine to start. Get a timing light and find out where you are, timing wise.

Al Hook
 
JSeery said:
Before you start taking things apart, need to check what you are doing. A compression gauge will give you a good indication if the valve clearance is anywhere near correct. If there is a spark and fuel an engine will fire, so something is way off here. You have verified you are using the #1 cylinder on the passenger side as number one? The cylinder numbering for the firing order is 1-4 on passenger side and 5-8 on the driver side. It is correct you can insert the distributor in any position you want if you move the wires in the cap around to match, but why complicate things? If you are using a stock distributor it is not going to work with the carburation you have.
Click to expand...

regarding the carburetion ... Thought i should be able to at least get a sputter even without the carb/dist vacum hooked up in fact i thought you were supposed to disconnect it to set initial timing?? I mean i am not even getting a pop despite ether spray
 
Bustingear said:
regarding the carburetion ... Thought i should be able to at least get a sputter even without the carb/dist vacum hooked up in fact i thought you were supposed to disconnect it to set initial timing?? I mean i am not even getting a pop despite ether spray
Click to expand...

Compression test will tell you about all you need to know about valve adjustment. If you don't have a gauge think you can borrow one from most auto parts places.
 
Car has been converted to Pertronix with the new proper coil . New wiring harness and entire car is now 12V
Going with compression test today and going to try and find tdc as if the timing gear had no slash or dot. also going to check and see if dist module eye is aligned properly as well.

Also wanted to mention that rings were replaced and are new. Cylinders were not bored but honed.
Guides and seals were replaced. valves reseated with compound by hand, cam and lifters were not replaced. Everything dropped back in original holes and positions. Did not check valve seats as they are not the adjustable type and really nothing changed. That was an assumption on my part i guess
 
Last edited:
Compression test results , done cold cause i cant get it started. Throttle open ,all plugs out
First group are dry. 2nd after oil squirt
DRY: 1-89,2-70,3-80,4-80,5-75,6-75,7-90,8-80
Oil squirt: 1-92.2-92,3-95,4-92,5-95,6-91,7-95,8-95
Rings were replaced, cylinders honed, valve guides and seals replaced , lifters and cam were not. Thoughts?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top