I'm throwing up the white flag of surrender y'all. I've done everything in my bag of tricks to get the 302 in my 54 Ford tudor to start and I get nothing. If you're local to north Houston/Montgomery County and are really good with ignition wiring, etc. and would be willing to pay a house call....I'd be eternally grateful if you could stop by and help me get my 302 fired up. My build thread (linked below) has the details of my build, but here's the cliff notes: - 302 from an 88 Lincoln Towncar (with a 1993 AOD behind it) - HEI distributor - One-wire alternator - Mini-starter - Wiring kit from Hot Rod Wires. - The engine turns over nicely, but I get no ignition. It occasionally backfires and spits and sputters, so I'm sure it's timing, but I've checked, rechecked, and triple-checked everything, and nada. I'm sure it's just a dumb-*** thing that I'm overlooking, but I'm at my wits end. HELP!
The amplifier/pick up in the dist is notorious for failing. Might as well try one as you need a spare anyway. If it turns over very easily, it may have a slipped timing chain. They did that too. Check compression.
I'll do that.....the distributor is brand new, but you never know. It turns over about like it should.
I've never messed with a one-wire alternator and an HEI distributor....so I could be missing something obvious in the wiring....although I wired it exactly like I was told to by more than one knowledgeable person.
Hmmmm.......The intake valve should be "just closing" somewhere just after BOTTOM DEAD CENTER. Ya might want to check that timing chain thingie Andy mentioned. Good luck! DD
This evening, I checked compression and got the following readings: Cylinder 1 109 Cylinder 2 100 Cylinder 3 112 Cylinder 4 120 Cylinder 5 125 Cylinder 6 155 Cylinder 7 125 Cylinder 8 130
These readings seem low to me but this is on a cold engine with cylinders washed down with gas from cranking on it for a while. I don't know if those factors could bring down the compression readings that much though.
The Jalopy Journal
