A month ago my '83 truck wouldn't start intermittently, and i assumed it was the computer, so i did the HEI upgrade as outlined in the HEI thread. i haven't been able to get it to start since. today i verified TDC on cyl. #1 with a screwdriver, it happens to line up with the longest of the three marks on the harmonic balancer. i am getting fuel and i tried switching the wires from the HEI module to the distributor, and i have spark from the coil to the engine block. i also cleaned the spark plugs, they had lots of carbon. i am about to test timing chain play, and i guess a compression test is in order based on the results of that. i'm also going to see if i have spark at the plugs. hopefully i will get my "race truck" running. (well it's a race truck when i drive it).

OK, you've got fuel and spark...have you checked carefully to make sure the distributor is installed with correct timing? It's really easy to get this wrong, even if you've done it before.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

What do you mean by intermittently?

intermittently means sometimes it happens and sometimes not

i turned the rotor 180 degrees plus or minus a tooth in either direction and the best i could get it to run was not so good, missing at idle. if i gently give it some gas the engine increases speed smoothly but if i give it pedal a little faster it sputters and shakes and won't turn any faster. could it be that the coil in the 73 distributor is in the wrong position? this is with base timing at 5-10 degrees.