I've been reading posts all morning about what could be the cause of this, but I still have a few questions.

I have a 63 valiant that has a newly rebuilt engine. I had a shop do the long block rebuild, and had them keep things close to stock. I put in a new oil pump, fuel pump, plugs and a pertronix kit.

When I tried to fire it up the first time, it eventually started, but ran horribly. I ran it for about 5 minutes, but it was pretty late so I shut it off to be a good neighbor. When I tried to restart it later the next day, it eventually fired, but flames would come out of the carb, and eventually I started a small fire

My question, could this be the distributor in 180 deg. off? I would check the timing, but I am scared to run it long enough to do so. Is it going to hurt the engine to keep trying to start it like this? Old fuel could also be the problem, so I'll try draining the fuel tank first.

Dave

It is possible for it to be out 180, but it probably wouldnt start if it was. My guess is either the timinig is to slow, or you have a plug wire crossed, or maybe a rocker arm to tight.


I would start it again. But loosen the distributor just enough that it will stay in place but you can still move it. When it starts, move the distributor this way & that way & see if it trys to smooth it out. You dont need a timing light really to just get it in the ball park. Set it to where it is the smoothest, and then you can go from there to see if it is still having problems.

If it doesnt help it then you may be 180 out.


Jess

If runs at all probably not 180 out. Fresh gas cant hurt. retard timing , losen valves.Carb may be flooding.

I had a thread last year where when I started mine it looked like Don Garlits in a fuelie.

It turned out I was so hell bent to get it running that even careful old me crossed some plug wires...Lets see, relying on memory now (which I did then) isn't it 1 5 3 6 2 4? I think I had them 1 5 4 6 2 3...only a slant woulda run so far off. Man did it sound good ,like a fueliie or maybe 460 cam! Flames about 10 inches out the Dutras. Talk about cool, just not sustainable.

rock
64d100

Ok, I double checked the plug order and it is correct. Now i'm working on getting rid of the old gas.

Actually, I believe that slants will indeed run 180 out, although very poorly.

Ok, I have clean gas, a charged battery and I have triple checked that the rotor was pointed towards the point for the first cylinder. Now it won't start. I had a brand new starter burn out in the first 10 seconds of cranking it. I put the old starter in and it's cranking it just fine. I've tried turning the distributer while cranking and there doesn't seem to be a change. It at least started before. Now there is nothing. I'm out of ideas.

Don't try to start it without an aircleaner on. The ari cleaner will keep you from setting your hood insulation on fire, and maybe burning down your car, garage, and house to boot. A seriously retarded timing will cause such running, as well as 180 out. If you get confused about which way the distributor turns it is very possible to set the timing at 10 degrees retarded, when you have figured it to be advanced that much. Don't ask me how I know. The hard things I can usually do OK. But it is the seemingly simple tasks that can catch me by surprose. I have goofed this one up several times.

I think there is a thread started by me two or three years ago on this forum calling for help in just such a case with the newly rebuilt slant in this car pictured below. It didn't take long to figure it out, but it helps tremendously to have a friend reviewing your logic with you. If your thinking is in error somewhere, you can repeat the same mistake over and over until an outside mind checks up on you. In this case it was my brother. He's not a car guy, but was just an extra mind going over my "facts" with me as we tried to get it to run right. He was the one who saw what I thought was advanced was in reality retarded. ACtually I was the one who felt retarded. Good luck.

Sam

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Woo Hoo!

I got it running! I took the valve cover off and slowly rotated the crank until I was at what I thought was TDC. Then I placed the distributor in the engine so that the rotor was facing #1. In this position, it wouldn't start. So after much head scratching, I figured what the heck and I rotated it one more tooth advanced. Now it tried to fire, but lots of back firing. So I rotated one more tooth the same direction and Voila! It started right up and even idled. I decided to press my luck and go one more tooth and it wouldn't start again. So I put it back. It seems to have a hick-up every second or so when at idle, but smooths out with a bit of gas.

I hooked up a timing light and I couldn't even see the mark (yes I painted it to make it clear). I'm assuming this means that Waterhouse Motors gave me a later model harmonic balancer back after "rebuilding" mine. I'm not sure how to make the correct mark now. But as I rotated the distributor advancing or retarding, I found the sweet spot, so I guess I'll just keep it there.

I even took it out for a spin around the block and it seemed to run OK, but not great. Everythings been sitting for 7 years so I guess I'm lucky it runs at all. Thanks for all your help and ideas. I'm sure I'll run into a few more questions before this becomes my new daily driver (selling the Hyundai)

Cheers

Congratulations. One way to come close to correct initial timing is to set it so a vacuum gauge reads the highest. You will not know, in your situation, what this timing is, but it will be good. It is safe to assume it will be somewhere around 6-10 degrees BTDC. YOu could then mark your harmonic balancer or your timing chain cover. Again you will not know precisely what the timing is, but you will be able to reproduce it in the future.
Sam

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You can find true TDC using a piston stop and a degree wheel, then remark your balancer. You can make a seviceable piston stop using an old spark plug and bolt. The degree wheel is the most accurate but you can get close, within a degree or two without it. With the piston stop in the plug hole turn the engine until the piston contacts the piston stop. Note the position of the degree wheel or mark the balancer then turn the engine back the other way and repeat. Halfway between the two positions is true TDC. Just file a permanent mark on the balancer and brush it with some bright colored paint and you'll have a good mark that you can use for further tuning.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.