At 12:58 AM 7/10/98 -0500, Tyson Sherman wrote:
>.... A timing light revealed that the spark was occurring nowhere near
where it should have. I think I remember .... the distributor driving
spindle coming out. I didn't remove the cam but I did remove/refit the
timing gear. I'm certain it's timed correctly; #4 cylinder valves are
moving when #1 cylinder valves are closed and compression is felt from the
plug hole.
Oops. You may have misaligned the timing chain or the distributor drive
gear. Check first to see if the cam timing is correct. Remove the valve
cover. Position the engine to where the rocker arms on #4 cylinder are
both rocking at the same time, and both at the same height, one going down
while the other is going up. That will be TDC on the cam. Then check the
timing mark on the crankshaft pully to see if it is close (very close) to
the timing pointer. If the crankshaft TDC notch is more than 1/2 inch away
from the pointer, you will have to R&R the timing chain again to get the
cam timed correctly. When you put the chain on the two sprockets, align
the chain so that the punch marks on the sprockets are next to each other
and on the center line between the sprocket centers. Then put the
sprockets back on the shafts and keys without disengaging the chain from
the sprocket teeth. Here's hoping that you did it right the first time and
won't have to do it again.
>The Haynes says the slot on the spindle should be at two o'clock and it's
more like five o'clock. So, how might one such as I get the spindle out
with the engine in the car?
When both the cam and the crankshaft are at TDC at the same time, then you
can check on the distributor drive. Position the crankshaft at TDC with #1
on the compression stroke. Then rotate it backwards slightly until the
timing pointer is aligned at about 7 degrees BTDC (MGA timing spec).
Unbolt the distributor base clamp and remove the dizzy from the engine
block. The key slot in the dizzy drive shaft should be aligned at the 1
o'clock position. (If yours is at 2 o'clock it must be on daylight savings
time).
If the dizzy drive is not aligned correctly, it is easy to fix. Remove the
flat head screw and the dizzy mounting base (mounting sleeve) from the
block. Use a long 5/16" fine thread screw as a handle (a rocker pedestal
stud works well here). Screw the bolt into the dizzy drive shaft and
extract it from the block. Position the shaft so the key slot is nearly
horizontal (maybe the 3:30 position) and offset below the center of the
shaft (larger half of the flange to the top). When you insert the gear
back into the engine, the gear will rotate counter clockwise and come to
rest at the one o'clock position. Reinstall the distributor mounting
sleeve and the dizzy.
Position the dizzy with the vacuum advance port pointing upward. Rotate
the dizzy counter clockwise intil the contact points are closed (assuming
that yours has contact points). Then rotate it clockwise until the points
just start to open, and lock it down in that position. The rotor should
then point to the terminal in the dizzy cap with the wire leading to #1
cylinder. Proceeding counter clockwise around the dizzy cap, the firing
order is 1-3-4-2. The engine should then fire right up. Thereafter you
may set the timing to the mark of your choice -- 20 degrees BTDC at idle
using a timing light works well for me.
Enjoy the drive,
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
|