Too much fuel?

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Ahatchett

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I just rebuilt the 318la in my 1974 Duster and it wont stay running. I honestly dove in deep over my head before this I'd never taken off a valve cover.
So here's the issue, the car kinda starts with the choke on but only with the throttle all the way open. With the choke open the car runs okay but i can't get it to idle for the life of me.
Ive got 120psi+ on all of the cylinders. My floats arent sticking. All the jets and passages are clear. Vacuum hoses are hooked up correctly i think? It's timed to 8 degrees. All the spark plugs are black and soaked in gas. What should i do?

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What kind of carb? Maybe your idle mixture screws are open too far. Try lightly seating them, then back them out 1.5 turns.
 
Its the stock carter 2bbl and i tried the seating the idle screws then backing them out .5 turns at a time it still wont run.
 
I was 180 off the first time i tried to fire it but that and tdc. Were fixed and double checked.
 
I think I see the problem. The car is lying on its side and the fuel is flooding into the carburetor. LOL
 
Maybe your fuel delivery is fine and you're not getting ignition. Your coil, ECU, or ballast resistor could be failing. Have you tested the spark?
 
Maybe your fuel delivery is fine and you're not getting ignition. Your coil, ECU, or ballast resistor could be failing. Have you tested the spark?
I have strong spark, new coil, wires, plugs, cap and rotor. Along with a new control module.
 
When you say it's timed to 8 degs, do you mean 8 degs BTDC? I'd increase it to 12-14 degs BTDC and make sure your idle in gear is between 700-800 RPM.
 
When you say it's timed to 8 degs, do you mean 8 degs BTDC? I'd increase it to 12-14 degs BTDC and make sure your idle in gear is between 700-800 RPM.
Yeah i meant before top dead center ill try adding some more.
I also forgot to mention i put a bigger cam in it.
 
Cam specs are as follows
Valve lift .477intake/.480exhaust
Lobe separation 110°
Duration at .05 lift 268
Valve timing 0.006

I also ported the heads a bit.
 
Sounds like your plugs are fouled. Clean them and try that.
Add timing.
Did you degree the cam upon installation?
 
If you cant get it to run how do you know it is timed right? It sure sounds like it needs more advance. Try twisting the distributor ccw in small increments and try starting it. Do the final timing once it is running well.

Two other thoughts, are you 100% certain that the cam is properly installed and degreed?

When it is running, if you look down the carb throat do you see fuel dribbling out the venturis? You should not see any.

Good luck!
 
If your timing is even close, the firing order is correct and you have spark at the spark plugs, it almost has to be too much fuel. Can you look down the carb and see fuel dribbling? I see you have a new fuel pump? It may have too much pressure. 5# is fine, 10# will cause what you are experiencing. My friends Super Bee went through 2 mechanical pumps before we put a fuel pressure regulator on it. That fixed the rich running problem. Something to look at.
 
You didn't mention what plugs your running , are they old or new? Are they all fouling ?
 
have you verified timing and top dead center?
(what i mean is, when the number one piston is at top dead center, of the compression stroke, is the timing mark at 0 degrees? they slip some times)

you mentioned you never did this before, please tell us exactly how you lined up the timing marks on the cam

you did not by any chance swap out the timing covers, did you ?
 
If you cant get it to run how do you know it is timed right? It sure sounds like it needs more advance. Try twisting the distributor ccw in small increments and try starting it. Do the final timing once it is running well.

Two other thoughts, are you 100% certain that the cam is properly installed and degreed?

When it is running, if you look down the carb throat do you see fuel dribbling out the venturis? You should not see any.

Good luck!
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I havent been able to look in the carb yet but ill see if i can today, it does occasionally shoot fire back out of the carb though so im not sure if i want to try that.
 
Really hard to start, choke cant be closed and then it wont stay running below 1000rpm
Sounds like you have the XE268H Comp cam. With the low compression, it won't run at lower RPM without a lot more timing. Crank it up.
 
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