How is that even possible??
Cause i'm an idiot. assuming i did the wires, cause i can't remember.
if the engine direction is left as marked on the flame arrestor, the distributor direction is right (clockwise)
I checked the wires 10x, and they were in order, but i had the direction of rotation wrong.
in a 4cyl, that means two were right, and two were wrong. so it could make starting noises, and
backfire at the same time. one blowing out the exhaust, the other the intake.
i know i marked cyl #1. and i knew it was right.
I basically woke up sweating, and knowing exactly what was going on. already had the head off,
i pulled the dist cap, and jumped the starter. yup.
So $100 and 8 hours or so, cause duh.
The last time i did this was 40 yrs ago with my firebird. I started it at 2am with open headers after futzing with it for 4 hours.
my parents were not pleased. That was more complicated because i replaced the '69 distributor with something more modern,
and also did a cam. so 100x the possibilities.
Will be moving this to the floating things area now.