the first time i go start my car for the day or after its been sitting for 6-8hours it always cranks like a **** before firing... when i first turn the key the car ALMOST fires up, but then i just gotta keep cranking on it for minutes sometimes to get it to start

i dont think its the battery or the alternator because once its running its fine....

i dont think its the starter because it cranks strong and sounds right

i took all the plugs out and lightly sanded them to clean them up and reinstalled and checked all the wires while i was at it, all is fine....

still takes 3-4 tries at 20 seconds of cranking to get the car to start.

Do you think its just out of timing or needs distributor work?

 

Sounds like fuel to me. What induction are you running? If a carb, car could be hot and boiling the fuel out of the float bowls. EFI, could be regulator or pump check valves bad or dirty letting fuel drain back to the tank. Either one will cause long cranking times.

 

its a factory engine.... 305 LG4 carb all original... I just replaced the fuel filter 3 months ago also and to my knowledge it could've been the original and was in fine shape.

my carb used to have a leak on both sides but the problem fixed itself about 2 months ago and this cranking issue started about a month ago.