You aren't getting it to engage properly into the oil pump drive shaft.

 

any tips on getting that done? sorry im a total freaking Noob. Thanks again for all you time and guidance

 

Sometimes you have to reach down in and turn the oil pump drive shaft a bit with a long screw driver. It can try a priest's patience if inexperienced so if you get frustrated, walk away for a bit, then come back to it. I have an old distributor body that I ground the drive gear teeth off of for this purpose, plus being able to prime an oil system on a new motor.

 

so i got it to drop into place... but truck wont start... i thought maybe i had it in 180 deg backwards... same results... did i mention i forgot to mark where everything was b4 i removed it? now it cranks and then fuel odor comes from engine bay. when i have it set how it is now.. it sounds like it wants to start... get a little bit of popping kinda like a backfire noise but if i spin it 180... nothing at all. as of now it wont crank over... im thinking its flooded.

any thoughts?

 

Sounds like you are going to have to time the distributor correctly. If you didn't mark anything, you don't have a choice but to roll it over to TDC #1 on compression & then install the distributor with the rotor pointing to the #1 terminal in the cap then set it with a timing light from there.

 

ok so no more white smoke... but got stuck at the store for 45 min... my truck is having more issues starting than ever before. things I have done: new nut kit not a refer... new spider, new intake manifold seals, plenum seals... and had the Chevy dealer re-do my timing...also new air filter...


when the truck starts, it runs BETTER than ever... I have power, idles very smooth, no more white smoke... but I'm still having hard time starting when its hot.


here is a video from tonight... drove for a little bit on the freeway then got to the store. It wouldn't start when I went to leave. Went to check battery cables... and my red(+?) was too hot to even touch... it seemed after it was cooled off it fired up.
[youtube.com]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J1Ttl7X38k[/youtube.com]

 

If it ONLY does that when hot and never when cold, Bad starter or battery. If it also did that sometimes when cold it might be cable connections. Still could but unlikely.

Most people would have tried to jump-start the car because that is exactly what a dead battery acts like. Have you tried that? If it starts okay then, it's the battery If it still wont turn over the engine it probably is the starter. Doesnt happen often but used to, armature would drag on stator when hot.

Was your neg battery terminal warm as well? If it wasnt, then increases odds of bad internal battery connection. If it was warm, too, then most likely starter.

BTW: Just to be clear 'Turn over' means normal rotation under starter power. Not running on its own.
Pumping the gas isnt going to help... it's an electrical issue.

 

cool thanks..yes only when its hot. so Its a brand new battery, and i also had auto zone test it last week. how hard is it to get to my starter?

 

Is the timing set correctly? My '74 is quirky when hot because of how much timing I'm running in it. Base timing can affect the ease at which the engine starts.

*EDIT* - Nevermind, watched the video on my phone (can't on my work computer). That looks like a bad solenoid on the starter. Next time it happens, have a hammer with you and tap on the starter. See if that has any impact on the condition.

 

@swartlkk so today drove my 30min commute to work... got there went to get coffee before work... turned off the truck ran inside and came back out. Before I started the truck I wanted to check if the cables were hot... to my surprise they WERE NOT!?!?! but the truck still wouldn't start... so I got out and went to see if the negative was hot,it to was not. I then realized the truck had been wired up(poorly) for a stereo system and the positive cable(red right?) had multiple splitters running from it. Well one of the splitters was exposed... I wiggled the cables a bit and it started right up! I got home tonight parked the truck, and had a family member come try and start it up,same thing engine was hot but not the cables... it wouldn't start so I wiggled the positive cable and again instantly started!


I'm starting to think its not my starter and I'm getting a short because the battery cables? if it was shorting out while driving would that cause them to get hot? I don't wana replace the started if I don't need to. I'm a broke *** bicycle mechanic!