Advice Needed - Can't Start Rebuilt 273

67Dart273 said
What are the chances that the fuel is poor? Been sitting? Tried any fresh, down the throat, or starting fluid?

HERE's a story. In the 70's a then friend was trying to start a brand new 396, 57 Chev. I KNEW it would run--I helped install the cam and set the prelim valve lash.

He screwed around most of a Sat morn, and finally came and got me. Says "we're priming it with that Pepsi can full of gas"

I sniffed it to make SURE I wasn't gonna pour Pepsi down the carb, and said "go get some gas."

IT WAS JP-5!!!!! (Kerosene to you civilians, LOL)

Just put in 5 gallons of fresh 91 octane in the tank...haven't tried down the carb as I observed it was getting lots of fuel.

We're gonna do a leak-down test on it tomorrow or the next day to see where the lost compression in #1 and #3 is going. I'm guessing out the intake (carb). The guy who did the heads thinks maybe there's some "foreign matter" holding the intake valves slightly open in those 2 cylinders. We're gonna try and "shock" them to see if we can get'em to seat properly.

I'll keep y'all posted.