Hey forums,
I pulled a running 305 out of a friends 87 Camaro. Its sitting on an engine test stand at the moment. He got the shortblock redone at a shop and I was doing everything else for him. (I do not understand why he didn't buy a 350 so don't ask...) I put the whole engine together yesterday. I did not have any plugs so I cranked the engine to make sure everything was in order. It was great. He came in with the plugs I dropped them in and the starter cant crank more than 3-4 teeth of the flywheel. So I have now assumed the shop he went to put the timing 180 deg out and am waiting on a harmonic balancer install/removal tool. But was wondering what you guys were thinking. The battery and the starter have both been tested and came back good.
Thanks!

 

I don't see where you said you dropped in the distributor, ran power to it, and hooked up all the spark plug wires. If you didn't do that, then there's nothing to make the plugs fire, and timing has nothing to do with the problem. The starter may have tested that it "works", but does it still have the oomph to crank over a nice new, tight engine?

 

Didnt type that in, yes I did infact drop the dizzy in and plugs and wires were all connected. New battery as well, and the shop tested the starter and showed it on an engine they had and it was cranking like there was no tomorrow. I pulled the waterpump, the pulleys, the acc. I can put them back on in a second if you think it is not the timing. Im going to sound like an idiot but what do you mean by ran power to it? Is that referring to a battery(which was there) or somthing with the distributor...?

 

Yes, did you actually power up the distributor to where you were firing the spark plugs?

 

Im sorry but I do not understand what powering up a distributor means...

 

Did you hook up battery power to the distributor, as if you were trying to start the engine? How do you have the battery grounded, connected to what?

 

Sounds like you have a loose or bad ground. double check the battery cable. Do you have the valves adjusted properly? I highly doubt its the timing

 

Uh oh, I definitely did not connect battery to the distributor. I only sent power to the starter. My ground is on the bolt that goes into my test stands motor mounts. I am running straight battery with the alt not wired in. How exactly do I power the distributor? Send power to the coil? And heads and valves were done professionally.
(I have a mechanic friend who does alot of headwork)

 

Power to the coil if it's a separate style setup, or directly to the distributor if it's an HEI (coil in cap). Since you didn't power the distributor, leave that disconnected. You don't need to mess with the ignition with the engine on the stand. Move your ground cable to one of the starter bolts and see if that helps any. Another thought, if that still doesn't help, is to check to make sure the starter gear isn't meshing too tightly into the flexplate, and binding.

 

Thank-you so much for your help Camaro, I will do this tomorrow as soon as the sun is up.
Thanks again!