I need help. I have a 1984 Camaro with a Z28 350 motor. Sunday I put new wires, plugs, oil/filter, cap and rotor on it. If I rev'd it it would puff back through the carb. So i assumed it was timing and adjusted it to 8 BTDC. Took it for a drive and if i got on the gas it wanted to stall. Got it home loosened the distributor bolt started tweaking it by sound and it shut off. Wouldn't start again. After checking things i assumed it flooded gave up for the night. Tonight tried starting it and it was trying but wouldn't run. Put pedal to the floor and it runs but horrible, stumbling etc. take foot off, shuts off.

Here is what I have checked:
checked timing on cylinder 1 at 8 btdc (have tried playing with distro, no help)
8 LBS of fuel pressure at carb
firing order is correct

Has me kind of baffled. Before original work car ran but would be rough when warming up.

any help would be appreciated.

 

Honestly? My guess would be that you accidently crossed a couple plugwires. Then you changed the timing. Now the combination of timing and miswired ignition wont let it start. Just a guess, but if it ran ok before, its 99% probably related to what you did.

 

I checked it again and it is right. What about the chip in the distributor if that dies what will happen? the thing that confuses me is the running if the pedal is to the floor.

 

Years ago I bought a set of cheap Advance auto wires for a 89 Chevy truck. After installing them my truck was run similar to your car. I Ohmed out the wires and found a huge difference between the wires, I returned them and bought some good Napa wires and the problem was gone. I did Ohm the Napa wires before I installed them. I don't install new wires anymore without Ohming them first.

 

Put original accel wires back on just now. no different. originals were running fine before switch just were beat.

 

Remove each plug wire and put them on the ground. Then put them all back on from scratch. I know you said you've checked it, but i'm sure i've made the exact same post on this very forum, and it was switched wires. 99% of the time it is, and it happens to the best of us.

If in doubt, start from complete scratch. Pull #1 plug and rotate engine over to #1 firing (feel the puff of air), then put on all the plug wires in order and try again. Reset the dist timing and fire it up.

 

I plan to try it again tonight. Another question, what are the odds I fouled the plugs in the few minutes it was running horrible? Just for my own sanity what should the order on a chevy 350 be? I am using 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. It has an edelbrock intake and that isn't labeled with it.

 

You probably fouled them, but they should still run ok. No misfires or anything. That firing order is right. Once you get it running well, then change out the plugs (or at least check them).

 

ok. took wires off. redid order. no change. cranked distro as far counter clockwise as it will go. it stumbles but won't start. moved wires 1 spot clockwise, no better. i heard that if you check compression and its low it could mean you jumped a tooth on the timing chain. compression was at 120 psi on cyl 1. HELP!

 

Sounds stupid, but did you get the little button from the coil to the cap put on right?

HEI cap assembly;
Dist cap, then drop in the button (rotor bushing), rubber insulator, then coil.

 

Have you tried putting the old plugs back in? Have you pulled the new plugs to see what they look like? Maybe a bad dist. cap or rotor.

 

So the solution was found tonight. We were testing with the air cleaner off and noticed that on one of the backfires while trying to time it, the restrictor plate had become lodged closed. So we freed it up and runs great now. Thanks for everyone's help!