Remember that the cam turns twice as slow as the crank. You should be able to compare that with the hamonic balancer...

 

The orientation in the engine bay of the #1 plug on the distributor is COMPLETELY irrelevant. That's simply determined by how you put the distributor in. It could be in any direction. In fact, you don't even have to use the prong marked #1 for the #1 spark plug if you don't want to. That's just a convenience.


What's important is that everything is lined up correctly when you install it.

Rotate the engine (be sure you're not turning it backwards) and stick your finger in the #1 spark plug hole and wait until you feel pressure. This will tell you it's on the compression stroke. This is why it's important to turn it the correct way. If you turn it the other way, you'll feel pressure on the exhaust stroke, which will put you 180° out.

If you want to be sure you're turning it the right way, watch the rotor. It should be turning clockwise.


Then, once you feel pressure, bring the piston to TDC. Look at your timing marks and make sure they're lined up. If they're not, you may have a slipped harmonic balancer, which may contribute to problems if you've been basing everything off of that.
If it isn't slipped, adjust your timing to where you want it to be (such as 10° advance).

Now, install the distributor with the rotor pointing at the #1 spark plug. It may take a few different stabs, and having the distributor facing some directions may work better than others (such as the vacuum advance towards the firewall, or the fender, or the grill, etc.)

Once it's fully seated, double check the rotor is still facing the #1. Now, remove the rotor and look down into the distributor at the reluctor. It's the six sided star. On the black magnetic pickup sensor, there are two lines. Rotate the distributor until slightly until the closest arm on the reluctor is perfectly centered between the two lines. Every 1/4" off is something like 20° timing off, so this is critical.

Double check that your spark plugs are ordered 1 - 5 - 3 - 6 - 2 -4 clockwise around the cap.

With this method, your distributor will be lined up properly and your timing will be set.

 

How slow is slow? Compared to what? Are you expecting it to whirl like a blur? Or is it turning a 1/2" every time you crank it?

 

"The orientation in the engine bay of the #1 plug on the distributor is COMPLETELY irrelevant"

Absolutely agreed. It just happens to be that way with my dizzy placement.

 

Oh I know, I just didn't want anyone thinking the orientation would be some magic ticket.

 

Thank you. Your instructions there are magnificent, I will do it tonight.

 

OK so I got it running, in time and such with that great explanation. Here's a vid:

So now this brings other probs. It runs but only if you stay on the gas. In the video, I held the throttle plate open and at the end when I released it is when she died.

Possible problems now?

 

A couple things quickly come to mind.

The first would be something with the vacuum. A vacuum cap that's been missed, a line that's going to where it shouldn't be, something wasn't sealed up all the way (carb base plate). Sucking in air where it shouldn't be will make it very difficult to idle correctly.
Scour the engine bay (especially around the manifold) and see if anything is missing a cap, or if there are any torn caps. The newer rubber vacuum caps are garbage and don't last long at all. I had one rot on me after only a few months.

The second is the idle mixture screw. I imagine with a fresh carb, it's set correctly, but never assume that. If it's turned in or out too far, it can make it so it won't idle correctly, if at all. A good starting point is 1 1/2 turns out from fully seated. (Remember when you turn it all the way in to seat it, only turn it until it touches. Don't put ANY pressure on it or you can damage it). 1 1/2 turns out may not be perfect, but it should be enough to at least make it run well.

The last one would be if the choke is set incorrectly. I remember I had problem where I could just not get mine to run at all and eventually realized the choke was 100% closed. It didn't have any air. With the engine cold, it should be open at least 1/16".

Others may have other ideas that could help.

Glad to see it's at least running, that's the first step!

 

Before adjusting the carb, verify that the float setting in the carb is correct. If it isn't, no amount of adjustment will be meaningful/valid.

 

Funny you should mention that....so apparently the guy before me was an idiot. This carb was reman 5/12 but someone has cracked it open since then. They took the float completely OUT. I put a new gasket set on the carb this morning, but, being new to the carb world, I didnt even look for it. But I went to AutoZone and got a new one as well as putting the thingy that the float contacts in as well.
I dont however, know how to set the float.

This was actually a big problem. The float bowl was filling up and spilling over the top of the carb, and into the intake.

Flood.

 

The idle mix screw has gotten fiddled with since the carb. Also, the guy before me was a dud of a mechanic. (I.e. my post to Harte3)

 

 

It's difficult to tell from the video, but is that blue or black exhaust? Blue is burning oil, which wouldn't have to do with the carb. Black is rich.

If you let it run for a while, does it still blow smoke? Or is it only at start-up?

 

Still, it sounds much better. You are heading the the right direction. Don't give up!

 

New vid, watch please, I explain a lot of the problem.

I didnt mention in the video, but I have the Idle Mixture Screw ALL THE WAY IN!
Its black smoke, in fact, when we first ran it it left a big black mark on the grass.

Good piece of advice, I talk so turn the volume up, but turn it dow at the 2 MINUTE MARK. It gets loud.