new engine wont fire, please help
 

the motor sat for about a year, its a high performace 302 long block. after everything was put on, and it was dropped in the car we tried to start it, but it wouldn't fire. everything down to the bolts under the hood is brand new. when we looked at everything more closely, we realized the marks on the balancer are totally off, so we put the motor to TDC manually. i took the valve cover off on the passenger side, and turned the motor by hand until both valves on cylinder 1 were closed, and the intake was right about to come up. then we put the rotor to number 1 and tried to fire it. fire is what we got, but out of the wrong end of the motor. exactly 180deg around it fires alot better, but sounds funny when it does start to run, and dies right after, with the occasional fire ball here and there. we have fuel, spark, and tried both ford firing orders. the rocker studs are the kind that you just tighten down all the way, but when both valves on 1 were closed and even, there is still play in the pushrods, i dont know if thats ok or not. can you help me start this heap?

thanks!!

need more info...
 

Is it a roller motor? Who set it up? A shop?
What cam is in it? Is it advanced?
What heads do you have on it?
Do you have the right plugs?

Most importantly, did you PRE-LUBE it before you fired it up?
Has it been sitting for a year exposed?

Balancers usually go on only one way.
You should be able to twist the pushrods a little laterally once the rr's are torque'd. There obviously should be no vertical movement though.

Good luck...

Sounds like a timing problem to me.

Get the motor on TDC on the compression stroke and make sure that your #1 plug wire is the one on the terminal that that the rotor is pointing at when you are at TDC.

We all thought it was a timing problem too, but everytime we set it to TDC, its already set right. If I set it where both valves on #1 are closed, and the intake is right about to open, it runs (well it hardly runs at all period) but it stutters really bad, until I put it 180 from that, where it runs a little better, but still wont fire.

Also, the rocker arms are the kind that you jsut tighten down all the way, so they can't be out of adjustment... I'm at my end with this, its a brand new motor and we've had to turn it over so so many times, I'm afraid I have or will round the cam off before we even fire this thing..

Any ideas?

Thanks

Are you sticking a screwdriver in the spark plug hole to see if the piston really is at TDC? You might still be off a tooth, since the intake valves usually starting moving before TDC...

If you are turning it 180 and it stutters, you still have problems...

Don't worry about the cam...it takes a bit more than sliding a lifter over it to wear it down ;) Especially if it's a roller cam...

What about the carb? It could be that the float level is incorrect.
That would cause a rough start up and occasional burst of flame out the carb.

Just a thought.