You say you're sure you have:
- fuel
- compression
- spark
So it's got to start. Except for one thing.
- timing
Here's a quick and dirty way to check for coordination of spark and
valve timing. I've used this myself, but it can be more than a little
bit dangerous, and you need at least one assistant. You should really
eliminate any fuel, like taking off the carb(s). Pull the lead from
any convenient plug and hold it (or tape it) somewhere so you can see
the spark, but well away from the cylinder. Remove the spark plug.
Put your thumb partially over the spark plug hole, turn on the ignition,
and have someone crank the engine over. You'll be able to feel the
intake and compression strokes and observe the spark. The spark should
(obviously) occur towards the end of the compression stroke.
I did this once on a flat-head six cylinder engine that we couldn't
get started, and found that the plug leads were off by one position
in the distributor cap. It really sounds like the spark and valve
timing aren't right in this case. This is a quick way to find out,
but be careful.
Jim Beckman jeb@mtgbcs.att.com 1955 A-H BN1
|