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*it runs! but.....new cam and heads in 350 sounds good in park but no power*it runs!*

ya checkd the valves..they all when they where off the lobe they would wiggle back in fwd...like no tension on them....im starting to think that the cam sprockets werent lined up right....about it being on tdc..i held my finger in spark plug hole # 1 and when its on its way to 0 i feel the pressure from the piston goin up...........

By putting your finger in the hole it gives you the indication that the piston is coming up on compression (firing stroke), but not True TDC. The best way (IMO) to check True TDC, is when the head is off. Then you can put a dial indicator on the piston and find true TDC of #1 piston. Everything else follows that piston position.

So if you go that far to check that, you might as well check the cam lobes for wear (vs the cam spec card, check for lift @ lobe) if its still good to the card, throw a new set of lifters in there.
 
motor

did u check your firing order and check to c if your valves are working correctly take off the valve covers and watch the valves work.
 
yep checked the firing order numerous times, checked valves they were all moveing, as for the right balancer and timing tab...it a gm crate motor 260 horse bottom end and i had world product heads and cam put it...the motor ran fine b4 i put heads and cam in...but i did have to put a new timing gears in it b4 i had heads and cam put it on....the bottom gear was machined wrong and it through off the balancer.....but when i did it it wasnt set on tdc.:doah:..and thats what motivated the heads and cam install.....but i remember when i did it i had a hard time lining up the timing gears dots...and i wonder if i have bought the wrong timing gears cuz i bought the cheapest ones for a 79 chevy blazer from napa and i was looking at the summit mag and it says 2 differant part numbers for timing gears for chevy 350...one says with oe roller cam and except with oe roller cam????????:confused:
 
Pulling the heads is the best way but it's not THAT critical. Usually you can stick a pencil or something in there and feel where top dead is. Bump it over until it "pops" #1 cyl then stick a pencil in the cyl and turn the motor back until you feel topdead. Then check your balancer marks.
 
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Whoa whoa something that was said makes sense. What is the balancer off of and what is the timing marker off of? I think you have the wrong balancer/marker combo in which case your WAY retarded.
 
hey hey now, it could be an honest mistake, no need for name calling :haha:
lol but the balancer i have is the big balancer for a chevy and the timing tab is the one thats sits on drivers side about 1 oclock. if u get what im sayin......
 
Then you can cross that off the list . Those should line up when you rotate the motor around to TDC .

agreed, if those came with the engine, and you are still using them they should be right. And those timing gears aren't always perfectly marked either.

As far as the pencil method in the cylinder goes...true this will get you within a few degrees, but by using a dial indicator method you can get true TDC, and check the balancer and timing tab in that position.
 
jus went out there and tried advanceing the crap out of it and it sounded and ran alot better in park..didnt wana back fire nothin...but go to put it in gear to try to move it and exactly the same as when timing is at 12* chugs a second then big flame out of carb.....:(
 
Reminds me of the 77 Dodge Royal Monaco I had for a while . Would run ape**** in park or neutral , but had to be feathered slowly to drive anywhere .

This I got from my mom ( my in between down on my luck car ) , it had used 2-3 quarts of oil a week if they remembered to add some .

I came to two conclusions , but never followed up on it :

1. Torque converter took a dump . Highly unlikely , I drove it slowly for six months .

2. Lack of oil wiped the cam .

I'll never know now , this was 1995 I am talking about . I do know the ignition was new , and the carb were new and everything lined up . I had yanked the lean burn and added the Edelbrock and Accell stuff .
 
i dont think its the converter cuz it worked perfectly fine b4 i pulled the motor....and im sure the cams fine cuz when i tried readjusting the valves they all had full movement...............??????????????:confused:i had to take a few days off from working on it....i was geting pretty angry with the whole situation...now im waitn for a buddy to bring over compression tester.....i also was thinkin since i got bigger cast iron heads...and to get the engine off my porch and into the truck i used a lift plate that bolts to where the carb would be on a edelbrock aluminum intake that i bent the intake sum on the oil valley side thats causeing a vaccuum leak that i cant find since its (inside) the engine....know what i mean? and i when i got it off my porch i had the whole engine stand bolted to it still with just the water pump and fuel pump being the only accesories bolted to the engine...anybody think this could be the flaw?
 
i dont think its the converter cuz it worked perfectly fine b4 i pulled the motor....and im sure the cams fine cuz when i tried readjusting the valves they all had full movement...............??????????????:confused:i had to take a few days off from working on it....i was geting pretty angry with the whole situation...now im waitn for a buddy to bring over compression tester.....i also was thinkin since i got bigger cast iron heads...and to get the engine off my porch and into the truck i used a lift plate that bolts to where the carb would be on a edelbrock aluminum intake that i bent the intake sum on the oil valley side thats causeing a vaccuum leak that i cant find since its (inside) the engine....know what i mean? and i when i got it off my porch i had the whole engine stand bolted to it still with just the water pump and fuel pump being the only accesories bolted to the engine...anybody think this could be the flaw?

nope.
 
i think i got it figured out.....ok......so when i had the motor built i used the roller rockers, studs, and rocker locking stud nuts i had on it before....except i was short one nut:wink1:.... and the guy who put it together for me said hes got some lying around the shop and so he found one and got it all together .....well.....the one he found was just a little bigger in diameter then the rest...it fit the threads....but not in the rocker too well....so when i did the compression test all cylinders came out to 120lbs each......except #8..that came out to 100-105lbs.....thas the one with the odd ball nut....so i looked closely at the nut and down in the rocker i could see that the nut was rubbin on the rocker...and i took it out and u can see wher wit was rubing and rings at the bottom where it rubbed from tighting the valve down....so im guessing that the nut was rubin on the rocker and not letting it close all the way or fast enuf...which was causing the flames to come out carb...i wish i had a pic but i sent the wrong nut and a right nut:wink1: to my buddy in phx cuz he has a buddy who works in a engine shop with alot of them layin around...jus waitn for them to make it back to me.....what u guys think?
 
Maybe, but no power means timing one cylinder won't mean too much would explain the backfiring.

I didn't read that you had put the #1 at top dead and made sure the distributer was where it should be.
Check it by seeing what valves are opening up when you are turning it over or feel it with your finger, the compressed air blowing around your finger that is in the spark plug hole.

Chevy 350 will run if they are 180' but they run like crap I put my cam in 180' once ran but like crap.
 
I know I'm getting in late on this one, but, I swapped an intake, carb,and replaced the sprockets and chain on a early 70's 350 that I had in a 83 K5 years ago. Any how everything went together great (wasn't a new cam
) fired it up w/ open headers and it sounded great, put it in gear and it would fall on it's face blow a flame out of the q- jet and die. I swapped cabs, dist., checked the valves (had never touched them) checked timing looked for vac. leaks etc.

In the end my neighbor asked if I was sure that I had installed the chain and gears correctly, I was sure, but I checked anyway. Turns out the cheapy kit I got was marked wrong!!! The dots on the cam sprocket were like 6 teeth off:doah: compared to the old set. Took the set back to the store and looked at another one (same part#) and it was just like my original. Swapped them out and it ran like a champ.

I am not saying this is you issue, but it sounds very similar.:D
 
when i fisrt put it on tdc, i rotated the engine til #1 cylinder rockers were level with each other...and timeing mark was on 0.......i dnt think the valves were open, but when i go past 0 the intake valve starts to open....thats normal right?
 
thats not on the compression stroke, turn it 180 degrees..(1 revolution) and both rockers should be closed.

Intake, compression, power, exhaust....ya know= Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow
 
thats not on the compression stroke, turn it 180 degrees..(1 revolution) and both rockers should be closed.

Intake, compression, power, exhaust....ya know= Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow
ya thats what im talkin about...im pretty sure they were closed cuz they were both at the same hieght then when i passed 0 on timing gauge the intake started to open....
 

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