75 K10 distributor issues

[Nastardly]

After a removal of the distributor to do an intake manifold gasket, at the same time I did new plugs, wires, new radiator with partial flush, new oil and filter. With all plugs in except for number 1, I had my mom bump the engine until it blew my thumb away from the number 1 spark plugs socket, I stabbed the distributor, with a little tweaking of the oil pump with a long effing screw driver, it went in and bolted down flush. It dodn' t want to start, so I gave it some gas, it back fired so bad, a few of my mom's neighbors ran out to see of anyone had been shot. I tried adjust the distributor a little to no avail, then I re routed the plugs once more clockwise as there is no exact starting point defined in the cap or rotor. After that, it decided it would crank and back fire a little bit, but not really run. Any ideas, guys? Any help is appreciated, even things I may have done, but incorrectly.

 

[Nastardly]

Where my finger is pointing is where I have the number one spark plug.

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[CSFJ]

You say that you bumped the engine over until your finger blew off. At that point what did you do to verify the piston was actually at the top of it's travel?

 

[jjewett444]

sounds like timing way too advanced. try to pull it back out, line up 0 deg. on harmonic bal and timing tab, install so vac advance can is roughlt 45 deg toward passenger side and then install so rotor lines up as close to whatever terminal you use for number 1 plug. may require taking cap off and marking outside to reference number 1 terminal. then adjust till you get it running good or with timing light. good luck

 

[Nastardly]

Thanks, I will try that this afternoon and report back. There other problem I ran into was that the protruding part of the cap for the electrical connections was hitting my carb breather and filter.

 

[QBuff02]

1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 is the correct firing order on a Chevy engine, and its hard to tell exactly how those wires are routed in that picture, but if'n it was me I would say your distributor is a ways out of time and it also looks like your wires are indexed/wired wrong.. Sitting in the drivers seat (or standing over the radiator looking at the engine) the drivers side bank of the engine is the odd numbers, (1-3-5-7) and the passengers side is the even (2-4-6-8) from front of engine to rear. Also, if your timing cover has an indicator, pull the number 1 spark plug back out and look at it through the fender well (or wherever you can physically see the piston) and verify that you can see the top of the piston through the spark plug hole. and then slowly rotate the engine over in the direction of rotation until you can verify top dead center of piston. If you're on the right stroke the timing indicator (mark, notch, etc) on the engine balancer will line up fairly close with the timing tab on the front cover. Then I'd pull the wires, pull the distributor cap and verify if you truly are pointing to the #1 cylinder, If you are then verify you have the correct firing order on the plug wires, if you're not oriented correctly, then knowing this time you are on TDC I'd pull the distributor back out, realign it and then redo the firing order to match your orientation to #1 on the cap. As a rule of thumb, the vacuum advance port points roughly to about the #4-6 Cylinder split and the rotor points pretty much directly to #1 when all is in time (and pray the oil pump drive isn't a pain to line back up) and if all that's good, set the cap back on, wire her up and fire her up!

 

[Nastardly]

My cover doesn't have an inidicator.

 

[Nastardly]

I did have to fool around with the oil pump, I bought a reply long flat head for that, it wasn't as bad as I had thought.

 

[QBuff02]

Then you'll have to verify top dead center of the #1 piston and make sure its on the right stroke (valves both closed) as the cam spins half the rpm of the crank. I always pull the valve cover off of the #1 bank if there's any concern or question, rotate the engine over and when the piston is at the correct top dead center, both rocker arms will wiggle if you're on the right stroke. if you're on the wrong stroke, they will both be tight or partially open. or you could always get it on tdc and blow a little air in the spark plug hole, if you hear air going back up the intake or out the exhaust, rotate it another 360 degrees and you should then be on the correct tdc for lining up the distributor. Theres a few other ways to find tdc but this is about the easiest.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

When it blew your finger off, it could have been on compression or exhaust, also it could have been not fully up.

 

[Nastardly]

It would still push it away upon the exhaust stroke?

Either way, I realized what I did wrong: I had the cap out of rotation by about a quarter of a turn, I adjusted it and re routes all the plug wires, I haven't tried to start it in two days, but now I'm semi afraid I may have damaged the engine or will soon. Currently, the engine cranks, but I haven't gotten it to fire, but I also haven't given it fuel when trying to start it.

 

[MikeB]

Once your finger blows out, you should turn the engine by hand until the damper mark is around 10-15 degrees before TDC. At that point the rotor should be pointing at the #1 plug wire. That will at least get you in the ballpark.

I doubt you damaged the engine.