VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Help please .. Motor wont fire over ???

Evening gents.
I'll try to make this short .
So I just finished installing the 194 I just rebuilt.. and I can not get this thing to even pop let alone start. I'm getting spark. I'm getting fuel.
Plugs are gapped at 040 , points at .018 . With 12° BTDC in the bellhousing window my distributor is pointing right at #1.... all it does it s turn and turn till I have fuel dumping out of the carb. Am I missing something ?
Thanks for any help you can can give.
- Van

Could the distributor be 180 degrees out? Make sure #1 is really on the compression stroke when the mark is coming up with the rotor pointing at #1. You might find it pointing at #6.

Fuel shouldn't dump out of the carb. Still dumping fuel with the choke open? If so that would indicate a problem with the carb.

if fuel is dumping out the carb, sounds like float is stuck or not working, once bowl fills no more fuel should enter ?!?

check, double check compression on cylinder 1 and where the distributor is pointed !!

1929 Engine Timing/ Tune-Up [Plan of Action]

Distributor Picture 1
Clocking Distributor

and i know on my engine it is particular, i set everything per factory and once i had it running tuned it between factory and vcca till it was happy, will be doing the same ting in a few months when i reinstall the engine.

did you validate BTDC ?? remember it goes around twice on one cycle so could be 180 out ?? i pulled plugs and used compression gauge to validate 1 on compression then went from there that is when i set and dropped in distributor once i VALIDATE 1 is on compression 12' BTDC.

If the fuel:air mixture is not close to 1:15 the engine will not run. The fuel will not burn if too far off ratio. With fuel running out of the carburetor the mixture is too far off ratio. Fix the carburetor.

Due to the dumping of fuel it is now well flodded and will not start. If the valves are adjusted correctly I woud suspect timing is off, valves too tight and not closing............

If you are using C86 or C87 spark plugs the gap is .040. If you use this gap on the plugs, the timing should be set at 18 degrees (or closer to 18 degrees). 18 degrees is set as the 12 degree mark is just disappearing from the timing "window". Point gap range is .018 to .024.

Check this site for more info: https://1931chevrolet.com/specs1.htm

Although this is for 1931 it usually applies to most 194 engines. This is in addition to the above suggestions. Good luck!

yeah i learned with my 194 first time around, i set mine up to factory specs, then started tweaking from there with gap and timing till it ran smooth, but only after i had it running proficiently.

before rebuild mine was around 15 degrees it was happiest. wondering what it will be after rebuild :)

I'd remove the valve cover and use the hand crank to get to 12 btdc with both valves on #1 closed. Then make sure that the rotor is pointed to #1 and that the rest of the wires are in the correct order. The timing is not that critical to get the engine to start. It's more critical to make it run well.

It does sound like you have a float problem so that needs to be addressed as well.

'31's are easy starting. Mine even starts (but runs like crap) with timing retarded to after TDC.

Thanks for all the advice and knowledge guys , going to put it to use here in the next few days
Flooding issue is fixed , ended up just being debris in the fuel.

I got my 31 timed and running again. Thanks for all the help fellas

Glad to hear it!