352 problems

[oddball]

I got a 67 F-100 with a 352, I had my dad help me do some work on it and he dropped the box with all the push rods that were in order. I put it back together and now I'm having all sorts of problems. It pops and spits out of the carb, when it runs its only for a few seconds and its only like 300 rpms. Timing is right, new carb, new points and two known good distributors. The only thing I didn't check is the timing chain backlash. The push rods don't look bent but I haven't taken them out to roll them. I don't know what to do next

[fordman]

is the dist 180 out?

[oddball]

No, Ive redone the timing a ton of times even though I know its right, I guess Ill check the chain backlash tomorrow even though its fairly new. I checked the gears and the dots line up

[fordman]

my truck broke the cam shaft once. and it would try to start but wouldnt do it. and i had just put a new timing set in it a few months or more before that. i was stuck in a ditch at the farm and was giving it heck to get out. rocking hte truck back and forth. on the way home the cam broke. i had to be towed home. did your cam pin for the gear fall out or break maybe. liek was said the push rods being out of place. wont do that. did you tighten down the rockers in order and a little at a tiem on each bolt. mayeb the rockers or one of them bent or broken not letting the valves all work.

[oddball]

Thats possible, I tightened the rockers properly, are the rocker arms supposed to all be tight? I never noticed on this engine but, on some adjustable rockers, when the intake was tight the exhaust was loose.

[fordman]

adjustable rockers are different than the solid rockers. i was thinking of the solid rocker shafts. i think the adjustable rockers should be all tight. i gues it is possible that some of them are too short to open all of the valves. but i kind of also think that there couldnt be that much difference in the push rods not to open the valves enough to run ok. and just tick if they were a little short.

[oddball]

The rockers on my 352 aren't adjustable, I'm just used to overhead cam engines with adjustable rockers. I had a couple of old Chevys with 350s but never had to mess with those much. Ill have to just keep messing with the timing I guess, I cant think of anything else. The truck started and ran fine after it was all back together. Then there was flat spot off idle and hesitation with backfire that got worse. It went all to hell after a few times around the block (less than 5 miles).I was thinking maybe it was the carb, but I don't know. Its a brand new Holley 1850

[oddball]

Ill look at the pink wire to the coil, the other wire from the distributor is new and the coil is new.

[oddball]

What about if the gas is bad, crap in the fuel tank/clogged fuel filter, would any of those cause this? The carb is getting fuel I checked

[fordman]

it could. did you change gas caps or tanks since you had the truck running last? maybe the gas cap isnt vented and its keeping the gas from flowing all the time.

[shaggys_bump]

I think your camshaft is 180deg out of phase. not the distributor but the cam itself,
but im not as smart as these other guys so dont take my word for it.

[oddball]

The cap is a vented locking type but doesn't seal good. I bought the truck last October and its basically sat ever since. I don't know the condition of the tank inside.

[oddball]

I think your camshaft is 180deg out of phase. not the distributor but the cam itself,
but im not as smart as these other guys so dont take my word for it.

Maybe, I didn't do anything to the cam and the guy I bought it from used it as a daily driver though.