Thank you for the link. I can't seem to get the oil pump drive shaft to turn with a screwdriver (I may be just missing the slot every time!) Are there any other ways to do so (like insert the distributor until fully seated and try to turn the oil pump drive shaft while holding onto the rotor? I'm guessing that would break the rotor, huh)?

 

Sure. You could get another distributor and grind down the gear teeth or you could get a priming tool.

 

Thank you again. I ended up cutting a piece of 3/4" PVC and guided my screwdriver through it. Worked great! Everything went according to your article, but it still won't start. I'm going to charge the battery overnight and walk back through my steps to figure out what I could be doing wrong.

Edit: I re-read the timing article. The pointer on the rotor didn't line up with the 6 exactly (its less than 5 degrees off...its lined up with the edge of the arrow that contains the 6), and I noticed in another article I may have to redo it and manually rotate the engine while inserting the distributor so it falls in exactly?

 

Third update:

Pulled and replaced #1 spark plug. Manually turned engine until just before piston appeared to start going down. Crankshaft balancer was off by a good 15 degrees. Marks are still abit off. If I turn the engine abit more with the distributor out will it line up better?



Second update:

Managed to get in there (moved the cinderblock wall [never again...]) and pull the wheel off. Pulled the #5 plug by accident and cracked it, but glad I did (way past due for new ones). Replacing with AC Delco Plats. Will update again once I give starting the engine another try tomorrow.

Update:

Battery is fine.
I never verified I was in top dead center of the compression stroke. I misread verifying top dead center as aligning the marks on the crankshaft balancer to match the engine front cover tabs. I've read some stuff on here about the balancer slipping.

I need to figure out an alternative ways to verify TDC. I can't easily pull the #1 spark plug because the car doesn't have enough room on the driver side between it and a concrete wall to get in there, pull the tire, and lift the wheel wall to get to it.

Also, I've been turning the engine manually (to align the balancer marks) with a 1 1/2" wrench on the hex nut holding the radiator fan in place. That's fine, right?

 

That is something difficult to do when one is without experience. I recall my 1st time back in about 1970 when putting new lifters in a 67 SS 396, I finally had to get my uncle to come to my house and show me how. I would not let him do it for I knew if I did it myself with his assistance I would remember, if I just watched him I would soon forget.

Its easy for me to get confused what stroke the engine is on when bringing up # 1 piston, you can have it half out if its on the wrong stroke. I surely would not be good at telling you how to do this, just listen to swartlkk, he knows what he is talking about with these engines, don't get discourage, you will soon catch on to this.

 

Thought I'd give it a shot starting it with the rotor in the position in my previous post and with the new plugs. Wow, did it start easily! I still need to check if its running rich, check for leaks, then change the oil and burp the cooling system.

 

Great, glad you got it running again.