65 f-100, 352ci, won't start.

hey guys just bought a 65 ford, been sitting a few years. changed cap n rotor, plug wires. plugs. cleaned out carb. fuel filter, new gas. won't start. need points gap, dwell, and any other ideas. got spark from coil, fuel pump is fine. please help! i'm stumped!

 

is it actually getting gas? look down the throat of the carb . pump the throttle and see if the accelerator pump squirts any gas. no smoking while doing that

 

yep, replaced acc. pump, gaskets, floats ok, cleaned out the carb totally.

 

Point gap on about anything with points and no high power ignition is .035, check for spark at the plugs by holding a plug wire 1/2" from a ground source like the block (move the metal slightly out of the boot) while cranking with a remote starter and the ignition on. You should have a strong white spark jump from the wire to the ground. If not, no power from the coil to the distributer.

 

tried that too. maybe too much fuel?

 

thanks guys! Joe

 

Did you try advancing the timing?

 

sounds like timming, does it sound like it wants to start, spin fast, any more tips?

 

not yet, but will, thanks

 

yes it does. turns over fine, new battery, tries to fire, but won't

 

your timing is off , maybe by a lot.. did you pull the distributor?

 

Timing is out i bet. Go back to TDC on #1 and pull the cap and check the rotor for lining up with #1 and then check the firing order. You probably know this but just in case don't forget to recheck the idle evry time you adjust the timing (once it si running).

 

i second that . the timing and firing order is where i would start

 

no, didn't pull it yet.

 

well will start there, with timing ect. you guys are great! i just joined this site.

 

If you didn't pull it you may have the firing order out. but definately check TDC just in case it was out before you got it.

 

IF ITS been sittin a while, pull the plugs, clean if flooded, and squirt some oil in the cyls....flooding might have washed down the cyl walls,> poor compression.....good luck!!

gaspumpchas

 

thanks

 

Been setting a few years, eh? Might check for stuck rings, do a compression test.

 

never thought of the oil, will do

 

I'll admit to bein' kind of a car dummy, (most of my experience is with motorcycles), but 35 thou sounds more like a plug gap to me. I'm more used to seeing about 16 thou on points.

 

I always gaped my points with a match book. I highly recommend replacing your condenser.

 

I think a matchbook is .018, if I'm not mistaken.

 

.035 definitely is the plug gap, everything I've worked on had a points gap of .017 -.018

 

Your post made me remember .... way back in the days when beer and soda cans had removable pull tabs (remember those!), one of the motorcycle magazines posted a list of all the popular beers with the thicknesses in thousandths of an inch. And yes, at that time there was a pretty fair spread of dimensions.

Great info for roadside repairs ... particularly if you were riding a Britbike or anything else that depended on the Prince of Darkness for spark.

I can picture the scene now:
"Hey Norm, I found a Schlitz over here in the ditch."
"Nah, keep lookin', I neeed a freakin' Falstaff!"

 

cool. thought that was more like a plug!

 

Won't start cuz it's too new for here. Look down
..............VVVV.................

 

Have you confirmed if there is spark to the plugs yet?