A lot of thanks for all these helpful ideas! I really appreciate it.
A closer investigation revealed the following:
a. My engine block is painted Maroon Red, the cylinder head is black and the
engine number plate (and official documents, of course) say 18V prefix. Already
confusing.
b. The timing pulley is NOT a harmonic balancer, just a very slim plain solid
metal ordinary pulley, 5 1/8" (about 13cm) in diameter. So there is no way it
can slip, I believe. What a mish-mash of engine components I hear you say.
Thankfully that engine works beautifully. IT JUST RUNS ON a lot!
c. The timing marks on the cover are "above" the pulley, between 10 and 11
o'clock when facing the pulley from the front of the car, there are 5 teeth,
counterclockwise from 0 to -20 degrees.
d. I managed to find TDC by removing all plugs, engaging 4th gear and pushing
the car forward. When piston #1 came to the top of its travel (visible through
the #1 plug aperture) the rotor arm indeed pointed at the #1 HT wire. At this
precise location the notch on the pulley points almost downwards, at 7 o'clock
so I got my correction fluid out and drew a small mark on the pulley, just below
the 0 (TDC) mark.
I'm borrowing a timing light tomorrow to complete the business.
Questions:
a. Did I do everything OK, so far?
b. Can timing cure running on? My idle speed is down to 850 rpm (used to be
about 1000) and the car has no emissions equipment at all, no gulp valve and no
springs/holes on the HIF butterfly discs. The only breathing I see is the carbs
sucking on the front chest cover.
c. Can I use the same method on my Sprite that has no timing marks on the timing
cover at all, only this time mark the cover (not the pulley) where the notch
stops at TDC and roughly time it?
Thanks again,
Evangelos 73BGT, 66 Sprite
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