Start and Ignition Problems on 71 Demon

Do you have a GOOD HOT spark? Take a grounded probe, remove the coil wire and hold the probe at the top of the coil tower. Crank the engine USING THE KEY, and NOT jumping the start relay.

You should have a NICE fat hot spark there, 3/8--1/2" long

Just what DID you do to determine TDC?

If you are sure the timing marks are correct..................

Pull the no1 plug, stick your finger in, and bump the engine over until you start to feel compression. You might have to do this 2 --3 times until you learn "what to expect."

As you START to feel compression, turn your attention to the timing marks. Do NOT stop the engine on TDC, but rather BEFORE TDC, IE wherever you think you want your intitial timing, say, 10* BTC

No look the dist over. Rotor should be at or in neighborhood of no1 wire If not, move the wires around until this is so.

Now, I always make a small file mark on the top rim of the dist. case immediately below the no1 tower so I can see what's goin' on

Retard the distributor (CW for SB) and slowly bring it back CCW (advanced)

IF you have points, advance until the points just open

IF you have breakerless, center the reluctor tip on the pickup coil

This should be "close enough" that the engine just fires right up, no fuss!!