What exactly do I have to do?

[Chevelle454]

I am still having some problems getting my 350 running. I think it either has to be the points ignition way out of whack or my valve timing is off. What do I have to do to set valve timing? Don't you just pull the timing cover off , put the #1 cylinder at top dead center, then make sure the dots are lined up? I have an aftermarket Crane Cam if it matters....

Thanks in advance, hope to get it running this weekend...

[rage'nrat638]

get someone to turn over the engine for you......
pull out number 1 plug....first in front on drivers side.......

have them click it over till your finger blows out of plug hole.....clicking slowly till balancer is lined up with the tdc timing tab......both mark's alined
hei......rotor should point to #1 cyl....vac. advance should be in middle of adjustment.....

points....rotor should point to number 1 on cap....or 2 tower from left of hold down screw on cap.....

if not ......repair.......

just looked you got points....pull cap make sure cond.wire is hooked....points are good gap.@ .019 to start.....

after that.....install old plug in a wire and ground....turn over to look for spark......

look down carb....rotate linkage....check that you see gas ....

good luck....

[Chevelle454]

Thanks, but what about the valve timing?

[cdowns]

like RAGEN said the first 2things to make sure of are gas and spark the valve timing really wouldn't be an issue unless it was improperly assembled or your timing chain broke or streached and skipped teeth

[ddsmith]

Your asking about timing chain setup from what I'm reading. The crank get rotated to TDC. Then I would pull the drivers side valve cover to look at the #1 cylinder rocker arms. If they are both shut then your timing should be right. You can rotate the engine and watch the valve move through there normal motion to verify it's right. I did have a friend once who installed the cam timing gear 180 degrees out because it looked correct that way. From my quickly fading memory on big blocks the dots get lined up but I thought small blocks the crank dot comes to the top and the cam arrow is also on the top. I'm not sure about that because I haven't had a small block apart for a long time. I'm sure the guys who routinely rip apart engines will help out. In any case if you do what I said in the top part you'll find it is correct or wrong by the valve motion. If no marks existed this would be how you would set it up unless you were into the degreeing a cam thing.

[MylilBowTie]

Are you thinking about valve lash?

[Chevelle454]

Update:

I had the ignition timing off by 180 degrees, I think...

I aligned the 0 degree mark on the timing tab with the mark on the balancer, pulled out the #1 plug to make sure that it is at top dead center, and looked at the rotor. It was pointing the opposite direction than what it should have been. I pulled the distributer out and dropped it back in the right way.

I tried starting it, and I get nothing. The motor turns over, and every second revolution gas sprays everywhere out the top of the carb. Kind of like a valve is open and all the compression is going out of the intake, shooting gas out through the air cleaner.

Another thing is the points distributer. How close do the points have to be set for it to fire? Will it still run if they are way off? I don't think that they are set anywhere near where they need to be.

I'm not working on an old junkyard motor here, everything is new. The whole bottom end was redone (bearings, turned crank, Crane cam, Cloyes double roller, hypereutectic pistons, moly rings, bored .030 over). I have heads that worked on the last engine they were on 6 months ago. The intake is a Edelbrock Performer series. The carb is new also, Edelbrock Performer. All plugs and wires, coil, points, cap, rotor are all new, all Fel-Pro gaskets were used.

Like I said, all I am getting is just gas shooting up throught the carb and an occasional backfire or firing. This is really frustrating after all the time and money put into it...there isn't anything else to buy for it that could be worn out!

[cduster]

I normally set points at about a matchbook cover. When you pull it up on #1tdc, make sure it is on compression, not exhaust. then set in the dist. Also, are the plug wires on the cap right? I have seen people have the right firing order, but wrong direction of rotation. Just somethings to toss out for you to check.

Dan

[Gordo]

When the timing marks are lined up between the crank gear and cam gear for chain installation, it's firing on # 6 at that point.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by ddsmith

I did have a friend once who installed the cam timing gear 180 degrees out because it looked correct that way.

It's impossible to install them 180 out.

[OhioDan]

Bring crank to TDC for #1 cyl. Timing marks on crank and cam gears should be one over the other Like ( : ). Check #1 cyl. valves to make sure they are both closed. Set dist. back in so rotor points to #1 cyl. At this time, you should be rough timed. Set points to 18-22 thou. Sound like from what you described, that right now you have your dist. 180 out of time? Try and start. When it does, turn dist. to run and let it warmup some. Connect your timing light and set timing. Not sure what that is for your application? Hope this helps?

[Brainchild]

Originally Posted by rage'nrat638

get someone to turn over the engine for you......
pull out number 1 plug....first in front on drivers side.......

have them click it over till your finger blows out of plug hole.....clicking slowly till balancer is lined up with the tdc timing tab......both mark's alined
hei......rotor should point to #1 cyl....vac. advance should be in middle of adjustment.....

points....rotor should point to number 1 on cap....or 2 tower from left of hold down screw on cap.....

if not ......repair.......

just looked you got points....pull cap make sure cond.wire is hooked....points are good gap.@ .019 to start.....

after that.....install old plug in a wire and ground....turn over to look for spark......

look down carb....rotate linkage....check that you see gas ....

good luck....

This is a good place to start,or check again.Souinds like you just need to pull the dist,and turn it half way around and drop it back in and see what happens.

[Chevelle454]

Thanks for the help, guys. I should get a chance to go over and work on it in a couple days. We'll see what happens. Thanks again...