225 ODD-fire misses backfires and is on my last nerve, please help

I removed the stock dist. and put in the HEI from a newer but still odd-fire unit. I can make it run, but am having a horrible time trying to time the darn thing. I have read everything i can find and am still stumped. With cap off my rotor is pointed about where my rad hose goes in. With cap on #1 wire is at that spot, and after is 65432. when I turn engine over it will start to run but I have dead wires (checked with a timing light one at a time) and can only see my timing markers with the light on #4 wire. What the heck have I got wrong? Does anyone have instructions from start to finish WITHOUT HAVING THE OLD UNIT RUNNING FIRST?? Where do I start? I just came in from the shop and have now moved the whole dist so i could get more adjustment and again have "dead wires" UHHG

 

A) are you absolutely certain it is an oddfire distributor?

B) are you sure you have an oddfire, not evenfire distributor cap?

C) double check and make sure you have it set on #1 with engine on tdc, compression stroke on #1 cylinder.


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Make sure the mechanical advance springs are working. My distributor had the same problems and drove me nuts for a month. My springs were bad. As in completely gone lol The first thing I would try is what Nickmil said.

 

How can I be 100% sure its oddfire dist? How do I tell if the cap is odd or even? It had 2 short contacts followed by 6 lengthened contacts. I can make it run and drivable. It just don't seem to want to get timed. Will it run at all with an even cap?
I'm 100% sure I'm on #1 compression (wife cranks I hold finger over hole until blown out)

 

If you don't get answer about cap sooner, I can snap some photos tonight.

Are your plug wires in good shape? That could be cause of miss and backfire.

As I go back and re-read everything, I am still unclear on your issue. So the engine is running, but a timing light only shows "spark" on one wire. Or you only see the timing mark on damper with #4 ?

 

Ok, this morning i tweaked some more and SHE LIVES! but now idle is too high. I checked for vac leaks and have my fuel adjustment screws on the 2-jet carb 2 turns out. timing is set @ 2-4 before tdc

 

running like a top! re-read EVERYTHING about 10 times. Thanks guys