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And along the same lines of misplaced plug wires did you verify how the distributor is oriented. If the dist gear is a tooth off #1 wire will not be in the location the manual shows.

If you haven't done so it might be good to place #1 piston at top dead center and then remove the dist cap to verify the rotor is under or just past the location the #1 wire is plugged into. If not then move the wire as needed. A tooth off might mean one or even two holes from the position the manual shows. After that verify the wires follow the firing order 1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4 and goes counterclockwise from that location.

There have also been a few cases where dist installation was an issue. The engine was not positioned with #1 at TDC of the compression stroke but rather was on the exhaust stroke so dist was 180 out when it was installed.

Yes, Ernie and Howard are correct, sorry I forgot to mention that you could put your finger over the spark plug hole and while cranking it over, your finger should feel the compression and you should see the spark plug fire. Quick and easy way to check wires are correct and timing. Best to do with all eight cylinders.
Wes

Hi everyone, I just tried to send a video and I think it was too big so I'm trying again...

We tested the spark plugs and they all seemed to be fine (nice white spark). The compression was lower than our previous tests (40-70 range). One has always been low but they are overall lower than previously tested. We turned over the engine without the plugs and it spun faster. Please see the attached video and let us know if you have any ideas.

oops. I think my video is a .mov. Any ideas on how to add a video?

okay, I posted on Youtube. I hope this works. I'm not very tech savvy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7U-X1g_cOc&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7U-X1g_cOc&feature=youtu.be

Cranking speed seems quite normal on the video, plus it almost wanted to catch.

I just awakened a 51 that had been sitting in storage since 1966 and the initial start was something of a struggle. A problem that develops after multiple start attempts, and when there has been oil poured down the manifold along with a lot of gas from multiple attempts, is that little puddles form in the manifold. These puddles cause the new gas vapor from the carburetor to condense into even bigger puddles. Also, when the engine does finally fire, the puddles get swept up into the cylinders and drown the engine again.

Tho many might disagree, if you have good brakes on the car, I would just put it on the end of a long rope and pull it down the street about 10 mph. Lock out the overdrive, put it in second with the ignition on and let out the clutch.

Provided you have done all the other preliminaries suggested here she should fire up, tho she will smoke like blue blazes till all the oil and fuel is burned out.

Much safer to jump with a 12V battery. Make sure it is connected neg to neg, pos to pos. Crank a short time/30 sec/ then disconnect jumper.

Towing on a rope is dangerous, 12V will crank twice as fast as 6V.

Thanks for the suggestions. We will likely try the jump first because we don't have brakes.

Should the fuel filter (see attachment) be full of fuel when motor is turning? You can see from the photo how little is in there. Could it be our fuel pump?

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Yes, the filter should be almost full with all the cranking you have been doing. The filter could be clogged, pump failing or the screen inside the pump full of sediment. This is the time most benefit of having a separately controlled aux pulse type electric pump mounted near he tank. You can turn the pump on to fill the line and get fuel to the carb so all the extended cranking is not needed. Once engine is started turn the electric pump off and let the mechanical do the job.

If the pump screen and filter is found to be OK a few other things that have been found is a pinhole somewhere in the fuel line allowing the pump to suck air instead of fuel. The small rubber hose between fuel line and pump has been known to harden or crack inside and restrict flow. If you have old rubber in the pump or line and are running ethanol fuel that could have swollen or otherwise deteriorated. If the tank has been sitting for ages it could have some rust or other debris restricting the fuel line inlet so gas can't flow. Some have installed non vented gas caps and if the tank is original it may not have the little emergency air notch in the filler neck some have been talking about. With no vented cap the pump suction is not strong enough to pull fuel from the unvented tank.

If the fuel in the tank is old it may not be of sufficient quality to fire the engine and can also deposit varnish on the valves causing them to stick.

With no vented cap the pump suction is not strong enough to pull fuel from the unvented tank.

Not necessarily the case, I've see two instances over the years where the pump continued to pull fuel from a non-vented tank, collapsing the tank inwards in the process as the car continued to perform satisfactorily. In both cases the tank was less than 1/2 full of gasoline and lots of air space probably contributed to the end result.