440 and popcorn!!!! Movie time!

Don't you love those problems that come out of now where??!

440 running great in donor car.
BUILT 440 running great in 84 crew cab dualie.

Built 440 was a temp install in dualie so it was time to take it out. Yank.

Donor car engine... Yank.

Install great running engine from donor car into truck.

Now, when I fire it up - it back fires out the exhaust! Sounds like a popcorn machine! Why couldn't it be a simple, no hassle, no problem swap!!

Yes, 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2; checked it 207 times!

ANYONE - ANY ideas????

Firing order counter clockwise on a big block.

what was changed/adjusted in the ign system from when it was in the 1st vehicle to when it was sitting in the 2nd vehicle.

This is timing 101

Pull the no1 plug.

Stick a finger in the no1 hole

Use a buddy or remote start switch to bump the engine while watching "the marks"

One revolution, the marks will come up and there will be no high pressure to "blow out" your finger

The correct revolution is WHEN the marks are "coming up" AND there is considerable pressure to blow your finger out of the hole, that is "no 1" stroke ready to fire.

Set the marks "anywhere" between TDC and say, 12*

Check the distro is "coming around" to the no1 wire. You can actually loosen the dist and move the dist "way back" ccw, then with the key on, move the dist cw past the points open or reluctor and get a spark snap right at the point you need ready to fire.

IF you do this correctly, you can just start it right up. I've done this hundreds of times, and in less time than it takes to type this out

This is basic timing, something that EVERY gearhead should know.

Still could come up 180* out because the timimg mark and the piston comes up twice in one firing cycle.

You're right 440sixpack - regardless of what I "think" I did and didn't do, it was 2 years ago that I did the swap (life inserted a 2 year delay) and I may or may not have messed with distributors etc. and there's obviously "something" wrong - so I should break it on back to basics and start with TIMING. I didn't think to do the ole "finger blow on cylinder one" and start there...
One "nagging" thought in my head though; what does a cracked distributor cap act like/do???

Quote:

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You're right 440sixpack - regardless of what I "think" I did and didn't do, it was 2 years ago that I did the swap (life inserted a 2 year delay) and I may or may not have messed with distributors etc. and there's obviously "something" wrong - so I should break it on back to basics and start with TIMING. I didn't think to do the ole "finger blow on cylinder one" and start there...
One "nagging" thought in my head though; what does a cracked distributor cap act like/do???

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It's not real clear to me whether it runs at all or just pops and blows fire. I've never seen a cap that was much of a mystery. That is, if it "looks" dirty, wet, cracked, etc, it probably is. I HAVE seen a rotor that took a real good look to decide that it'd carbon tracked (punched) through to ground out. Not applicable here, but certain foreign rotors (Dodge Colt!!!) had a weird rotor with a resistor built into a recess in the rotor insulation. I"ve seen one of those fail (a friend) on the side of the road. Read inconvienient

If it runs at all, check for open plug wires or cracked / broken plugs. Such a problem leaves an "open" that lets spark voltage climb, and it will then look for a place to crossfire to.

I'd check the firing order one more time. Even I've switched 5 and 7 a time or two.

Once I put a great big cam in my old '64, and was in a hurry. This thing (for me) was BIG, and I'd taken out a fairly mild cam. I'd dropped a plug and pounded the electrode shut without noticing. Spent nearly 1/2 hr trying to figure out why that damn thing wouldn't run.