fast 99
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2021
- Posts
- 2,576
- Reaction score
- 4,088
- Location
- Spokane, Washington
- First Name
- Brian
- Truck Year
- 81,85
- Truck Model
- K20
- Engine Size
- 350
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Your cam is off it should be dot to dot crank at 12, cam at 6, dissy at no 1 this is why it isn't firing. I bought a 82 C10 about 15 years ago for $500 because a guy thought the engine was junk and when set on no 1 the cam timing was wrong, I flipped the cam dot to dot and it fired right up. luckily these engines will spin over without mashing valves (extreme race builds not withstanding) this could have been a very bad deal for some other engines.Cam was installed with both dots as 12. The distributed dropped in at number 1 and also rotated 180 and dropped just to eliminate it being off
While cranking the engine doesn’t even try to start, just keeps cranking
G
Yeah my bad .I meant that's NOT what you said @fast 99 when he said 12 and 12......OK? sorry wasn't real clearwhat? not what I said?

Timing marks are usually lined up across from each other. Could be done the other way but not sure why anyone would do it like that.It's wrong, but wouldn't it be "right" after one revolution of the crank, making the distributor off 180°?
I might be talking out my butt, running on 4 hours sleep right now
I have only ever seen it done dot (12) to dot (6) even on race motors with gear drives and belt drives. I've always done it this way and then marking the timing tab to the balancer were ever they end up at this point, advanced it 15-20 and stabbed the dizzy in dead on no1 on the cap and they almost always fire instantly. Then adjusted from there.Timing marks are usually lined up across from each other. Could be done the other way but not sure why anyone would do it like that.
I get that I'm just saying for a lot of people that diagram is confusing more than it helps also, most people by that point have the cover on and won't ever see that relationship.It doesnt say it has 2 dots. Think about it. The cam turns 1/2 the speed of the crank. If you rotate the bottom 1 revolution the dot winds up in the same place but the cam dot moves to straight up. Its only where you drop distributor in. Thats why its common for people to be 180 degrees out. 1 and 6 are companion cylinders. Theyre both at the top at the same time.
Yep. Thats a tooth off and not at 6 and 12. And when you rotate the crank 360 it wont be at 12 and 12 either. They did it wrong both ways lol. Way back in post 14 I did say its easier to get off a tooth this way???And what I'm saying is the likely hood of setting it up both at 12 and dropping the dizzy in makes this a high possibility and no amount of flipping the dizzy 180 is going to correct this hence why we assemble dot to dot not 12 and 12. 10 degrees here is what up top 2-3 teeth it's why no backfire as it would if just 180 on the distributor as its even farther off than that.
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Now when most people are at the point of dropping in the distributor, they are in the vehicle with all the tin and balancer on and will fight and fight with this because they will never see it until they pull it apart. Hence the example above of the $500 C10 because he probably did it 12 and 12 and ended up in this position.
And that's how I was taught by the old geezer that showed me. But then he also had me to rotate the engine over by hand to where the both dots were at 12 before we put the cover and oil pan back on. Then we just dropped the distributor in with the rotor pointing to #1 that we had marked before we started (just a cam swap). Otherwise it wouldve been 180 out.Don't care.........been doin' it 12 and 6 for 60 plus years...NOT changing NOW................GET OFF MY LAWN
