OK heres the deal,
I have just got done put a new cam in my 70 chevelle (396) (new timing chain and gears and lifters) Now i go to turn the engine over and it spins super easy( just seems weird to me) and it isnt starting, i did everything right when i put the distributor back in ( brought #1 piston to the top and had the rotor pointing at number one on dist. cap.

Heres where it gets tricky, when i bought the car for some reason the rotor in the dist. alway went on backwards, never knew why? but i left it that way does that have something to do with it? cause it was runni g like that before i changed the cam and timing chain( the marks on the timing chain gears were lined up perfect, so im lost please help!

Chevelle396

Before the dist. was backwards meaning pointing at the num 6 dist. post is likely due to the cam 180 degrees out. If you have the motor at TDC and you have the rotor at the #1 post this means the timing is at 0 degrees or close,,,,Please try to move your distributor just 1\4 inch counter clockwise. this will advance the timing a little,,,if no help maybe a little more. It will fire up

Did you check on how your plug wires are on the cap. Make sure you have #1 plug were your rotor was pointing at #1 cylinder not were the rotor was when you bought the car,and wire from there the firing order and make sure the direction the rotor turns.

the dist. is pointing at number 1 on tdc, was i spoused to soak the lifters in oil cause the engine seems like it turns really freely now

Sounds to me like the valves are adjusted too tight. No compression is being built up in the cylinders.

ya i agree with tony. sounds like you have no compression. like the valves are hangin open. that would let the engine crank real fast and easy. i would think if it was timming it would crank the same then "pop" out the carb. or in the exh.

do you have a compression gauge that would tell you real fast

When you say the marks were lined up perfectly, I'm assuming you mean the cam gear with the mark at the bottom, and the crank gear with the mark at the top. Then, before you install your dist, you turn the engine over one full revolution. This brings you to #1 cyl TDC. If you didnt do this, you'll be at #6 TDC. Did you do this?? I agree, if it's spinning really fast, you might not have any compression. How did you adjust your valves?? John