Timing question

[Big_John]

Just to be clear. And I’m sorry for not being clear myself. When we are all saying turn the rotor 180° - you have to loosen the hold down or remove it enough to pop up the distributor just enough to pull up the shaft to disengage the from drive (tip looks like a screwdriver) gear and then you can spin the rotor like a top. Sorry I assumed that if you replaced the timing gear. You were on number one TDC etc etc. Sorry my bad.

Every now and again I get lazy about TDC or BDC and install the distributor’s rotor (not the housing) 180 out. Housing ( vacuum advance pod) should always be clocked at about the same position. You are 100% right to think I’m an idiot for telling you to spin the housing to where it can’t physically fit. Sorry again for the cornfusion .

He never had the distributor out, so there was no way that it would be out 180 degrees.

 

[MEV]

Success! No apologies necessary. Its what it was. I refound TDC on #1 piston, and it lined up perfectly with the timing mark. The rotor, however didn't hit the #1 plug. I rotated the engine by hand one turn, the rotor lined up, and it fired right up.

If you didnt lift the distributor and rotate it, change the plug wires around, or change the timing gear orientation, you did not change anything.

 

[Matt Conlan]

Well, yeah, I had to change the distributor, but before I turned the motor one crank, it couldn't physically point towards #1.

 

[Gerald Morris]

When you get the engine purring, take a small chisel and make a pair of matching marks on your distributor shaft and the hold-down. This makes it easy to find the sweet spot for future timing adjustment.