I have the ignition wired to the battery. New coil. New plug wires, timing of cam and distributor check 5 times or more. Strong spark. Won't start on starter fluid. Only heard it backfire out of the carb once.

Maybe old starter fluid? Worn out starter too slow? Low compression? Would any of those cause no start on starter fluid? I'm so confused

 

Double check your firing order.

 

Ok done that. All good.

After some reading I'm starting to think it's been decked because the cam tooth is about a half tooth off at 0* btdc. Right now it's set with the dot slightly to the right. I'll try it with it slightly to the left today.. also I'll try advancing the ignition timing as much as I can since I watched a video where a guy said his wouldn't run unless he notched out the distributor hole to advance it more

 

That small of a difference shouldn’t be a problem. Your distributor should easily be able to accommodate that.

I always ask members how their engine was performing prior to any major upgrades. If it was running fine, something in the upgrade process is the problem.

You can double check TDC by inserting a wooden pencil (eraser down) or a wooden dowel into the number 1 spark plug hole so it’s resting on top of the number 1 cylinder. Do this when your sure you’re on the compression stroke for #1. Watch the edge of the pencil where it rests on the threaded spark plug hole. As you turn the crank the pencil will rise upward eventually stopping and starting back down. The highest point is TDC. Check your cam index markings at this time. Also check your crank markings. If they match, the problem is not coming from the timing chain.

The distributor rotor should be directly under the #1 post of the distributor cap. Mark the distributor with a paint pen where the #1 cap post is located. The rotor should match up with that mark.
The distributor gear could be off one tooth. I’ve seen this happen before.

 

I got this truck not running.

I check that it was tdc with the front cylinders rockers loose and on the compression stroke the cam is now at slightly to the left of center about a half a tooth. I don't think it's the problem.

I set the ignition timing to approx 12 degrees advance by putting the crank at 12 degrees btdc and putting the distributor in so that it is hitting number 1 at 12 btdc. I've also tried it at 0 btdc.

Not messing with gas yet. Just starting fluid. I get a slight quiet puff at 12 btdc. That's about it. Nothing at 0 btdc. The engine could be junk but I checked that all the valves are opening and closing and they appear to be with the valve cover off. I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't fire up at this point even if it had very low compression.

 

Good luck. !!!!!

 

Thanks. Did a compression test. It looks like I have about 50 psi on every cylinder. Found most valves leaking really bad somebody did something weird I think. This is how tall the head is , has it been machined?

 

I'd imagine ~170+ PSI being a standard so 50 psi is a no-go for sure, on every cylinder something is not right! Try getting a bore scope down in there and giving it a good look before doing any other work imo.

 

I actually pulled off the head and it turns out it's a 22r and a w56 transplanted in. Burnt exhausted valves and very warped head.