Crate 350 troubles
 

Hey Guys, I need some help with my truck. Years ago I put a GM crate 290 hp 350 in my 82 GMC. It never ran right at all. Always fouling plugs. I had it installed with all brand new components including an Edelbrock intake and Holley 600 carb. I had many mechanics tinker with it doing various things with no results. I then put on an Edelbrock 600 hoping it would change things but it did not. This spring I got it into a race car guy who drove and said that the internal timing is out by one tooth and it was assembled wrong from the factory. He did not want to fix it though. I just talked to another guy who will look at it but he thinks the distributor is on wrong and needs to be rotated 180. Would it actually run if that were the case? I think I trust the original guys opinion more where he says its internal. What do you think?

Verify the distributor yourself with a timing light before you do anything else.. and that your plug wires are on the right posts on the cap. Years ago I had a guy come to me with the exact same engine in a 79 GMC 1/2 ton. He had put it in and it never ran right from day one.... sputtered..... no power, etc. The local GM dealership he bought it from had checked it out as had another shop and both said the thing was fine and charged him a couple hundred bucks to fiddle with the idle mixture screws on the carb. It took me 5 minutes as he had the distributor one tooth out and once I set it up at 8 degrees of advance it would roast the back tires off and ran like it should.

His brother had similar issues..... except he was 180 degrees out. That engine wouldn't even start so unless maybe you messed the plug wires around enough to get it to run 180 out I don't think that's it. It really could be a bunch of things but try the distributor before you go tearing off the timing cover.