Starting after 6 months and a new harness

[Grundy]

OK, well the time has come. I rewired the whole car, checked all the connections multiple times. I have voltage at the coil, through the coil, at the plugs. I have fuel getting into the carb. From what I can see, I don't have any vacuum leaks. It's a points distributor, no electronic ignition.

Now, we tried starting it up. The starter goes, cranks the engine once, then it stops. To try to describe the sound it makes, it's like one rev of the gas pedal. IT doesn't go straight to a zillion RPM (as in another post i was reading).  I haven't tried to start it in a few months, BUT, even the last time I tried starting it 6 months ago, it was doing the same thing. Could it be bad gas?

What do you guys think? Is the engine just "cold"? You think something is grounding out?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

I doubt if it's bad gas but it's EZ enough to figure that out. Even old gas will still fire unless it smells like varnish and NOT gas. Or has a whole lot of water in it. Anyway are you saying when you turn the key the engine cranks once and then no more? Then does nothing when you hit the key again??

[Grundy]

IT smells like gas, not varnish, but I was thinking more that it could be water in the gas.

It fires every time i turn the key. It's just the initial fire of the engine, one rev, and then it stops.

[Moparal]

Try running a wire from the pos bat term to the ballast resister, then jump the neutral safety switch and see if the engine cranks. Maybe its possible that #2 on yer switch is bad or if you got a dual resistor (ballast) it might have one resitor bad. You can even run the wire straight to the pos side of the coil for a bit to try too.

[Grundy]

It does have a dual resistor. One is .5 ohm the other 5 ohm (.5 ohm is hooked up). I checked it with my meter, and got those values. I hooked up a meter to both sides of the resistor. The one side, with the key in the "on" position, registers nicely at 12 volts.  The other side is about 6.7 volts. That works. (There's a brand new wiring harness in there -AND- ignition switch).

[Moparal]

Ok, but did you jump a wire over to the coil and jump the safety switch to see if it would stay running?  Also, I dont recall seeing a dual resistor on a point distributor installed on any type mopar. I thought that was for electronic.  There are 2 types of coils too. Internal and external resistors. And a condensor in the distributor will cause havok if bad.

[Grundy]

The neutral safety is jumped out, yes. The dual resistor was from the previous owner, who put this car together. He must have had that laying around and used it. Remember, I'm only using the .5 ohm side. The coil is new, and requires the resistor.

However... the condenser. I have checked everything except for under the distributor cap. If I mark the cap for its location, then remove it, check it, and place it back, I shouldn't have to re-time it, correct? I didn't have time for that last night.

[Chryco Psycho]

I would temporarily jump the resister to get a constant 12v to the coil see if it  stays running that way

[Grundy]

I will definitely give it a shot. IF that works, then just go get a new resistor?

[Chryco Psycho]

yes
 or you may have a weak coil

[ted]

sounds like too much timing advance

OK, well the time has come. I rewired the whole car, checked all the connections multiple times. I have voltage at the coil, through the coil, at the plugs. I have fuel getting into the carb. From what I can see, I don't have any vacuum leaks. It's a points distributor, no electronic ignition.

Now, we tried starting it up. The starter goes, cranks the engine once, then it stops. To try to describe the sound it makes, it's like one rev of the gas pedal. IT doesn't go straight to a zillion RPM (as in another post i was reading).  I haven't tried to start it in a few months, BUT, even the last time I tried starting it 6 months ago, it was doing the same thing. Could it be bad gas?

What do you guys think? Is the engine just "cold"? You think something is grounding out?

[Bullitt-]

Reminds me a little of the time my dad installed the distributor 180 out... would hit hard one or two revs on the stater & then backfire....I'm guessing your timing is way too early. Try cranking it with no power to the ignition, this should prove or disprove this theory.

[Grundy]

Thanks to all who helped out. IT was a combination of bad gas, and a little mixed up wiring. After going direct with the wires, it fired right up. So i rewired the ignition wiring to the ignition switch and she starts every time. I also threw a little Heet in there to get rid of the water. We drove it around a bunch this weekend. By the end of yesterday, it was smooth sailing.

[Chryco Psycho]

Very Cool