[Rob Doe]

Philcobill, why did you change the timing gear? What made you come to the conclusion that you needed to do that?

And, did all items you listed in your initial post, 1 - 12 occur after you dismantled the front of the car and installed a new timing gear? None took place before?

My car has a high compression head on it. I can pull the #1 spark plug and shine a light into the cylinder and see the important part of the piston in its cylinder, perhaps it's not possible on a stock head, but I think it is. It is easy to see that the piston is at top dead center on my car. I suggest you try looking directly at that small part of the piston and cylinder when the timing pin is in the dimple. If you miss your dimple while hand cranking, put the car in third gear and use the front right wheel to adjust it until the pin is all the way seated. Roll the car back, then come forward through #1, TDC again.

I may be confused, but I believe you should look at the valves in #1 cylinder and that they should both be closed at #1, TDC. If the in-cylinder timing is correct, then take the necessary precautions to protect yourself, car out of gear, all 4 plugs out of the cylinders, etc. ground the #1 plug and see if it sparks as you crank the engine through top dead center. (key on)


As an afterthought, I also have a $20 endoscope/bore-scope that works on my cell phone that comes in real handy for looking in a cylinder or into the throat of a carb to see if the jets are leaking fuel at the bottom.