[67camaro02]

I just got done swappin cams in my 327 and my car wont start. None of the cylinders are firing at all. I am getting spark and its showing the timing correctly when i turn it over. Ive tried from 0-40 degrees but it doesnt make any difference. Its getting fuel fine. The car ran fine before i took it apart. Got any suggestions? nly thing i can think of is that the cam is off somehow. What should i check before i take it apart again? thanks

[JimM]

Unless you used one of those timing sets with 3 keyways on the crank gear, and confused a dot with a triangle or something, it's pretty darned hard to get the cam wrong.

First guess would be timing, but if you put a light on it cranking and it's good then it's good.

When you crank the timing up to 40, can you here the starter motor labor?
Does it "sound" like it always did when it cranks, or crank faster or slower?

What procedure did you use to adjust the rockers?

[67camaro02]

it doesnt really sound any different when i turn it up to 40. I brought them up to TDC and adjusted them one at a time.

[Brian Lewis]

Pull the valve cover, Cyl #1 both valves should be closed (rocker relaxed completely), now look at CYL #3, Intake valve (third pushrod) should be fully engaged, while Exhaust (fourth pushrod) should be completely relaxed, Cyl #5 should be Exhaust (5th pushrod) fully engaged, while Intake (6th pushrod) is fully relaxed.

Now you know you are on the correct stroke of the crank, dial the balancer to 12 BDTC. Open up the distributor and you should see the rotor pointing at CYL #1, not CYL #6. Put cap back on, hook up any wires back to the cap if its HEI, triple check that you have the wires on correct, 1,8,4,3,6,5,7,2

That should get you pretty close to firing over, once it fires, move distributor to find a higher smoother idle, then either sit on the gas pedal or use the screw on the carb to increase rpm to 2000. I broke mine in for 30 minutes as CC recommends, with GM EOS and Shell Rotella T 30 Weight Oil. Then drained and refilled with Supertech 10w/30 and Wix 51060

I just did all this yesterday on my 327, unfortunately Tulsa is a little bit of a drive to cruise over and help!

Btw what Cam did you go with now? You had a Voodoo before..

[67camaro02]

i went with a crane closer to my old performer rpm cam. I put my finger over the #1 spark plug hole to make sure it was on the compression stroke then set it on 0 on the balancer and the rotor is pointing at #1. The plug wires are all correct, i checked that a few times cause ive made that mistake before haha.

[Brian Lewis]

Maybe you tightened all the rockers too much, I'd go thru that again, and after the pushrod doesn't move up and down (but still can easily twist) add a half turn not a full turn, being careful to note which valve is what (its not intake/exhaust/intake/exhaust/intake/exhaust/intake/exhaust down the line) when following the instructions. Competition Cams has a great writeup on their install that you can follow for your Crane. Then since the covers are still off use my method for finding compression stroke and put it on 12 BDTC (left side of 0) instead of 0, your engine will be firing #1 at a 12 degree advance now, which is a much more inline with what you would be running, not a 0 degree initial. Also check keyway, it should be lined up with 10 degrees if I remember correctly.

[kustomwerker]

do a quick comp test to see if the cam is indexed right...if it`s wrong, you will have low or no compression...also, some cam profiles have a valve overlap so you could feel compression on the exhaust stroke...in other words, you might be 180 out...

[67camaro02]

thanks,ill give it a try tomorrow. If i was 180 out i woldnt even be able to see the timing marks would i?

[JimM]

If the distibutor was 180 out, it would be backfiring thru the carb, and the timing marks would sho on the lite

[67camaro02]

well i tried it all and it still wont start.Even worse, i went to check my valve lash and a had quite a few bent pushrods. I thought maybe i had just messed up on setting the valves so i replaced the pushrods and used the EOIC method and re adjusted all the valves. Wen to try and start it again and it wouldnt start. I also have another bent pushrod or two.

Can the cam being off just one tooth cause pushrods to bend like that?

[Fred Ficarra]

Originally Posted by 67camaro02

well i tried it all and it still wont start.Even worse, i went to check my valve lash and a had quite a few bent pushrods. I thought maybe i had just messed up on setting the valves so i replaced the pushrods and used the EOIC method and re adjusted all the valves. Wen to try and start it again and it wouldnt start. I also have another bent pushrod or two.

Can the cam being off just one tooth cause pushrods to bend like that?

I think so. The valves come very close to the pistons, even with everything set properly. Mine has .030 clearance. One tooth off should do it. Well, at least now you know what you have to do. Open the cover and fix the cam timing. Then check your compression. The valves are probably just as sad as the pushrods.

[67camaro02]

yea its lookin like it.

Also this might be a dumb question but could any of this be caused by the cam having .501/.525 lift plus the 1.6 rockers and having the inner spring out? Is it ok to run it like that just for the break in?

[travis]

What cam, springs, and installed height are you using? Cam timing could be off, or you might be stacking the springs causing it to bend the pushrods. Too tight of valve adjustment can bend pushrods too, as well as hold the valves off the seats and keep it from building any compression...thus not firing.

[67camaro02]

im not sure on the installed height on the springs but they are the comp dual 1.55in. The cam lift is 501/525 but with 1.6 rockers.

[Fred Ficarra]

Originally Posted by travis

What cam, springs, and installed height are you using? Cam timing could be off, or you might be stacking the springs causing it to bend the pushrods. Too tight of valve adjustment can bend pushrods too, as well as hold the valves off the seats and keep it from building any compression...thus not firing.

Good one Travis! I was just assuming that he used a properly spec'd kit. Mismatched springs, unchecked for installed hight is the first place to look. And that'll maybe save having to open the cover and might save bent valves too.