Help getting my suburban started

[Corts60]

Hey guys! So I bought a '60 GMC suburban today with a 305 V-6. It hasn't been started in 8 years, so I started with all the essentials: points, cap, rotor, plugs, changed the carb out....and it does not want to start at all. I have power to the coil but I feel like it is not making it to the spark plugs. Even with starting fluid and fresh gas it doesn't even act like it wants to start. Any ideas?

Here is a pic. I'm going to be starting a thread in the projects section pretty soon with more pics.

[structures]

did you check the plugs to see if they were getting spark?

[Ory Gun]

Congrats Cort....I am glad you got that Suburban, great find!

[losthope]

did you check the gap on points and spark plugs i had a problem with plugs that were supposed to be gap out of the box and when i finally pulled them back out and checked them they were way off and might want to check if rotor is firing in the right spot in the cap ..

[Corts60]

I checked spark by the old "screwdriver in the boot" trick. And I got nothing. What could be going on in the distributer that wouldn't let spark through?

I haven't checked timing yet either...I guess I'll do that in the morning.

[structures]

did you change the condenser also?

[losthope]

points not opening at the right time when it hits the top of the lobes on shaft,or points gapped to far or not enough when they open

[losthope]

dizzy cap is turned to much and when the spark happens its not hitting the number one post inside the cap

[sasquatch5308]

I agree sounds like points. Congrats on the new project.
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[CHIZZLER]

Glad to see it went to a good home.had my eye on it all week.hit me up if you need a hand.you in se?

[Corts60]

Yeah man. Just off Holgate. My good friend lives in West Linn. I am there all the time. I just may hit you up for some help in the future when I start swapping body parts.

[blown240]

The point gap should be .016 to .018. Is the coil good?

To test a coil:

Put a coil wire on it, and give it something safe to spark too.
Put a wire on the + side going to your positive battery terminal.
Put a wire on the - side that is long enough to reach your negative battery terminal.

Now with power going to the + side, everytime you touch the - wire to the negative battery terminal, the coil should spark. It should be able to spark a couple inches.

Check that first.


If that is good then make sure that you have the proper voltage at the + side of the coil. The wire that goes from the ignition switch to the coil is a resistor wire and they can go bad. You should have 12v during cranking and less than 12v in the ON posisition. If you dont have those voltages, then run a temporary wire from the battery + to the coil + to see if it starts. You cant leave that wire though because it can burn out your points.

I just swapped my 66 to a petronix and it really woke that motor up.

[Corts60]

OK, I just checked two coils. I hooked a positive wire directly from the battery to the coil. Then I hooked the negative coil to the battery and when I touch the negative terminal on the coil, it sparks on the terminal but not through the coil wire. Does this mean that both are bad?

Also, the positive wire to the coil (in the harness) is supplying 12v with the key in the run position. Is that right?

I have never had an ignition system be this stubborn before.

[blown240]

Did you have a coil wire on the coil? With the other end within sparking distance from something that is grounded to your battery? Like your motor.

If so, then I would start with a new coil. They are pretty cheap.

Without knowing exactly how your truck is wired (lots can change in 40 years) then 12v is PROBABLY right, but I think that your points wont like it much.

If you are going to keep that motor in the truck (and I think you should) then you should consider getting rid of your points and doing a petronix ignitor.

[Corts60]

It just fired up! WOOHOO!

I was d*cking with the gap (I didn't have any feeler gauges) and when I was trying to bump the starter she acted like she wanted to start. I gave the points a little more clockwise, tried it again and she fired up and idled. 60 psi oil pressure and I haven't checked the vacuum yet. While it was idling, I got out my dwell meter and set them up.

I am so excited!

[Corts60]

Thanks for your help everybody! You guys are great!

[blown240]

thats awesome!

[61_FL_Apache]

Woohoo!!!

[markeb01]

I'm glad to see you got it, and got it running. Looking forward to your build thread.

[jimmydean]

So are you keeping the V6? Man, I can't wait to see this one get started.

[Corts60]

I'll be starting a build thread probably in the next couple weeks, and, of course I am keeping the V-6! I love these engines. That is the main reason why I waited to find a GMC suburban that still had the V-6 in it.

[61_FL_Apache]

I like that burb too and look forward to the build up.

[Surfdaddy]

I had almost the same problem trying to start my 61. Messed with it for a few hours trying to use the spares that came with teh truck. Finally I broke down and bought a coil from Napa (not as cheap as I thought it should be. 45 bucks!!) and then messed with teh gap on the points. It's kind of a pain but worked out ok. Are you going to change over to Petronics electronic ignition ? Some of the guys in the V6 group say to change over to the newer HEI but I would like to keep it as stock looking as possible.

[Corts60]

Na, for the price of pertronix and as little as I drive, I just don't see myself straying from points. I just check the dwell every couple thousand miles and call it good.

[Surfdaddy]

Yeah, 125 for the kit is pretty steep. I'll see how things go and if it becomes a pain then I'll change over. Right now too much other things to do. I just ordered parts from napa for the engine. After sitting the fuel pump, water pump and plug wires were all bad. 256 in parts plus shipping and ca tax came out to about 315 just to get it home, and I haven't even got to the brakes yet.