baracis

My brother in law is having issues with his 350. After taking the intake manifold off, cleaning it out (ports, etc) removing the lifters, putting them back on, replacing the manifold, and putting the carb back on we just can't get this thing right.

The intake manifold was gasket matched and polished, the lifters were re-installed but could possibly be too tight, no gasket leaks anywere, but the damn thing won't start up and keeps back firing. The distributor was removed, TDC was found, plug wires ran appropriately, but still fire out of the carb.

My leave ran out and I had to report back to Florida. He's stuck in Indiana with a car that he can't fix. Nothing bottom end was touched on the car (pistons, crank, etc). What do you guys think it could be?

old dog

i suspect it's some thing simple ,go back to the start and trace your steps . correct distributor install .check the wires for placement get it running enough to set the lifter's and the timing,check vacuum hoses .there should be a static setting for they lifters to be able to run it depending on the year and camshaft .

baracis

He swapped out distributors just to be sure that wasn't the issue, and has redone the timing MANY times to ensure it's correct. The plug wires have been traced and retraced. I had him check the vacuum lines night, they are brand new and have no cracks in them and are ran properly (according to him, i wasn't able to find a diagram for a '69 to '79 350). He's readjusted the rockers correctly and the thing still isn't running...we're lost!

maxxman04

could distributor be 180 degrees off? very common error.

baracis

We checked into that and the rotor is pointing at the #1 cylinder and we've redone it several times. I'm racking my brain on this and I've got nothing.

maxxman04

rotor points to number, ok, but on the firing or compression stroke? makes the difference between running or not.

old dog

like maxman said #1 top dead center compression .pull the # 1 plug watch the timing mark put your finger over the plug hole ,have some one roll it over easy till it puff's out the hole past your finger see if is close if not it's ut 180 or a couple teeth .

baracis

Yep, we've done that as well. Then as a test swapped the distributor 180 degrees. It still backfires flames. Could it be a carb issue at all? Or a cracked spark plug or something?

maxxman04

backfiring usually is a timing or valve issue. have you run a compression test? i would right away. this could tell alot. also, i'm sure you have the firing order right, but it should be 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, number 1 being on drivers side.

baracis

Yes sir. Going to look up some more info on timing and do my best to walk him through it over the phone. I appreciate all the help. Thanks!