QuestionQUESTION: I have a 1975 malibu with a 350 2 barrel, I upgraded to headers , an edlebrock performer intake, a 650 holley, 488 lift 288 duration camshaft, new timing chain and gears. when I put in cam and timing chain I lined up the 2 dots on the gears.(cam at 6 oclock and crank at 12 oclock) put in distributor so when seated it lined up with #1. from tdc with #1 valves shut I set rockers e 1348 i1257 then went 180 out and sete2567 and i 3468 ( I set by tightening rocker until pushrod would not spin and then .25 turn more). when I crank motor I can hear it spitting back trough carb like it is 180 out. I have double checked everything even as far as to break motor back down to check timing chain gears. All is correct, but it still sounds 180 out. All wires are correct on dist. (18436572). What am I missing?
ANSWER: Dave,
It's a problem I hear a bit now and then... The problem is when you adjusted your second set of valves, 2567 exhaust and 3468 intake, you only turned the motor 180 degrees. You need to do the first adjustment set then make a full turn - 360 degrees - to set the second set. I'd loosen everything and re start with the first set and do the 360 turn and set the second and I think everything will work out. Good Luck! If by some chance it doesn't work let me know and I'll dig into it a little deeper.
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QUESTION: thanks for responding. when I said I rotated motor 180 degrees I ment dist I rotated the crank 360 degrees. When I set rockers the ones that should have been closed were open which tells me that the cam is 180 out but I for sure set cam dot at 6 and crank at 12 and they lined up perfect and then set dist to #1 I have heard some people say both dots should be at 12 o'clock. thanks
ANSWER: Dave,
Jeeze, I missed that completely! I read the question and it went right over my head... Both dots should be at 12 o'clock. Dumb move on my part, sorry for missing that one.
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QUESTION: Jim, now if both dots should be at 12 o'clock can I just pull out distributer spin it 180 drop it back in and then go back and reset the rockers and be OK. I'm also scared that because I cranked the motor so many different times and did get it to fire for short times but ran terrible that I may have flattened the lobes on the cam. I did use break in lube but I've heard that if it doesn't start and run at 2000rpm at first try that it can be a problem. I truly appreciate your help.
AnswerDave,
I would reccomend against spinning the distributor 180. I would spin the cam because the timing marks will be right and it will be way easier to get right on the setup. As for flattening the lobes, I wouldnt worry a lot about it, from what it sounds like I don't think you ran it enough to hurt anything, especially with the break in lube. I've put a few together where the carb wasn't right or the fuel pump wasn't working right or something and never hurt anything by not spinning 2000 right away. I do generally take and spin the oil pump with a cordless drill a bit before I fire them, but with the lube on there you should be fine. I would just take the gear off and spin the cam and go back and set the valves. It takes a little more time, but you want it to be right to get a lot of miles of good use out of it. Let me know if there is anything else I can do, and Good Luck!
