QuestionWe recently put a rebuild in this chevy and now we can't get the thing to crank. We have a manual and have followed the procedure of bringing the #1 piston to the top and have the little steel ball in the sighting area. We connected the wires starting with #1 in a clockwise rotation as described and it still will not start. We have 12V to the coil and have fire but it won't start. The firing order is 135624. How can I be sure that the #1 cylinder is the one at the front of the engine? Nothing in the manual shows how to idntify the #1 cylinder! For reference we are installing a Mallory Electronic distributor instead f the old one.
AnswerI don't like to answer questions when a car has been modified, because I have no idea whether the modification was done right or not. If you have the original ignition system, my advice is to put it back in and start from that as a known situation.
The #1 cylinder is the front one, as you guessed.
The firing order is 153624, not the order you stated. The direction of rotation of the rotor when you rotate the crankshaft clockwise as viewed from the front of the engine is the correct rotation of the distributor, and tells you the order in which to install the plug wires. I don't recall off-hand which way the rotor goes, but you can determine that easily by watching which way it turns when you crank the engine on the starter.
With the correct original ignition system installed, you should NOT have 12 volts on the coil (-) terminal unless the point are open. They should be adjusted so they are closed 2/3 of the time (Dwell of 35 to 39 degrees), or for initial setting, set the points at a gap of about 0.019", this will be close enough that the engine should run. Then adjust the dwell to about 37 degrees.
I have no information on your Mallory ignition system, so I can't advise you about that. The original ignition system worked very well for many, many years - I don't advise changing it, no matter what the seller told you.
Make very sure that you are on the compression stroke when you set the timing - the engine turns twice for each rotation of the distributor - you could easily be 180 degrees off the way you did it. If you have the valve cover off, you can identify the compression stroke by noting that both the exhaust and intake valves for #1 are closed as you come up on the timing mark. You may have timed it to #6 instead of #1 if you are on the wrong stroke.
If you don't want to take the valve cover off, you can also identify the compression stroke by taking the #1 spark plug out and rotating the crank clockwise until you feel pressure against your finger in the #1 hole. When feel that, you are on the compression stroke - continue slowly to the timing mark, then you are on TDC for #1.
I hope this is some help to you.
Dick.
