Help!!!!

DixieCuda said

To make myself sound even more retarded,,,,,, I keep seeing the firing order just listed as numbers and it saying the distributor runs clockwise. With that being said does the number 1 wire goto the 6 o'clock position or the 12 o'clock,,if I am standing at my front bumper looking down on the cap?

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Did you replace the wires one at a time or just pull them all off the distributor at once? If so then you need to get the engine back to TDC on #1 cylinder before putting the wires back on. (do all the following with the battery and coil disconnected so it doesn't catch and start up, chopping your hand off...) Remove #1 spark plug. Get a friend to put their finger over the hole and then turn the engine over by hand with a large wrench on the balancer bolt until friend feels compression coming out the spark plug hole. Check to make sure the timing mark on the balancer is more or less at zero. reinstall spark plug. check rotor position in the distributor. install spark plug wires in correct order with #1 wire at the rotor position. This should get you in the ballpark.

The point gap is critical. go to the parts store, ask for a new set of points for it. when they look it up they should be able to give you the gap specs. use a brass feeler gage to set the gap. You may have nudged the points when you loosened the wire.

Again if the car started at all the then problem is not the starter itself. It might be the solenoid but I suspect that it is timing/points/ignition related given the other symptoms you described. So check your plug wires/firing order/points gap/timing in that order and I suspect that you will make enough progress to at least get it running decent again. Remember it ran fine until the initial non-start (which I suspect was a bad battery) so it WILL get back to the state once you get everything sorted out. Don't get discouraged and keep at it. Next time, remember to replace parts one at a time, checking to make sure it runs good each time. That will save you the headache of trying to eliminate multiple options like this.

Keep working and let us know how it goes. We're here to help!

-Tim