New Spark Setup! Any tips on Installation?

[TJ's GMC]

Sounds to me that your timing is Way off due to either installing the dizzy wrong or you haven't advanced or retarded the timing enough. You Did have the engine at TDC right? And you did have the cap off watching which direction the rotor was pointing? In this case at the number one cylinder? And when you installed the new dizzy was the rotor pointing in the same direction as when you pulled the old dizzy? You don't Have to have the engine at TDC, but it helps. Long as you paid attention what direction the rotor was point when you pulled the old one and installed the new one it should start. Also be sure you have a full 12 volts going to that ignition. Did you get the plug wires in the correct order?

[GBCustoms]

Originally Posted by TJ's GMC

Sounds to me that your timing is Way off due to either installing the dizzy wrong or you haven't advanced or retarded the timing enough. You Did have the engine at TDC right? And you did have the cap off watching which direction the rotor was pointing? In this case at the number one cylinder? And when you installed the new dizzy was the rotor pointing in the same direction as when you pulled the old dizzy? You don't Have to have the engine at TDC, but it helps. Long as you paid attention what direction the rotor was point when you pulled the old one and installed the new one it should start. Also be sure you have a full 12 volts going to that ignition. Did you get the plug wires in the correct order?

I did not put it TDC but I was paying close attention to the rotor position. It is in the right spot. I ran a brand new power wire directly to the battery and verified that I am getting spark. I will try and play with the timing this evening hopefully. Thanks TJ!

[TJ's GMC]

Good luck, hope it purrs like a kitten.

[bigblockv6]

Are you running a solid 12 volts to the distributor rather than a resistor wire that's used on the stock ignition?

[jrmunn]

If I remember right, the resistor wire is bypassed to give full voltage when the starter is engaged. This might be a silly question (but I have done worse) - are wires from the distributor going to the right plugs to get the proper firing order? If not, this could explain some pops and backfires. I don't recall if it matters where this starts as long as the wires are in the right order.

JRMunn

[GBCustoms]

what is the proper firing order? I put the wires back on the way the old ones were, but I guess I dont know if they were correct. He did have the fuel lines reversed at the pump.

[jagarra]

Firing order is 1-6-5-4-3-2- It is also listed on the intake manifold.

#1 should be at the 6 o'clock position as you face it from the front, rotation clockwise.

[GBCustoms]

Ok so the PO had the wires all screwed up! Got them put on correctly and SHE STARTED! But then I couldnt get her to stop! It just started racing like crazy, key didnt kill it so I had to choke it out. So Spark issue resolved, now why is it racing at idle and not turning off with the key?

[Otto68]

When you said "I ran a brand new power wire directly to the battery" you didn't run it to the dizzy did you? If you have a wire going to the battery from the dizzy it will never stop running cause the ignition isn't in the loop. It never stops getting power.

You will need to replace the resistor wire with a 12 gauge wire. The yellow wire coming from the starter will give you 12 volts during startup but once you stop cranking you will only be getting 9 or so volts through the resistor wire.

How do you like your dizzy. I have mine at 55 gap and it runs great. The only thing I wish I would have gotten the small cap it would have looked more original.

[GBCustoms]

Originally Posted by Otto68

When you said "I ran a brand new power wire directly to the battery" you didn't run it to the dizzy did you? If you have a wire going to the battery from the dizzy it will never stop running cause the ignition isn't in the loop. It never stops getting power.

You will need to replace the resistor wire with a 12 gauge wire. The yellow wire coming from the starter will give you 12 volts during startup but once you stop cranking you will only be getting 9 or so volts through the resistor wire.

How do you like your dizzy. I have mine at 55 gap and it runs great. The only thing I wish I would have gotten the small cap it would have looked more original.

Yeah, I dont know what I was thinking when I rant the wire to the battery.
I know very little about Ignition systems. Are you saying you have your plugs gapped at 55? I have mine at 60. I have to figure out the idle problem before I can do anything else. It is racing at idle. I have the vac advance going to the timed spark port on the holley.