Hi Clement

Just to clarify...

Did the car run AFTER you rebuilt the carburetor and BEFORE you did the other work?

Or did you do the carburetor and the other work at the same time and THEN it wouldn't start?

If it did run after the carburetor rebuild, you MAY have inadvertently advance the timing far enough that with the key on the engine is actually firing and TRYING to start but kicking back against the starter.

Yes, it did run, but hesitated upon acceleration. Idle was fine. 

Ohhhhhhh lordy.................this doesn't sound good..........LOL

@clement-thurn 

Well...

If it ran after the carburetor rebuild, and it cranks with the key off, but barely cranks with the key on, I'm going to say check the ignition timing.

If that is your problem, it's a simple fix.

Okkkk.............BUT.............how in the hell did it get that way ?  I have the spark plugs in the correct order.....153624.............if I put #1 in the wrong location on the dist. cap, wouldn't that be the problem. I bet I screwed that all up. I am not the sharpest tool in the drawer.............Forgive me, this is really confusing as heck. Thanks. 

And yes, it did sound like it was " kicking back ".....was backfiring a little and the windshield wipers were moving upon " kickback ".

It sounds like your timing is way off, Double check the firing order and then retard the spark. 

@clement-thurn 

Try this...

Turn the engine until the timing ball on the flywheel lines up with the timing mark with the engine coming up on number 1 TDC.

The rotor in the distributor should be pointing to "about" the 5 o'clock position.

If it is pointing to the 11 o'clock position, turn the engine over exactly 1 more turn.

Now make sure the rotor is pointing at the plug wire going to cylinder number 1.

If it isn't, move your wires until it does.

Install the wires to 5,3,6,2 and 4 going clockwise from there.

Loosen the clamp holding the distributor from turning, and turn the distributor clockwise.

Connect one lead of an ohm meter to the insulated post on the side of the distributor, and ground the other lead to the distributor housing.

The ohm meter should read about zero ohms.

Rotate the distributor counter clockwise just until the ohm meter jumps to infinite ohms (open circuit).

Lock the distributor there.

That SHOULD get you going.  🙂

Wow...ok thank you!!! I have a friend coming over tomorrow to help and hopefully we can get her going !!  My #1 plug wire is in the approx. 5 o'clock position, and the rest of wires follow, 5,3,6,2,4...........so the timing must be completely out of whack. How the hell it did this is beyond my braincells. I'll keep u posted.  

Question.....What if when we find the ball and pointer, and rotor is NOT lined up with 5 o'clock  position, is it advisable to ty to turn engine over by hand somehow to avoid going past the ball and pointer the 2nd time ?  I can see us " spinning our wheels " and getting it worse and worse. This is my luck. 

There's no "magic" with the 5 o'clock wire being #1 cylinder. That's how it came from the factory. As long as the firing order and timing is right the #1 cylinder wire can be any of the six. If #1 piston is at TDC and the intake valve is closed, the terminal the rotor is pointed toward is #1. If it's not pointed at the 5 o'clock terminal you'll need to re-set the distributor if you want it to be #1.

The most dependable way (in my opinion) to determine when the ball is approaching the window is to watch the #1 intake valve rocker arm. When it starts to close, watch the window closely and remember it takes very little rotational movement for the ball to come and go right through the window. When the #1 intake rocker stops moving in the closed position, the ball will be very close. It helps to have two people doing this, one to watch the window and one to turn the engine over.

Perhaps information overload but keep in mind, the timing specs then were set for much lower octane fuel. I only speak for myself but the only time I ever use the ball is to get an engine started. Once running and warmed up I time by ear. I advance the timing to the highest/smoothest idle and lock the distributor then re-set the idle speed. Some folks who do the same thing have, on occasion, had to make a minor adjustment because they advanced too far and the starter drags or the engine pings under load but I've not had that issue. If your engine has an octane selector on the distributor you can use that for any minor adjustments. The octane selector can advance or retard the timing up to 10 degrees. I mention all this only because you will see slightly more power and a happier engine over all if you advance the timing a bit over the factory spec..

Thank you to Stovblt and Tiny and Ed  !!!!! I really appreciate your expertise. Yes, my friend will be hitting the pedal and I will be under the hood. With all your advise, we'll have it running this morning in no time. Will keep you informed.  

An FYI it's MUCH easier to make fine adjustments to the engine rotational position if the spark plugs are removed. That way you're not working against the compression. You can often just grab the fan blade and rotate the engine by turning the blade. Trying to use the starter motor by bumping it will make you pull your hair out.

Thanks everybody !! After going through your very informative steps, we got her going !! She started right up and ran pretty well. Shut her off, and it was slow cranking...put battery on charge for 1 1/2 hours, started right up again, then slow cranking on 2nd and 3rd time to restart. I believe that battery is needing replaced. I know it's more than 3 years old. Will keep you informed. Anyhow, thanks for the great advice.      

Tiny, thanks. I did have the plugs out. We cranked the engine, and got to within about 1/4" of the ball to the pointer.....then undid generator and moved just that little small distance with belt and harmonic balancer.