I'm guessing your ignition was left on while you went and dropped off your friend?  If it was and the points were closed your coil is sitting their sparking away and building up heat causing the oil in the coil to boil and then to blow the top off.  If I were you I'd replace the points and condensor along with the coil as these maybe damaged now too. 

To set timing for an initial start this is what I do:

1)Get #1 to TDC by removing the spark plug. Put your finger over the hole and turn the engine over untill you feel the burst of air.

2)Take a look at the timing marks on the harmonic balencer and see if they are pretty close to aligning.  Turn the motor by hand until the pointer is pointing to 10 BTDC.  You can also confirm this by pulling the valve cover and seeing that both valves on #1 are closed.

3)Mark on the side of the distributor cap where #1 is.

4)Remove cap and adjust distributor so that rotor is pointing directly at the mark you made on the side of the cap.

5) Reinstall cap.

This will at least get it to fire when it is supposed to but some fine tuning will be needed.

Also, I fill the bowl of the carb with gas so that i don't have to worry about the pump catching its prime.  I ussually fill through the vent tube/opening.

Good Luck,

Rex

Good deal. Take your time and we can get you going with a little help. You are in good hands.



Mark

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

i haven't looked at the plugs, i'll d that when i'm back on friday..

I'll also go buy a compression tester

William



1957 Ford Fairlane 500

292 Bored .30 over

Fordomatic

YOU WROTE " I'm highly considering rewiring everything again. Do I REALLY need a resisitor between the ignition switch and the positive side of the coil? " 1. NO you do not have to rewire everything again. You can run a wire from the positive bat terminal to the + side of the coil. NOTE THAT THIS WILL BYPASS the NEUTAL SAFETY SWITCH and the car will start in gear. Do not be in gear. Have an alligator clip on the coil end so you can stop the engine. 2. FORGET the resistor for now. Leave it or disconnect it for now it don`t matter. FORGET IT. 3. Do a compression check and tell us what you get. I had an engine that would not start and I had zero compression because of bad valve adj. 4. I am curious as to just how tight your new engine really is so a compression check will also let you know how fast the starter is turning over the motor. 5. REMEMBER, YOU ASKED FOR HELP!!! NOW TELL US MUCH MUCH MORE about EXACTLY whats goin on? Pete

When I returned from dropping off my friend, I noticed that the engine compartment was wet. /the top sat out roughly 1/2" and acid was still boiling out. Being I will be gone until Friday, I'm going to start from scratch again on Friday

William



1957 Ford Fairlane 500

292 Bored .30 over

Fordomatic

Is the motor turning over evenly? No "skipping" or pops out of the carb or backfires? Have you looked at the plugs since you have tried to start it so many times? Are the plugs gas fouled; black soot on the electrodes or wet with unburned fuel? I would also like to understand what happened to your coil. Did actually explode? Like a grenade or something?



Mark

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Is the coil original? The coil should have something like "use with external resistor" or "use without external resistor". That will determine whether or not you need an inline resistor in the wiring harness.



It almost sounds like your distributor is a tooth out. You have all the directions you need to ensure that it isn't, so just follow everyone's advice and you'll be fine.



We've probably all been there... Just keep eliminating things.

My name is Greg and I am addicted to Y's.

I don't think it's the motor, it sounds like it's rotating fine. I have to work on the timing. I'm highly considering rewiring everything again. Do I REALLY need a resisitor between the ignition switch and the positive side of the coil?

William



1957 Ford Fairlane 500

292 Bored .30 over

Fordomatic

Once you confirm that your timing is correct; rotor pointing at number one (number one cylinder is on the front (radiator) end of the head on the passenger side) wire on the dist. cap, spark plug wires are in the correct firing order position in relation to the distributor rotation, both valves closed on number one cylinder, and the crankshaft timing mark for TDC is at the timing pointer, you might consider that you have a "tight" engine. Meaning if the cylinder walls were bored and pistons/rings replaced it could be a tight fit in each cylinder making it too much of a load for the starting system to carry until the engine starts and runs a little to wear in. Hopefully, the pistons were dipped in motor oil ( I used to use a mix of 3/4 motor oil and 1/4 Ford oil conditioner ) when they were installed in the cylinders. Try removing the plugs and turning the engine by hand with a breaker bar and socket on the crankshaft dampener bolt. If it is really hard to turn, try squirting a small amount of motor oil in each cylinder and then rotating the engine by hand to help lubricate the cylinder walls and free it up a little. Hope that helps.



Mark

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I have points, replaced the condenser, points, etc. gapped at .014-.016. All i can think of doing is using my spare ignition switch and wiring it on the outside...idk...

William



1957 Ford Fairlane 500

292 Bored .30 over

Fordomatic