Hard starting?
 

I have no idea what's going on here. I put a new motor in my 84 and ever since have had nothing but problems.. Motor is a 357 and it seems to run good but it starts terrible it never likes to start after it's been ran awhile it just turns over dead slow. I've checked the initial timing, put on a heat sheild to protect the starter from the headers and still the same problem. I thought the battery maybe the cause as the one that's in it was junk but nope and heres where i get confused. I took a brand new battery out of my daily driver and put it in the truck and it did the same thing. Put it back in my daily and it wouldn't start that either my truck had totally drained the battery. I'm stumped.

Re: Hard starting?
 

You checked the timing and it's good... Care to share?
Back off the timing and try again.

The '73 had too much timing. It actually liked running more, but more than 14* it would be slow to crank, if it caught, the starter would backlash. Trial and error to see where that would happen.

If you back off the timing and it still acts like this, (assuming the cables are new and not in question) pull the starter and get it tested.

Re: Hard starting?
 

trust me i have messed with the timing plenty backed off i have had that distributor in every possible place. it is not the timing. Besides timing would of drained a brand new battery in 20 minutes of driving.

Re: Hard starting?
 

1. test starter 2. check alt. low charge will be slow crank. 3. if they are stock calbes go to a 4? next size or two up. they where to small from factory. also check your grounds. and check them again and again. best to have the neg at the starter

Re: Hard starting?
 

Drained the new battery in 20 min of driving? Does the alternator even work?
I thought we were fighting a starting problem, maybe a charging problem?

What does the alt gauge read?

Re: Hard starting?
 

You should have the following grounds:
Battery to engine
Battery to body
Engine to body
Engine to frame
Battery to frame

The battery to engine cable should be at least 4 gauge and all the others should be a 10 or 12 gauge wire.