Some of you may be familiar with my project and process, but the short version is I put a blueprinted Olds 350 in a 1980 El Camino, replacing the Buick 3.8 V6. I had all the machine work done at a shop and paid a nifty nickel. Parts and labor added up. I put it in and it would not start. It backfired a few times and bent the pushrods on 2 cylinders. You might be thinking 180 degrees out, as I did, so I replaced the pushrods and moved the rotor 180 degrees. Nope it was no that. Bent a couple more pushrods. Checked the MSD for spark and got none. Had a cheap copy distributor which went into the original position, had spark, but still would not fire. So Gas, Spark and Air but not one cylinder firing.
The Q jet was bought at a swap meet, supposedly gone through and really shiny and nice. The fuel pump was working fine, pressure at the carb inlet, but the bowl never gave a squirt. Carb off and sent to the Carb Connection in WA for overhaul. They noted it was made from 2 different Qjets, not compatible in any way except look. Even the base gaskets were different, so another Carb purchase later, I have the one supposedly that should work on a 68 Olds 350.
It still cranks and cranks with no firing. For the first time, the cranking is not lopey or labored, it really sounds like it is trying to fire even, like speeding up on a cylinder or two while the open exhaust sounds like compression. But nope. Checked the distributor, no fire. Checked # 1-cylinder compression ZERO. I checked the rockers and #1 pushrods bent, both this time. The other 14 straight as they should be….rolling on the bench without a wobble.
Okay it now comes down to valves and cylinders in the wrong position, so the cam and crank must not be synched right. Yesterday I removed all but the harmonic balancer. I will have to find an adult to hold the flywheel so I can get enough purchase to get the big nut off and expose the timing chain. If it is actually wrong, I cannot explain it, but all lights point to it as my problem from the start, I just never questioned it being assembled correctly. I bought an OEM Distributor and will junk both MSD and cheap copy. Even if the timing is far off, it does not explain no spark again. Before I put the OEM distributor in I will have it checked for function. Wholesale changes from 1968 to 1980 and 1980 to ‘68 is much more of a headache than expected. I have heard that an errant spark can fry the module and I suspect it was something there, but one guy chasing wires, sparks and functions is really fun, like Keystone Cops fun! I have used and relied on this forum to track this malfunction from the beginning, and I think I may be on the right track now……Holy smokes the hours and money wasted because the cam was not installed right???? Free labor from my friend the Chev mechanic is still my fault. Assuming …. well we know about *ss-U-ME! I have gotten into better shape doing the crawl out, get up, find the Damn tool, squat, crawl back under exercises 20+ times a day! He’s a gem for you…at 71 don’t work alone and well stop restoring cars! I will try to get a pic of the dots on the cam and crank gear alignment, especially if wrong!
The Q jet was bought at a swap meet, supposedly gone through and really shiny and nice. The fuel pump was working fine, pressure at the carb inlet, but the bowl never gave a squirt. Carb off and sent to the Carb Connection in WA for overhaul. They noted it was made from 2 different Qjets, not compatible in any way except look. Even the base gaskets were different, so another Carb purchase later, I have the one supposedly that should work on a 68 Olds 350.
It still cranks and cranks with no firing. For the first time, the cranking is not lopey or labored, it really sounds like it is trying to fire even, like speeding up on a cylinder or two while the open exhaust sounds like compression. But nope. Checked the distributor, no fire. Checked # 1-cylinder compression ZERO. I checked the rockers and #1 pushrods bent, both this time. The other 14 straight as they should be….rolling on the bench without a wobble.
Okay it now comes down to valves and cylinders in the wrong position, so the cam and crank must not be synched right. Yesterday I removed all but the harmonic balancer. I will have to find an adult to hold the flywheel so I can get enough purchase to get the big nut off and expose the timing chain. If it is actually wrong, I cannot explain it, but all lights point to it as my problem from the start, I just never questioned it being assembled correctly. I bought an OEM Distributor and will junk both MSD and cheap copy. Even if the timing is far off, it does not explain no spark again. Before I put the OEM distributor in I will have it checked for function. Wholesale changes from 1968 to 1980 and 1980 to ‘68 is much more of a headache than expected. I have heard that an errant spark can fry the module and I suspect it was something there, but one guy chasing wires, sparks and functions is really fun, like Keystone Cops fun! I have used and relied on this forum to track this malfunction from the beginning, and I think I may be on the right track now……Holy smokes the hours and money wasted because the cam was not installed right???? Free labor from my friend the Chev mechanic is still my fault. Assuming …. well we know about *ss-U-ME! I have gotten into better shape doing the crawl out, get up, find the Damn tool, squat, crawl back under exercises 20+ times a day! He’s a gem for you…at 71 don’t work alone and well stop restoring cars! I will try to get a pic of the dots on the cam and crank gear alignment, especially if wrong!
