I apologize in advance for the long post but, I want to hit every aspect to better help diagnose the problem.

I have been pounding my head off of the wall with this engine for a LONG time, I've had it apart 3-4 times now. I started on this truck in 4 years ago freshman year with the intentions to finish it by the end of my senior year. The end is coming up pretty fast this June All I have left is the engine and it will be done. Even though I learned a LOT in the past 4 years, im still a novice so there is alot of ignorance and mistakes on my part of things so please bear with me!

1978 Ford F250 400 Auto 4x4. Ran like poo when I got it. Previous owner (my old man) said it ran before he parked it. Pulled the engine apart Installed new Bearings, Rings, Seals, Oil pump, Timing Chain, and put a new oil pump in.

Had this engine running less than a week ago (Badly) then all the sudden it quit and i messed with it some more. I'm sure it has to be a simple stupid thing, or many.. The furthest I had it was timed by ear, and barely idling. But It ran none the less.

I pulled the carb off and found the EGR was not operating. So I made a spacer plate/new gasket to delete the EGR valve completely. Re-installed and it wouldn't even start now! Was looking to see what I did wrong and could not find anything. NOTE: I had my buddy pull the line off of the filter and check to make sure i had fuel coming out while I was cranking.

Came back 1 week later and was working on the no start problem and noticed that no fuel was coming into the filter. I figured it just needed to prime up...cranked and cranked but nothing. Turns out the (1 month old) fuel pump miraciously took a crap during that 1 week of sitting there . Installed the old one and I have fuel again now. Still won't start.

So I start from complete scratch again heres what I got:

0 degrees TDC on COMPRESSION #1 cyl
-Set at true piston TDC
-Balancer Lines Right up to 0, so that gets rid of the possibilty of the balancer being spun right?
-Dist is pointing at #1 with the armature lined up. Has about equal distance to move each way.

Set the engine to 10 degrees BTDC and nothing. It burps more and more as i move the distributor clockwise until I hit the water neck. Pull the dist out just for fun and move it a tooth over. a little better but will still no start. Thats where I stopped.

To me it looks as the engine is properly set statically, but will not start no matter how i turn the dist or jump gears. That leads me to think that im not getting fuel but I know I have fuel in the bowl and I never messed with the Carb (remember it ran before ) other than taking it off setting it back down on and properly torquing the nuts. It will not start on ether either.

Heres some additional info from what I knew when it WAS running.

Again the static timing was set correctly. 0 degrees TDC on COMPRESSION #1 cyl

BUT could never get the timing marks to line up. Every time I brought the marks up to where they "should" be the engine would quit. It showed me it was running at what i would think would be around 40 Degrees AFTER TDC ! That goes against everything I just said above in red! I just left it timed by ear. But it still bothers me.

-Vac advanced is plugged off.
- Timing chain IS new and correct.
-Firing order is correct
-Both valves are closed on #1 compression.

-Has Spark
New: Distributor, Cap, rotor, Ign Module, Coil, Wires, Plugs, Voltage Regulator, Alternator, Battery, and solenoid.

-Has Fuel to carb.
New motocraft 2bbl carb. (I have it set statically but i won't really know until I have the truck timed correct.)
New sending units, clean lines + tanks, new filters.

-I have removed and capped all vacuum lines except the brake booster, choke pull off, transmission modulator. I plan to re-install the PCV + EGR and of course the vac advance but none of those should be detrimental to the engine starting and running correct? It also has a different fill cap, but it still connects to the rear of the carburetor.
THANKS A TON! Hopefully somebody decipher something useful out of my spiel!

 

I have pulled junk yard engines (mostly chevys) from cars sitting for years, sprayed WD40 in the cylinders added fuel and started right up. Would slap them into a stock car and go run the 'roundy round' enduros. Engines are pretty simple creatures. as long as they have FUEL, AIR, SPARK, they will run, maybe not very well, unless they are severly broken. I suspect either something has gone terribly wrong with your rebuild (who did it?), or your so fustrated and trying to jam this out your missing something small.

You say you have spark, you say you have fuel, do you have air? If your carb isnt opening up to let in air it wont even try to start. The most obvilous answer is almost always the right one.

Take a big step back, take a deep breath.

Good luck.

 

Do you recall (when you installed the new timing chain, etc) if the dimples on the crank and cam gear were lined up correctly? To me, this sounds like a timing issue.

 

I am unclear as to if it is or is not running now, in one place you say it doesn't run, then in another it says it runs with the timing at 40 degrees? which is it?

 

As stated before, air, fuel, and spark, are the three things required for combustion. I think it's safe to say you've ruled out spark. From what i picked up, it sounds like you haven't looked into the carb enough. To me, it sounds like the fuel isnt atomizing properly. This could also be related to anything between the carb and cylinders: intake manifold, valves... thats where i would start anyway.
Also check for fuel line leaks, this can sometimes be enough to drop fuel pressure.