Sorry V6 timing again.

I hate to post this. I'm know it has been covered every way possible but I still can't get my Jeep timed. 1971 CJ5 225 Buick V6.
I've had it a month. The vacuum advance was unhooked. It started and idled fine but would stumble when pressing the accelerator and seemed kind of weak from what I'd read about the Dauntless. The vac advance was DOA so I replaced it. Hooked up the new one and the engine would run rough and backfire slightly. So I unhooked it and started replacing king pin bearings, wheel bearings, seals etc. After I got the front axle done and changed fluid in the trans and t case I went for a drive around the neighborhood. On deceleration I got two loud (gun shot) backfires on the passenger side. It happens again as I was trying to get back to the house. Raw fuel was all around the exhaust collector on the pass side. So I searched ECJ5. And googled. And googled using "earlycj5<keyword>. Here are some of the threads I have read.

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?58075-buick-225-oddfire-not-firing-on-2-4-6/page3

http://forums.off-road.com/jeepster-american-jeepster-club/60422-odd-firing-oddfire-2.html

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/show...ring-misfire-points-and-other-ramblings/page5
I PMed Walt who lives about 1 1/2 hours south of me. He put me in touch with a member in McDonough. This is the message from him.

"I cleaned the of the front of the engine really well with some degreaser and found a little plate with timing marks (0-15 I think) on it just behind the crank. On the crank itself there was an engraved line. I removed the driver side valve cover and rotated the engine until both valves on the number one cylinder were up then rotated it a little more by hand until the line on the crank was at the 0. I did all my rotating of the engine by hand and turned it clockwise. It helped to remove some spark plugs and the alternator belt. Once I had it zeroed I put the distibutor in with the silver tab of the rotor pointing towards the #1 cylinder. The cap was put on with the terminal marked #1 closest to the #1 cylinder. I ran the wires and double checked them. i did use just a little squirt of starter fluid because it had been sitting so long."

I lost spark and replaced the condenser and the ignition coil while I was doing the condenser.
At this point when I turn the engine over with the key I get a soft backfire through the carb every fourth revolution of the engine or so. but it will not start or run.
I am at my daughters soft ball game so I don't have it in front of my right now to answer any questions I might not be able to from memory or pics on my phone.
Also I looked at the lobes/flat spots on the distributor for the points and they are wide,wide, narrow,wide,wide,narrow,wide,wide,narrow.
I believe the rotor has the elongated tang but I have nothing to compare it to. I haven't owned a carb vehicle in 20 years and I have forgotten what little I knew.
Yes I would have done things differently from the beginning like hooking up the dwell meter and making some small adjustments but hind site is 20/20 and now I'm in a pickle.
Thank you for any help or advice you can give.

 

Having just literally dealt with this myself here is some pointers that worked for me.

1. Have you adjusted the timing since setting it at 0? If you have not advanced it from 0 it's firing pretty late but usually will run. You want something like 10 degrees of initial advance. Set this with the vacuum advance disconnected and the vacuum port plugged to the manifold or carb.

2. Have you verified the timing is not 180 out? If unsure pull the driver side valve cover and rotate crank to 0. The intake and exhaust valves on cylinder #1 should be closed. If one is obviously open rotate 360 until you get back to the 0. Both valves should now be closed. Check your distributor and see if it's pointing at the wire going to cylinder one. If it's not, there's your problem. Fix your wiring order and verify it works.

3. If you you can not get at the 0 mark with both valves closed then the timing marks are off and that's a whole other kettle of fish.

3. If all this checks out it may be a fuel issue. Carb may be flooding or accelerator pump dry/clogged. Crank for a few seconds then stop and check down the throat of the carb. If it's really wet you are flooding. A few gentle "love taps" with a hammer to the carb housing may knock a stuck float or power rod/valve loose. If you pump the throttle can you see the carb spraying a jet of fuel into the throat? Try not to look right down the carb while cranking. You don't want backfire in your eyes . Does it have a choke and if so is it on?

 

Ok. Heading to the garage now.

 

Success. I'm not sure what I'd did different than yesterday but I worked. I feel like chicken little.
Thank you everyone for your help. I was 180* out. And one wire off on the cap.

 

I now have oil on the #6 spark plug, oil at the passenger side exhaust collector and a good bit of smoke from the passenger side exhaust.
I guess the back firing caused something?

 

Glad you got the ignition sorted! Is the smoke blue or black? Is the oil on the outside of the plug or on the electrode side in the cylinder? If it's on the outside of the plug it sounds like the valve cover may be leaking or one of the intake manifold bolts may be loose allowing oil to seep up. If that looks good see if you're getting a oil leaking from the valve cover vent. Mine has a lot of fumes that collect on the breather there and causes some small drips on occasion. If it's on the electrode side you probably have some sort of valve guide going bad or blow by. Is the oil overfull? If the smoke is black it's more likely fuel and too much of it.

 

I thought I read in one of the threads that backfiring can cause damage to something but I don't remember what it was. I suppose a compression and leak down check is next?

 

Color of the smoke was hard to tell. It was dark and the lights are not too good. #6 had oil on the electrode side

 

I'd say blue colored

 

X2 what Glenn sez. The backfire is usually caused by excess fuel build-up in the exhaust and can blow the muffler apart. Won't usually damage anything in the engine. Oil diluted with gas will wash down the cylinder walls causing a loss of compression. When you loose compression you also loose suction hence no fuel or not enough fuel being drawn into the cylinder for proper firing. Diluted oil will give a bad reading on compression test so it is very important that the oil is good.

 

Thank you Glenn and Walt. I'll try running it when we get back from church (after checking the oil). I appreciate everyone's help with such basic questions. If nothing else I'm getting a great education. I guess my generation (40) has a good bit of lost knowledge to catch up on.

 

I changed the oil. I had at least one quart more than when I started with the timing. The oil was pretty thin. The smoke seems to be clearing up but it guess I shorted out the condenser in the distributor messing with the dwell and dwell meter. I'm going to try and get one at t Orielly's.

 

The condenser is designed to be shorted out by the closing of the points so that means you can't damage the condenser that way. You must have something else going on?