I have excellent compression. I haven't performed a formal test with plasti-gauge but when I crank I get a great "whuff" of air from all cylinders out of the spark plug hole. Like I said, I also pulled the passenger valve cover off and verified the valve position vs. the crank/#1 piston position. I do concede I should double-check the driver's side. I also re-stabbed the dizzy, which was easier this time because I could see what stroke I was on by looking at the valves. I then put the timing light on it and tweaked it out to 13 degrees. I have tried ether but it didn't do anything at all. (Which is one reason I kept fussing w/the timing) BUT, if you don't have air, ether still won't help you. When I do get a few cylinders to fire, they fire smoothly and the engine doesn't shake or rattle like it's fighting itself. The back- fire I had, was because I had re-stabbed the dizzy 180 out. Duh. It's correct now for sure. I'm going to check the air flow (idle reg and such). I agree that a fresh set of eyes would be beneficial. I'm thinking of chloroforming Dave Stragand and bringing him down. I have just enough chain to reach the spare bedroom in the basement, the bathroom and the car. ;-) --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "David Teitelbaum" <jtrealty@xxxx> wrote: > Try a compression test on a cylinder. If the valve timing is off you > won't get compression. I still think you have a timing issue, either a > camshaft isn't correct or the the distributer or firing order is > wrong. Go over all your work again, better yet get another pair of > eyes to help. It is very common for a person to continually overlook > their own mistake so someone else may find the problem easier or point > out something that you keep missing. If the timing is right try to > isolate systems. Try a squirt of ether. If that gets it to run then > you know that you have a fuel system problem. > David Teitelbaum > vin 10757 > > > --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "cruznmd" <racuti1@xxxx> wrote: > > I appreciate the tip. > > > > Uh...my brass screws are all shut I believe. When I first got the car, > > I read in the manual that they were supposed to be shut, so I checked > > them. I had hardly put -any- force on them when I hit the stops and 2 > > of 3 just snapped right off. I was told not to worry about them since > > they should be shut. > > > > My idle speed regulator is brand-new. Like everything else....and it