Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1962 235 cid, retainer plate, old cam

Question
Recently we pulled the enginne from my 1962 Bel air 235 straight 6. Replaced everything, new pistons, bearings, valve trane, everything....in the engine including going to solid lifters. Crane put a grind on the old cam to match. However we kept the old carb, intake, exhaust and distributor. On initial start up it was a lil rough but thought we were getting it dialed in. I drove the car home, but she seemed to be very sluggish and had no power. Now she sits in my driveway and will not fire. I live in Southern Indiana. Any advice or perhaps a refferal to someone in the area that you might know of would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Todd Eads

Answer
Well, as far as recommending someone, I am about as far from you as possible, I'm near San Diego CA!

Since you have modified the cam and lifters, that is the first thing I would suspect.  But before you tear the engine apart again, verify that you have the cam timing right.   Did you assemble the engine yourself?  If so, do you recall lining up the marks on the cam and crank gears properly?  The tooth with the dimple on the crank gear should be engaged with the valley with the dimple on the cam gear.  You also have to set the two gears so that they are flush, buy adding or removing gaskets at the cam retainer plate.

There is a way you can check the cam timing, but it gets a bit involved.  The way to do this is put a dial indicator on the #1 intake rocker, and rotate the crankshaft clockwise until you just detect the #1 intake beginning to open.  Your crank should now be at 16 degrees BTC.  If it isn't, either the cam grind is wrong or the cam/crank gears are not indexed right.

I always advise leaving a car the way the professional engineers designed it - they had all the resources of General Motors to help them get it right.

If you can't get it to fire at all now, perhaps something else has let go on you.  Check for spark, check for fuel, check your compression - something is wrong, but without checking those things you are shooting in the dark.

Sorry not to be more help - these are great engines, I drove one for over 30 years in my Pickup - never failed to start or get me where I was going.

Good Luck,

Dick