After messin with the roof and a bunch of other stuff I decided to fire up the 454. A little spark and then nothing but cranking. Tried a little fuel in the quad, nothing, so pulled a wire and stuck in a screwdriver and have spark, so what is the problem? Wore down the battery trying to get a fire going so charging it now so we can try again. Never had any flooding or other problems before.

It's a good thing you didn't wait til next Friday to try it. I sure hope it's nothing serious.

Danny, years ago when I was still in my teens an old man told me if you have compression, spark at the right time, and the right amount of fuel it will run. Have you checked to see if your choke is pulling off. if you had the rain we had check for moisture in your cap. I pour fuel in the Quad thru the vent tube check for a squirt thru the pump jets then replcace air cleaner before trying to fire up. good luck

Weak spark maybe? Flooded out? Did Eddie Murphy stick a banana in your exhaust?

Did it even try to kick or backfire?

Two considerations:

How old are the plugs? I had plugs with a rust stain down the side of the plug which I guess was diverting energy away from the plug tip to GND on the block. The plugs had less than 5000 miles on them, but were a couple years old. That is a problem from sitting too long.

How old is the HEI module?

Both of those ideas above are pointing to a weak spark.

Both of those ideas below are pointing to a poorly timed spark.

Is the vacuum advance tube to the canister on the distributor in good condition? Are the advance weight springs (under the rotor) still holding together?

Is the 12V line to the distributor seeing a nice voltage?

good luck!
Matt

I'll second everything except the banana. It takes a potato to kill a 454.

Does the accelerator pump squirt? If so, a decent spark should make the engine at least snort or buck a little.

Inside the distributor, look for red rust around the coil and inside the cap. It is conductive.

How does the rotor look? Test ohms from the center wiper to the tip. There is a carbon resistor in some of them. I forget how many ohms it is, but it should not be open.

At the module, check for good clean connections and good wire condition. They break.

A bad coil will drive you crazy. They don't like the heat in a doghouse. I carry a spare.

If you need any info from the Chevy manual, I can go over to the lot and make some scans.

Wear safety goggles when cranking with the air cleaner off. Eyes don't heal.

Check your vacuum hoses! We had a similar problem and resorted to starting fluid to get her to run, then we followed the broken hoses from the carb to the canister and the pcv valve. Once they were replaced it ran and started fine.

Went out this morning to begin tearing down the distributor, but thought I'd give it a try first. After some cranking it started to sputter then cleared up and ran fine. I'm letting her rest a little while and I'll start her up and drive around for a while to see if everything is all right. I guess I must have flooded her last night.
On another note, the little exhaust popping that I thought was the starboard donut turns out to be a small leak at the back of the manifold where it bolts to the block. Some serious work involved now I'm afraid. I'll try cranking down the bolts first, but I'm sure I need a new gasket, which won't be done till after the GTG.

Danny,

Now that you have it started, it would make sense to pull as many plugs as possible and read their condition. As many have stated, it could be a bad plug or a bad wire, but at the very least you can see if there is an obvious problem on one cylinder or if they all look similar in firing condition on the plug.

I had a similar problem with the 78 Barth last week. I finally took off the fuel line at the carburetor until gas was pumping. I guess the fuel just went back into the tank after sitting for months.

quote:

Now that you have it started, it would make sense to pull as many plugs as possible and read their condition. As many have stated, it could be a bad plug or a bad wire, but at the very least you can see if there is an obvious problem on one cylinder or if they all look similar in firing condition on the plug.

Do you know the age and pedigree of your ignition wires? All P30 owners should carry a spare #8 wire. That one goes first, unless there is a heat sock.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
On another note, the little exhaust popping that I thought was the starboard donut turns out to be a small leak at the back of the manifold where it bolts to the block.

right side?

454 exhaust manifolds are prone to cracking if they are not torqued in accordance with the procedure set by GM. from my 1976 Motors Manual the specs are: Clean threads with a wire brush; apply Anti-Seize and screw in finger tight; torque to 20 ft lbs starting with the top center, then bottom center and working your way towards each end (alternate top and bottom front to back). Use a good torque wrench and do not over tighten. Do not attach any clamps, wire holders or accessories to exhaust manifold bolts. Have a good trip!

quote:

454 exhaust manifolds are prone to cracking if they are not torqued in accordance with the procedure set by GM

Or breaking the rear bolts.

quote:

Do not attach any clamps, wire holders or accessories to exhaust manifold bolts.

Except maybe the dipstick.

Danny, If you do pull the manifold, I have some suggestions that have worked for me on a coupla P30s and a few pickups. (although the trucks needed less help) Lemme know if you are interested.

This might be a good time to consider a set of Thorleys. After the proper Rain Dance, cast manifolds can be OK, but Thorleys are an improvement on several levels. The usually hook straight up to existing exhaust pipes if you use band clamps. You can go to the turbo mufflers, side dumps, and X pipes later, when time, money and inclination allow.

I think a few others here use them and may comment.

Installation is candy.

Got home tonight and she fired right up, just like always.
I knew I'd get a Thorley recommend, and I'm considering it. Just have to check out the $$ and see what I can do. Right now we're prepping for the GTG and anything else will have to wait till after that.

Danny, if you are looking for a quickie solution to the leak I would use JB Weld. After the GTG you can replace the gasket or the headers. If you use the JB Weld, use a wire brush to get everything clean. Fill the gap with JBW and let it set for 24 hours. This is only a stop gap but will hold for a while.