These problems are still in my sbc 350 with new heads and cam, The engine has only ever ran ONCE, for about 1 minute before I turned it off, never ran again after that this was 2 months ago. I have another thread on it about how I couldn’t get it to start. What’s happening as of right NOW is that I took out 6 of the spark plugs (the other 2 were giving me a hard time so I left them on) I drained the water and disconnected the fuel. When I turn the key the motor does crank but I don’t like how squeaky it sounds, and it sounds like it’s not getting enough juice. When the water, plugs, and fuel were all still connected, even with a battery charger it really struggled to turn by key, even more so by hand. Which is why I thought seized motor. But I dropped the pan, checked for bearing play and it all looked good, no metal Shavings at all, and the whole crank and journal looked perfectly lubed up. I was pretty much decided on taking the motor out and opening it up to see what’s wrong, but now that it is still steadily cranking albeit slowly I have a little bit of hope left. I changed and trust the battery, and just had the starter tested to have peace of mind on the electric side, also checked grounds and whatnot. I have a LOT more to say about what kind of troubleshooting I’ve done to it between the first time it didn’t want to run anymore and now. So if anyone has any opinions or questions to get a more clear picture I would appreciate any replies. Thanks

 

heres a video of it cranking, it cranked steadily for the whole video, but im only able to send 10 seconds of it.

 

don't sound good, this is with 6 plugs removed? I would suspect the work that was done. I would take front cover off and the timing chain and see if the cam is jamming up. also check crank to see how it turns. did you replace the cam bearings? also double check the valve lash and that rockers are not jamming

 

yes 6 plugs removed, water drained and no fuel. Yeah I was planning on checking the the chain and cam tomorrow. I have no replaced the cam bearings, I bought the motor off of a guy who has a shop rebuildings 350’s into street performance engines. I definitely felt like I could trust him, he said he put a new hot cam in it, new heads and a new timing chain. But everyone makes mistakes. I haven’t checked valve lash just yet either.

 

A engine that will not even start? That is not the type a mistake an engine builder would make. It would be such a basic mistake for a pro. Maybe some young kid just starting out. Yes they make mistakes, but a mistake like too much clearance or not checking the valve clearance and causes a high RPM issue. One thing engine builders are not good at is telling you all the info you need to know to finish off the motor. How did you check the power/ground. Did you do a voltage drop test? How much of the motor did you put together? was the distributor fully seated? Are the plugs the right ones? There are different lengths. How did the plug that came out look? Any coolant in the cylinders?

There is something not right. The engine should spin super fast then slow down when it hits on of the cylinders that is holding compression. It should sound like a horse galloping. With all the the plugs out it and everything working the engine should spin over very fast.

When you say you are having trouble getting plugs out did you mean you had trouble getting the right angle on them or are they too tight to come out?

Starter could have issues with a cable or a connection. I would check the AMP draw of the starter and check the voltage at the starter. I would also look at the starter adjustment. If the starter was too tight it can cause a sound like that.

 

It did actually start back when I first swapped the motor and sounded really good, especially for a ballpark timing. The motor was rebuilt by the shop owner, All I did was swap it into my Camaro, exchanged parts like accessories, distributor, flywheel carburetor etc, I didn’t touch the heads or block. The distributor is fully seated and slotted I double checked about 100 times, with the rotor pointing towards Cyl 1 at TDC. I got the plugs from napa and theyre supposed to be performance autolite, however they did look shorter in thread than the plugs from my old 350. When i took the plugs off after new motor didnt want to start they were flooded with gas but no coolant. I replaced fuel pump, no longer flooded but still occasionally smell like gas, probably carburetor. When i said i had trouble getting 2 plugs out I was referring to the angle, theyre not stuck. I agree with you about starter amperage I havent checked that yet, but I dont think it will need a shim, the gear does clear the flywheel teeth, I doubt theyre grinding.

 

So quick question,have to pulled the dist. out and put it back in since the time it started?
If not it should be close enough assuming there's not something wrong with it,if you have when you checked for #1 TDC are you sure it was on the compression stroke?
You could have #1 at TDC but not be on the correct compression stroke,if that's the case it's not going to start.
Forgive me if I already asked but what kind if dist./ignition do you have?

 

yeah after it had started I did pull out the distributor as I had suspected it at first, I changed the cap and rotor to be safe, it is a HEI distributor. I did pull it out a couple times actually hit each time I was very careful when placing it back in makin it sure it was slotted correctly and have at least a ballpark timing, about 95% sure it was TDC compression stroke

 

Bring the motor up to TDC compression stroke on #1 and pull the dist. cap off,look to see if the rotor is indeed pointing to #1.
Often time guys drop the dist. in thinking it's on #1 but the angle of the gears on the cam and dist. drive have moved it off once it drops completely into the oil pump drive and seated against the intake completely.

 

Re rough time the engine and try it again,
Trust your work and the rebuilders work for now
Use a rubber cork or something in the #1 plug hole
Turn the crank around clockwise until it pops out then set the crank at 4 degrees BTDC
Then recheck the distributor rotor position and reluctor alignment
Watch a few videos about valve adjustment just in case
You do not want those valves hitting the pistons in case the valve clearance is too tight