I just finished putting my overhauled 188 in my 350B and cant get the thing to start? The flywheel is at 8 degrees and timing marks on injection pump are lined up. I made sure when I put the pump on that the little tang on the drive shaft lined up with the hole in the pump. When I first tried to start it with new aftermarket injectors it smoked and was getting good fuel, but didnt act like it was firing. Thinking maybe the aftermarket injectors were to blame I put the orginal ones that worked good before tear down on and they do the same thing. I really dont get it I have cranked on it alot too and cant get the oil pressure gauge to show anything and it worked before. The only thing I could possibly thing of is that the injection pump drive gear lost mesh with the idler and is off, but I would think if that happened that I wouldnt be able to line up the injection pump timing. Any help is much appreciated thanks.
Stop! First thing is to remove the valve cover and see if the rocker shafts have oil and put a temp oil gauge to check pressure. There is also a bolt with a oil hole drilled for the rocker arm assembly that has to be in the right spot if you aren't aware. You may have to take a look at the pump drive again to double check your timing and also the pump drive gear. The no oil pressure is what I would be concerned about first because if it did start you could damage some parts quick. What did you use for a pre-lube on your mains/rods/camshaft bearings?
I used lithium grease but it isnt the white stuff. It is actually very thick. I know I have the drilled bolt in the right location, it looks like oil have made it to the rocker shaft. I double checked my timing and the marks still line up. I think tommrow Im gonna get a new battery, because it did kind of crank over slowly, but seems that it should of been fast enough to start it.
A rebuilt engine isn't going to have the compression it will after it's broken in, and it will be a little stiff too. Your old battery cables and starter may have worked fine with the well worn engine, but not spin the new one over fast enough, especially in the cold.