Hi folks;

This is my first thread and am really looking to get some good advice as I'm doing all the work myself (ouch!) I've never attempted this before and since it is an older model vehicle I look forward to the challenge.
My problem:

I don't know anything about getting top-dead-center, I borrowed the tools necessary for the job though. I know the line-up of plugs to the cap (I bought a new distributor and new carb) which is a holley 2 barrel. Without sounding completely clueless I just need to get this thing going and the more help I can get from my fellow enthusiasts the better.
I checked my points and the gap is correct (17), I turned the distributor so that it was on the number one wire for the plug, but now it just backfires on me. So now I'm stuck and need some help.

Thanks for any advice you can offer me!

 

What motor/engine are you working on?...makes a difference when you time your engine after getting it running. Regardless, here's how to find TDC on the compression stroke:
Make sure your plug wires are correct...are they wired up according to the firing order for your motor?
Find the No. 1 cylinder...on a 360 V8 this is the front, passenger side cylinder.
Pull the plug and plug wire from that cylinder.
Find the timing marks on your crank pulley...the bottom pulley. You may have to crawl under the truck to do this...clean the marks off with steel wool or sandpaper and then rub some white chalk over them.
Put a big socket on the nut of the crank pulley...rotate the engine by hand with the socket and a wratchet or bar until the 0 timing mark is right by the timing marker on the top of the pulley. It should be marked TDC/0.
To find the compression/firing stroke of that cylinder/piston, put your thumb/finger over the plug hole and have someone turn the engine by hand with the socket/wratchet. When the No. 1 cylinder is on its compression stroke, you will feel air pressure building up under your finger/thumb...if not, the engine is on the exhaust stroke and you have to keep turning the engine.
After you find the compression stroke, turn the socket/wratchet until 0/TDC shows next to the timing pointer.
Pull the dist. cap and make sure the rotor is pointing to the No. 1 tower on the dist. cap. If it's off and pointing to another tower, you need to pull the distributor up turn it and reseat it so the rotor is pointing to No. 1. Then tighten the dist. hold down bolt.
Now double check your wire connections on the dist. cap and spark plugs, and make sure the plug wire routing matches the firing order.
That's how you do it using Ford's "official" firing order recommendation.
In reality, the engine doesn't care which dist. cap tower or wire you use to fire any of its cylinders...it just wants fire in the correct sequence/firing order. So if you find that the rotor is off a tower or two after you find TDC on the compression stroke, that's okay, too. Simply route your plug wires according to the firing order, using that tower as a starting point for the No. 1 cylinder...wire that one to No. 1, then follow the firing order to get the other dist. cap towers/plug wires to the correct cylinders.

 

Hey Thanks TM for that info, I should also mention if I haven't already when I try to start the engine all I get is backfiring and fuel coming out from the Carburetor. And my engine is a 360 with a Holley 2bll

 

Pull the carb and rebuild it...kit costs less than $35 and it's not hard to do. No use trying to get it running and timed correctly until you fix the flooding problem...sounds like the float is sticking or the needle/seat are dirty/cruddy. The Holley website has diagrams/tuning guides for all their products, to help you along.

 

Hey I just wanted to thank you guys for your input, it helped a lot. I finally got my truck running.
The only thing I just can't get is the timing light and the dwell meter. I understand the concept but I can't hook up the timing light to the plug, and is there another place to put the dwell meter instead of the coil? another spot maybe? I don't seem to have a way to hook it up to the coil.

 

Is the carb marked Holley? If so, it's not original. All 1965/74 F100/350 V8's came with Auto-Lite 2100 series 2V carbs.

 

Well, you need an inductive timing light...it should have wires with a red spring clamp (goes to Pos batt terminal) and a black spring clamp (goes to Neg batt terminal), and it should have a separate wire/cord with square plastic clamp that clamps over the No. 1 spark plug wire. You also need an analog dwell meter...most have two functions: dwell angle and rpm with a separate gauge for three motors...4, 6 and 8 cylinder. It should have two wires...black goes to Neg batt terminal and the other (red or green) should go to the Neg coil terminal...same terminal that the black wire from the distributor is connected to. Not all digital/combination timing lights work with old ignition systems. Is that what you are using...digital timing light? How did you get the truck running with gas pouring out of the carb? Is it running good or lousy?