Please help me get this 451 running

[HDCharger]

I am still not having any luck.  I changed the Street Avenger to the 4150 830cfm carb, I replaced the Mopar Ignition with a MSD Pro Billet Distributor and a MSD 6AL Box and MSD Plug wires and I still get nothing.  I'm now close to 10 grand in an engine that is really pretty to look at.  I tried to start her today and she sputtered a little and a slight backfire through carb but that was it.  Since I wired the 6AL in the dash lights and passenger side tail lights are on when the ignition is in the run position (wasn't like that before)but I have know idea what can be sending power to those with the light switch off.  I don't know what the problem is but here is how I wired the ignition.  I took both wires off the ballast and put them on a three way with the red (ignition) from the 6AL box, Ran heavy red to Starter relay, Heavy Black to engine ground and orange to Coil positive and black to coil negative.  I tested it with a jumper as per the instructions and I have good fire.  However, I turned ignition on and connected the timing light to # 1 and turned distributor and did NOT get a flash at all.  I pulled # 1 plug again to be certain it was on the compression stroke and put it on TDC and I got Jack.  I don't even know where to begin tomorrow, 66 degrees and I have the day off.  I know its hard to diagnose fron afar but do you have any suggestions I may look at tomorrow?  Hope you can understand my ramblings, me and Jim Beam were sitting here trying to determine whether to throw in the towel or not.  Dave

[HDCharger]

Oh yea, I checked compression in all cylinders and it was 175 in all but 2 and they were 170.  Dave

[694spdRT]

Never messed with the MSD boxes much, do they have to be grounded? I have the orange box in my car and it had a poor ground that caused all kinds of intermitent spark issues. Finally, I lost fire altogther and found it. Just a thought. 

Hang in there...once it gets running you will feel better.

[HDCharger]

I'm pretty certain I have a good ground.  I checked the spark with thet with the jumper wire and had a really good spark from the coil wire.  I guess tomorrow I will roll it to TDC, check the distributor again and give it another shot.  I will be one happy guy when I can take this thing down the road for the first time, trust me I will let the world know.

[firefighter3931]

HC, when bypassing the ballist resistor all you need to do is to conect the 2 wires together. The small red wire needs to be connected to a switced ignition source. Look at the bulkhead connecter and find the BLUE wire....that is your switched ignition source.

Ron

[HDCharger]

Ron, On one side of the ballast was Brown & Blue and the other was Blue and a Blue/Yellow that went to the Mopar ECU.  I can connect all those to the red (Run) wire of the MSD?  I wired all those to the red run wire of the 6AL via a 3 way connector.  I didn't want to cut that "new" Harness but I will if that is the problem.  Thanks

[Chryco Psycho]

connect the red MSD wire to the Blue 12v wire beside the blue / yellow wire

[Mefirst]

I don't know if it matters of not, but I don't think its a good idea that you connected the ignition box main power wire (Heavy Red) to the Start relay.. and the other wireing you did sounds kinda weird to... 

Here is how I connected the MSD (Have the wire diagram at hand)

Connect the main power + and - directly to the battery (Heavy RED/BLACK) This connection is much better than to hook the wires up to the engine/dash harness, trust me on this..

Connect the switched 12V (small red) wire directly to the BROWN (Ignition 2) wire from the Ignition key lock. (This small red wire is kinda like a "wake-up" power wire for the ignition box) The BROWN wire goes to the ballast resistor, same side of it as the original Coil positive wire dark blue. In the MSD Installation Instructions its also stated to take the switched 12V from this wire... I took the power to the switched 12V red wire directly from the BROWN wire. When you do that, you can get rid off the original Coil + blue wire..

Hope this will help... and remember when dealing with electrics, simple is always better..

/Tom

[firefighter3931]

Here's a wiring diagram to go by. This is specific to wiring an MSD box into a Chrysler ignition system. 

Ron

Ps. If yo're running a tachometer; make sure to use the tach output port and not on the coil. The multiple spark output signal will cause the tach to malfunction or not work at all. 

[HDCharger]

She Lives!!!  What a nice day to work on the car, not sure what is up with this January weather but I like it.  I rewired the 6AL with main (Red) to the Battery hot.  I reconnected the ballast and ran the small red to the old hot coil wire took all the plugs out and gapped to .040 set timing mark at 10 degrees and made sure the reluctor was aligned turned the ignition and presto.  I even took her down the road and back and man I have to tell you it felt good.  Ran out of gas in the driveway, which kind of concerns me because I thought I'd put about 7 or 8 gallons in that thing.  Is it possible for a mechanical pump to be leaking gas into the oil?  There are no sign of leaks anywhere.  I do have one question.  My rockers (Comp Pro Magnums) sound like a diesel engine, is this normal or is it a sign they need some adjusting?  Thanks again for all your help.  Dave

[Mefirst]

Awsome news Hope Ill get mine running to once the MSD box makes it over the Atlantic and its al wired up...

/Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

fuel pumps can leak into the oil
the rockers must need adjusting
congrats on getting it running at least 

[firefighter3931]

To check for a leaking fuelpump, pull the dipstick and smell it. If there is a strong odor of fuel then it's possible the diaphram is ruptured and it's dumping fuel into the crankcase. As Neil said ; the noisy valvetrain means the rockers are loose and need to be tightened up to the proper spec. If it's a hydraulic cam you need .020 of lifter preload. Mechanical cams have a lash spec that needs to be checked periodicly. Good work on getting it going 

Ron