hey i finally get ready to crank my engine and i am getting no spark. the engine ran before we pulled it out of an old truck and put it in my camino. what could be the prob? i ran the negative battery cable to the alt mounting bracket, then a ground from that to the head. is something wrong with the distributor? thanks for any help guys

is there supposed to be a positive wire to it? it seems like there sould be but i don't see a place for one

You should have positive lead running to the starter and a negative lead running to the engine block.

What year is it?

John 8)

its a 79 350 from a camaro. the distributor says delco-renny. where should these wires come from on the distributor? the only wires on the distributor that i see go back into it by where the tach would plug in.

thanks for the help, got it crunk up today!! wayhoo!!! :-D
i can't get it to run for very long though, i'll get it figured out though, i hope :P

If it runs, but not for very long, it is probably starving for gas. 1) Start the engine and immediately close the choke plate to force it to run richer. If this helps, the carb needs to be adjusted/fixed. 2) Put some gas in a coke bottle, put your thumb over the top of the bottle and sloooooly dribble gasoline into the carb with the enine running. If this keeps it running, the engine is not getting fuel. Fuel pump, clogged filter, low or sunk carb float, clogged gas lines, etc.

alright, i'll try it today prob., thanks for the help

Ohhh....pouring raw gas from a glass bottle into the carburetor of a poorly running engine which could backfire any moment.....sounds like something the Mullet brothers did before they lost all their hair.

yea, good point. i ran it a little today and it did back fire a few times i believe. what would cause this and how can it be fixed?

What could cause backfire through the carb?

I'd start looking at

Plug wires crossed up
Dirty/broken/cracked distrib cap
Extremely late timing

Hope it helps