OK, I've got the Dist. in right, all the plug wires where they need to go, plenty of gas, carb is fine, everything looks/is fine...but I can't get it to turn over. It almost did today but it just ran for a few seconds and piddled out. Any advice?

 

Maybe some more background would help... What were you doing before it didn't start?

 

sorry bout that...well before this, it would run really rough if at all. I swapped dist. with my bro and it started and ran nearly perfect. So I got the new dist. and tried it but then the starter somehow got overtorqued and broke. Fixed that and now I'm in the situation i'm at now. Everything is in and looks fine but it won't turn over.

 

It won't fire or it won't turn over?? "It won't turn over" generally implies the motor won't crank...

 

sorry again...it cranks fine but it won't start. It gives a little burp like it wants to but all it's doing now is cranking.

 

I would start over and take the distributor out, rotate 1 cyl to TDC, install distributor with rotor facing #1 cyl. Start engine again. You may have to turn the distributor as it cranks until it fires up. Once it fires, set the timing.

 

But that'll take 1000 hours! I'm just kiddin'...i'll try doing that when I have my bro to help me. Until then I'll just go out there and cuss at it and see if that helps.

 

This is exactly what you need to do. You need to start over and get ready the motor to #1 TDC firing with the rotor pointing to the #1 plug wire. After it fires set the timing accordingly.

 

So how do I go about turning it...do you mean by hand or by bumping it to #1?

 

I bumped it back to TDC...i took off the valve covers and checked and the i also checked the dist. The rotor was pointing towards number 1. I've actually got it now to a point where i can keep it running as long as i keep pressing the throttle. But my battery keeps dying and then it's hard to start again. I'll keep on advancing it until I can keep it going cause that's all I can think of to do. It sounds better and better each time so i think i'm close.

 

Just get your timing light out and set the timing it to 8* BTDC..

 

I got it now and boy does it sound smooth. I think one of the problems was that the hot wire to it kept falling out. I got it rigged up in there so it won't. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

What did you do that got it? The only reason I ask is because threads fall to the bottom and someone finds them using a search. The searcher reads the thread and is no better off. There are countless threads with dead ends like that. Followups are always good.

 

Did you unplug the EST before you set the timing? Do you have a 383 TBI on the stock prom?

 

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no it's not TBI it's carbed. Basically, i tried cranking and cranking and nothing until I realized it had been sitting out there for about 2 months w/o gas flowing through. So I pumped it a few times and got it where I could keep it running w/my foot. Then after I advanced it as far as I could to get it running I moved all the plug wires counter clockwise to get more advanced. At this time the battery had had it. So I put it on the charger and let it sit for about 20 mins. Went back out and started it and it stayed running on its own, only this time it was way too advanced. I shut it down and moved all of the plugs back to the stock location on the cap and gave it another try. This time it started up and cont to run. I got the timing light out and set it at around 5-6* advanced. I still need to tune it though cause i'm getting tiny pops through the exhaust. But always check the hot wire to the dist...this was my main folly.

 

Thanks for the followup! (I hate finding messages with no "this is what fixed it" answer, too!)