178 fireball loses power under load

"The port engine in my 1962 Tr

"The port engine in my 1962 Trojan starts idles and rev's fine but it losses power under load.
The engines turn in opposite directions however the distributors turn in the same direction, This engine simply will not run when setup with the firing order that is called for in the book,these are flywheel forward engines, so because the distributors turn in the same direction, i used the same firing order. the engine fires right up! and idles nicely but has no power under load.
I have good compression and have been through every thing from intake and ignition to exhaust with no luck.
Is my problem still the firing order?"

"Sounds like you have a small

"Sounds like you have a small handle on the problem. Your timing might be slightly off or as you suspect the firing order. With the flywheel forward it really gets confusing which cylinders are NR 1 etc. Here is a print of my Graymarine shop manual that might help.
Cal
Graymarine firing order

"if both eng's turn outboa

"if both eng's turn outboard or oppisite rotation the firing order is different it may idle ok but your not hitting on all 8 cyl. the timing is 15 degrees before top dead center. the firing order for motors with the flywheel fwd. is as follows
standard rotation prop turns to the right when looking at the bow from the stern is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. oppisite rotation is 1-3-4-5-6-2-7-8 and #1 plug is on the starboard side rear plug. also the distributors will turn the same no matter what the rotation. valve clearence hot is intake .016 and exhaust hot is .018 plugs settings are .025 with champion uj-6 plugs I hope this helps you get your eng running properly. also the cubic inch displacement is 250 CID
Fred Durbin
[email protected]"

"I really appreciate the help

"I really appreciate the help Fred i am an old aircraft and auto mechanic so i was looking at the motors from the wrong end lol, I just realized this last night, so i pulled the plugs and followed the compression sequence and you are absolutely right.
Wow i am still amazed that the engine would fire and run so smoothly with FOUR plug wires in the wrong position!
Again thank you. Also many thanks to Cal Martel
for his help."