I'll weigh in on this subject with these comments. Barney knows what he's
talking about with regard to getting the
cam timing correct. Once you get that setup correctly, it makes not one bit
of difference how you put the distributor drive
in. Just put it in where you think it ought to go. Next turn the engine
until number 1 piston is at TDC on it's compression
stroke, put the distributor in and rotate the distributor body until the
rotor is pointing at a cap segment. This segment will
then be the number 1 spark plug. That's really all there is to it except
that if you have a vacuum advance it may mean
that the vacuum advance pipe port it way out of position, in fact so far out
that you can't get the pipe to match it.
Then you'll have to pull the distributor, rotate the distributor drive shaft
until you get it where you think the pipe will connect
up.
Carl G
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barney Gaylord" <barneymg@ntsource.com>
To: "Andrew B. Lundgren" <lundgren@byu.net>; <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: timing facts
> At 10:56 AM 7/4/2001 -0700, Andrew B. Lundgren wrote:
> >Oh it'll go in backwards alright. I have done it, without forcing it, on
> a '77 engine.... Wouldn't start, but it did sputter...
> >
> >On Wed, 04 Jul 2001 09:14:18 -0500, Barney Gaylord wrote:
> >>.... the dizzy drive is keyed off center at the connection between the
> dizzy and the drive gear, ....
>
> Well, since the distributor shaft with the drive dog on it cannot be
> assembled backwards with the drive gear, that would mean you either had
the
> drive gear in 180 degrees out of position, or the distributor body rotated
> 180 degrees out of position, or the HT wires were installed on the wrong
> plugs.
>
> Getting the drive gear in 180 degrees out of position is actually fairly
> common, as the shop manuals are somewhat misleading on the assembly
> instructions (if you're not paying attention). One problem is
> understanding "the larger offset uppermost", and whether this refers to
the
> location of the slot or the size of the lumps on either side of the slot.
> But even when you get that figured out, there's another possible "gotcha".
>
> Instructions for installing the timing sprockets have you set the
> crankshaft key at TDC, and the camshaft key at aproximately one o'clock,
> and assemble the sprockets with the punch marks aligned. What it casually
> does not mention at that point is that the cam is indexed with the #4
> cylinder on the compression stroke, not #1. If you then proceed to
install
> the distributor drive gear as prescribed it will be 180 degrees out of
> place. You have to pay attention to the first sentence in the
instructions
> for installing the distributor drive gear: "Turn the engine until No.1
> piston is at T.D.C. on its compression stroke".
>
> Barney Gaylord
> 1958 MGA with an attitude
> http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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