I apologize ahead of time if everyone has been asked this question before. I did read through 50+ pages without my particular problem being described. I have a 1973 225 cu. in. out of a 1973 dodge dart. This engine has been installed in a hot rod (rat rod, take your pick). Intially engine would not start and determined ecu was bad. Rather than replace said unit, I instead retro fitted a remanufactured points destributor and timed to TDC # 1. Got engine running and it ran not well but okay. Drove it and found it would not idle without throttle brake use. It would hesitate badly on acceleration and had to "nurse" throttle to get up to speed, seemed to run fine when at speed. 2000-2500 rpm. Drove it home and parked it. Next day, did not want to start and acted like it was either running out of gas or misfiring. Rebuilt 1920 carb. Checked points (gap right at 021. where I set it intially. It will sometimes start and run and then die. It will sometimes start and idle great and rev nicely for up to an hour and then die. Valves have been set at .010 I and .020 . Have checked float setting several times and have looked and it is not flooding.
Did have to reset distributor one as it seemed to have moved. Timing light shows the engine( when running) at 10-15 degrees ATDC. It is now not wanting to start or run. Help, I am an old auto mechanic and thought I knew these engines. I am wrong.

Do you mean 10-15 ATDC or BTDC? ATDC is too retarded. I would start about 5 -10 degrees BTDC, at idle, with distributor vac disconnected.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Unfortunately you read that right the first time. It is After top dead center. It will not start or run anywhere 2 or more Before top dead center. When it ran intially it was set at 0 degrees and I was able to adjust to 4 degrees before. However when it quit running and did not want to start, I checked the position of the rotor to the cap to be way out. I adjusted the distributor to where it should be and the engine started right up. Then when I checked timing I found it way after TDC. I am wondereing if it is possible that the timing chain has jumped on the cam gear. I can rotate the crank a good 1" before the distributor works.

Check for correct TDC marks... a damper swap or a slipped outer ring could put the mark out of position.

Also ... Holley 1920 can be trouble if an internal passage in the metering block has become plugged. Look for a "known good" 1 bbl carb that you can swap onto the engine and test with.
DD

If it really is 1" of movement at the crank pulley outer edge without any camshaft movement, then the chain/gears are worn/stretched at or a bit beyond service limits.

Thank you for the confirmation, I will go ahead and replace the set and start over. I will let you know after the replacement what effect it has on the problems. I am going to go with the double roller setup and see if it does indeed fit.

I know that this a little late for a reply but here goes. 1. You can time the engine using a Vacum gauge, disconnect and plug the vacuum advance, hook up the vacuum gauge, set the idle, advance the timing to get the most advance, reset the idle, keep repeating this procedure until you obtain a nice happy engine you will have to go back and forth a few times to get it correct. Then start it up if it turns over slowly retard the advance two degrees or until it starts up immediately.
It seems like you have a bad damper pulley.
Check for timing chain play if it is bad replace,

I want to thank all of you who responded and for the suggestions you gave me. It turned out to be multiple problems. I replaced the chain set it made a big difference for know I could tell where the cam was in relation to the damper. This also led to the discovery that the damper had indeed slipped and was showing 10 ATDC at an actual 0 degrees TDC. I remarked the pulley to show this so I could time it correctly. When trying to set the initial timing I discovered the the postion of the distributor in relation to the frame(rat rod has only 19"'s between the rails) would not allow me to move the distributor enough to get the timing I needed. I removed the the vacuum advance (and found that it was not working and leaking air) and clocked the distributor to about 5 degrees BTDC. It fired right up but was still not real happy but it did run. I replaced the float in the carb ( the old float was at least twice as heavy as the new one) and this helped the engine run better at idle and tried come off idle better. The final solution was advancing the initial timing to 15 degree s before TDC and now it purrs at idle and accelerates real well. I will experiment at some point in the futre with lighter spring but for now just want to go out and enjoy it before the snow falls. Once again I thank everyone who responded and offered advice. I also want to thank the entire membership of the Slant Six Forum, which helped to point me in the right directions