So several months ago I drove my 1959 JD 430W into the shop to clean it up, change some seals, pound some dents out of the tin work and put a fresh coat of paint on her. Mechanically there was nothing wrong other than a few oil drips here and there.
I disassembled it down to the main frame (rear end, torque tube, engine) so I could do a better job cleaning it an painting it. I got everything back together and now I can not get the engine to start. So here is what I have done
Compression test. Cylinder #1 has 127 lbs. and cylinder #2 has 124 lbs. while cranking.
Eliminated the wiring harness that I made and supplied 6VDC directly to the coil.
Confirmed spark by pulling a wire off the cap, holding spark plug against the block, and installed an in-line spark checker.
I sucked it up and held my finger against the spark plug (when it was threaded into the head) to make sure there was a spark when I was cranking it over.
Installed new points, condenser, spark plugs, cap, rotor, and coil.
Removed everything listed above and installed one from My JDM and still no difference.
Removed the air intake elbow from the carb and sprayed some ether in to the carb, all I can get is a back fire.
Removed the carb and installed a carb from my JDM and still no difference.
Removed the manifold to check to see if anything crawled up there and died, its clean and no obstruction.
With the manifold removed I can watch the intake and exhaust valves moving up and down.
Starter was rebuilt and yes the engine is turning over the correct direction.
Confirmed timing with the marks on the flywheel and cylinder #1, also set the distributor accordingly.
Pulled the tractor around and will not start.

Engine was never disassembled and governor was not removed.

What Am I missing here????
I am open to any advise.
Thanks in advance.

.
 
I installed the spark plug wires from the M when I swapped everything else over.

New spark plugs.

The mating surfaces between the distributor and the block were ground clean, no paint and no rust.

The ground wire from the battery was moved to the torque tube, specifically to the stud that holds the starter in and the mating surfaces were ground clean, no paint and no rust.
 
(quoted from post at 08:54:31 05/16/16) I installed the spark plug wires from the M when I swapped everything else over.

New spark plugs.

The mating surfaces between the distributor and the block were ground clean, no paint and no rust.

The ground wire from the battery was moved to the torque tube, specifically to the stud that holds the starter in and the mating surfaces were ground clean, no paint and no rust.

What about fuel? Have you checked fuel delivery? Tank vented?
 
Sure did...
There is a pencil sized stream coming out of the line on the carb and if I open the Petcock on the carb gas flows straight out. No blockage with or without the gas cap on.

I also drained the tank and put in fresh gas too, not the Ethanol crap either.
 
(quoted from post at 15:56:02 05/15/16) So several months ago I drove my 1959 JD 430W into the shop to clean it up, change some seals, pound some dents out of the tin work and put a fresh coat of paint on her. Mechanically there was nothing wrong other than a few oil drips here and there.
I disassembled it down to the main frame (rear end, torque tube, engine) so I could do a better job cleaning it an painting it. I got everything back together and now I can not get the engine to start. So here is what I have done
Compression test. Cylinder #1 has 127 lbs. and cylinder #2 has 124 lbs. while cranking.
Eliminated the wiring harness that I made and supplied 6VDC directly to the coil.
Confirmed spark by pulling a wire off the cap, holding spark plug against the block, and installed an in-line spark checker.
I sucked it up and held my finger against the spark plug (when it was threaded into the head) to make sure there was a spark when I was cranking it over.
Installed new points, condenser, spark plugs, cap, rotor, and coil.
Removed everything listed above and installed one from My JDM and still no difference.
Removed the air intake elbow from the carb and sprayed some ether in to the carb, all I can get is a back fire.
Removed the carb and installed a carb from my JDM and still no difference.
Removed the manifold to check to see if anything crawled up there and died, its clean and no obstruction.
With the manifold removed I can watch the intake and exhaust valves moving up and down.
Starter was rebuilt and yes the engine is turning over the correct direction.
Confirmed timing with the marks on the flywheel and cylinder #1, also set the distributor accordingly.
Pulled the tractor around and will not start.

Engine was never disassembled and governor was not removed.

What Am I missing here????
I am open to any advise.
Thanks in advance.

.

I know you said you checked the timing but if you are getting spark along with fuel(ether) and all you get is a backfire then you must have a timing issue. Check that you have the spark plug wires going to the correct cylinders. I had pretty much the same situation with a tractor a couple of months ago and I had the timing 180 degrees out. Make sure you have the correct timing mark timed with cylinder #1 at TDC.
 
This one is a puzzler for sure so it's gonna be super simple when you find it. Spark is good. Gas flow is good. Are your plugs getting wet when you try to crank it? Dist advance not stuck? Muffler clear? No 1 dist post at 12:30 when looking straight at it? Did you leave the rubber elbow off when you pulled it?
 
I totally agree that it is something simple and right in front of my eyes. Yes The air intake elbow was removed from the carb and the muffler is removed from the manifold. Plugs are getting wet, BUT they do not seem to be getting wet enough?????
Distributor is around the 12:30 mark, plus or minus a little as I have tried moving this around. Looking straight on the right spark plug wire goes to cylinder #1 and left goes to cylinder #2.

Explain to me more about distributor advance? Like I said I took my distributor from my JDM and still no difference.
 
I missed the dist change from the M so that rules out the advance. Even if it was stuck it should fire when pulled with the dist set where you have it. Plugs not wet enough with a 6v starter doesn't surprise me but pulling should wet them pretty decently. She should be running! At this point I would drop a 12v battery in there (even a mower battery would be fine) and pull her some more at a good clip and see what happens.
 
12 Volt battery????
I'm smiling and laughing as I have already done that!!!! Figured that people would think I was crazy if I did that! It also produces a stronger spark and spin her over good and fast.... :)
 

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