No Compression -

[BS CUDA]

  Finished the Indy head swap (or so I thought), had it idling reasonably well in the garage after some timing issues etc. Got around to taking it for a spin around the block last night and instantly knew something wasn't right. Serious lack of power so I only made one pass around the block - likely .5 mile worth. Pulling back into the driveway car dies and barely got it started with foot to the floor and barely into the garage.

Today I try starting it and it won`t run - only backfires, flames through the carb. Pull number 1 plug and no compression. Pull all plugs and nothing except on 8 , it bounces 0 to 150. Pulled ds valve cover and everything seems fine - pulled distributor and drive gear looks good. Plugs are black - brand new. What am I missing.

Indy 325 Big EZ heads - kit with intake, valve covers, rocker assy etc.
Lunati 20230713 full hydraulic roller cam and lifters.
New timing chain and gears.

Any ideas where to go next would be appreciated.

[BS CUDA]

 Ok - my brother seems to have talked me down off of the ledge. He thinks the valves may be staying open - perhaps something I did when I set them  . Going to use the Mopar chart rotating the engine 90 degrees and setting 2 valves at a time.

Thoughts

[roadman5312]

That was my first thought, to tight, then when engine warmed got tighter . Rerun valve adjustment, makes sense.

[Bart]

What length push rod are you using?

[BS CUDA]

They had to be custom cut - 9.75 ish if I remember correctly

[BS CUDA]

Well seems something is still messed up - set the valves again and b4 putting the valve covers and plugs back in I rotated the engine by key and couldn`t feel any push on my finger in the spark plug holes.

[Bart]

I think mine are 9.55,could the rods be too long?

[Chryco Psycho]

did you check piston the valve clearance ?
 could have bent 8 of the valves

[BS CUDA]

did you check piston the valve clearance ?
 could have bent 8 of the valves

Yes with putty - correctly  - Guess I am going to find out as I am quite certain a complete teardown of the top end is in order again. Fairly sure there isn`t a simple fix at this point.

[BS CUDA]

I think mine are 9.55,could the rods be too long?

Fairly certain they are not too long - and I could be wrong on the 9.75ish as I just set the tool and took it into the engine dude to cut the rods. I will measure again on teardown tomorrow.

Sure hoping I don`t learn an expensive lesson here - the head swap did not come cheap.

[Strawdawg]

pull a rocker shaft off.  That will allow all the valves to close.  Blow air into the cylinder and see if it pressurizes or, instead, do you hear air coming out the carburetor and/or the exhaust.

In other words, a quick and dirty leakdown test.

[mopar jack]

maybe the cam timing is way off.

[734406pk]

All good advice here. Pull the rocker shafts and air test to see if you have bent valves ( I hope not). Then check pushrods length. There is no compression if the valves stay open. Hope it's simple...

[BS CUDA]

1 head off and 4 intake valves bent - I'm sure the other head will yield the same results tomorrow. Any idea what this is gonna cost.

Expensive lesson I'm sure 

[734406pk]

Damn! You'll need some valves and oil seals, head and intake gaskets. Then to find the cause. Push rods too long???. Hydraulic cams spec is .050 depression. Not sure what happened here. I recommend replacing the bent valves and reassemble. Recheck pushrods length and post the results before you fire it up. Sorry!