My Slant won't start

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Old Red Valiant

Old Red Valiant

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Jun 1, 2012
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Location
Norfolk. MA
I am hoping someone can help. Went to take the Valiant out for a run a few weeks ago and it wouldn't start or even kick, then the battery died.
After charging, I tried again, no go. I sprayed some starting fluid, no go.
I replaced the coil , no go.
It had spark, getting gas.
I replaced the battery, it was over 5 years old anyway, no go.
For the halibut, I replaced the cab and rotor, no go.

The way its turning over, it doesn't sound right. I'm think maybe a timing chain.

Any suggestions???

This might be what makes me upgrade to a 273 or 318.
 
If a good spark, it should run on starter fluid. Next step is connect a timing light and use a remote starter switch. You can find those today for a few dollars today at garage sales. To verify the valve timing, pull the #1 spark plug and feel the compression pressure as you watch the timing mark. A bit crude, but if you get pressure on the rising stroke, it should at least fire a bit. You can go further and use a wire to tell when the piston reaches TDC and compare to the damper mark. Using a piston stop is even better (see posts) and much easier than removing the timing cover.
 
Well, after a busy season, I finally got under the hood with a friend. Apparently the timing chain jumped. After adjusting the distributor almost 180 degrees, it started and ran like nothing happened at all. The gear was fine. Must have some timing chain slop.
Thank you for your helpful advice. It just took me some time to get under the hood.
Now the search for parts to upgrade the drive chain to an eight cylinder.
I need engine, trans, rear end. I would like to upgrade to a disc brake setup.
Also, I need time, money and more knowledge than I have.
That is my wish list for this year.
 
Sounds like an honest assessment of your situation. You can pep up the slant quite a bit, but if you're going to a V-8 anyway, plan carefully and just do one phase at a time. Many projects never get finished because the owner got overwhelmed.

ATB

BC
 
I can't understand how the timing chain could skip 180 deg and the engine still run, or the valves not crash into the pistons. My guess is that something happened in your distributor alone. You say the gear at the bottom is OK. Is it still riveted to the shaft? Was the distributor down all the way? Maybe something shifted in the centrifugal weights, like the spring fell off. There are 2 shafts that the weights work to phase.
 
I'm with Bill Grissom. Chain would have to slip like crazy, not just a tooth or two. Dumb questions, but are you numbering the cylinders correctly (#1 in front)? Are the wires on the cap in the correct rotations (clockwise, #1 at about 4pm, firing order correct?)
 
It almost sounds like you swapped out a bad distributor cap & rotor and when you put it back together you lost track of which wires went where. I did that many times over the years. Glad to hear you're mobile again, though. FWIW, the slant is not an interference engine. There's too much of a gap between open valves and TDC piston to touch.

Mike
 
check to see if the rotor in the dist cap is turning while turning the engine over. if it is check the points.
 
Car is running great now, starts on 1st turn of key. I have started to assemble the parts needs to drop an * in it. Hopefully next year. I have the 8 cyl. K-frame and upper control arms for disc conversion. Spindles are next, followed by engine, trans and rear end.
What sucks is, I paid $600 for a 2' single in, dual out exhaust. It will need to be replaced when everything starts to dis-assemble. Oh well. I hope to find a 273 or 318 that runs. and transmission to match. Not working at the moment, so things are on hold.
 
I have the V8 manifolds you need. Pay for shipping and they are yours. I also have a Trans and extra 8 3/4 third member. I just don't know about shipping those.
 
For the timing to slip 180 degrees something must be way off. I'd yank the distributor and have a look at the gears. If the chain somehow managed to slip then it's way too loose although I cannot imagine how that's possible.
 
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