MP Electronic Distributor in a '66 Dart

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stop the beast

stop the beast

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I'm putting a MP electroni ignition kit in my '66 Dart w/ a 273. The directions say to place the new dizzy into the block so that the rotor pickup is pointing the same way as the old point dizzy. It appears to me that the dizzy shaft will only sit in the gear one way and it can only be rotated at 180 degree increments.

So, I can't get the new rotor in the electronic dizzy to point the same way as the old rotor on the points dizzy. The new one is off about 20-30 degrees clockwise. Will I be able to make up for this when setting my timing or do I have an issue.

Total Mopar newbie so plz bear w/ me...

Thank you!
 
it will fit two ways....in time or 180 out...
 
with a mopar...lol


set engine to number 1 tdc firing stroke...put distributor in....line rotor up with number 1 on cap....

as per factory service manual......the rotor at number 1 should be aimed at the front driver side intake manifold bolt...
 
Thanks.

So if I understand you correctly I don't have to worry about the old rotor and new rotor being in the same position as long as I twist the motor so that #1 is TDC and then re-set my timing from there?
 
check the relationship of the old rotor to #1 on cap and new rotor to #1 on cap...
 
As mentioned find tdc.
Then the rotor should face the front/drivers side manifold bolt.

Another way is to stab it in.
Try starting it.
If it dont start.
Take it out,rotate it 180deg's,and watch it fire !
Now set timing.
 
Thanks for the quick replies! I got it to start up and it idles like I expected, complete crap. I'll tackle the timing in the morning.

Anyone have a link to a good walk through on small block timing? I can't see a timing mark anywhere on my crank pulley, not sure where to look.
 
Okay, I tried to find #1 TDC but I'm not sure I'm going about this all right because the car won't start.

Is #1 TDC when the timing mark is at 0? Or is it when the rotor points toward the IM bolt? Car doesn't seem to like either configurationm just puffs and groans but won't start now...
 
Take out the no 1 plug,stick your finger in the plug hole and bump the starter until it knocks your finger off the hole,at that point your dist rotor will be directly in line with the 1st exhaust bolt.At that point see where your timing marks are.They may or may not both be on zero.
 
clutch said:
Take out the no 1 plug,stick your finger in the plug hole and bump the starter until it knocks your finger off the hole,at that point your dist rotor will be directly in line with the 1st exhaust bolt.At that point see where your timing marks are.They may or may not both be on zero.
Click to expand...

Okay, I checked it with a dowel - when it very near or at #1 TDC the rotor is pointing toward the passenger side headlight -timing mark shows a few degrees past TDC. At this point if I place #1 plug on the rotor it doesn't want't to start.

Before I attempted to put #1 to TDC and match the rotor to the #1 plug wire it ran fine, so I don't think anything major is off here... Just so I'm positive the #1 cylinder on a 273 is the front driver side, correct?

It might be time for a manual. I've never worked on a V8 so this is all new to me.
 
stop the beast said:
Okay, I checked it with a dowel - when it very near or at #1 TDC the rotor is pointing toward the passenger side headlight -timing mark shows a few degrees past TDC. At this point if I place #1 plug on the rotor it doesn't want't to start.

First you need to find top dead center. Not very near,around,but dead on top dead center. Once you find true top dead center your rotor should face the front left (driver side)manifold bolt. If is facing the pass headlight,then your distributor drive shaft is installed wrong.

Does your timng mark line up to the "0" at top dead center ?

#1 is the front drivers side plug.

Make sure your plug wires are in correctly.

And yes...Get a manual !!!
Your driving blind without one.
Click to expand...
 
OK wait a minute you lost me.Did you pull the plug and stick your finger over the hole and bump the motor until the compression knocked your finger off the hole?If you did that your rotor should be directly lined up with the 1 st exhaust bolt.That is TDC.
 
clutch said:
OK wait a minute you lost me.Did you pull the plug and stick your finger over the hole and bump the motor until the compression knocked your finger off the hole?If you did that your rotor should be directly lined up with the 1 st exhaust bolt.That is TDC.
Click to expand...

No. I put a dowel down the cylinder and twisted the motor by hand until the dowel was at its peak, pushed out as far as it could be.

I have once again gotten it to start... I was placing my plug wires on counter-clockwise, duh! Regardless, in it's current configuration, where I believe #1 was at or near TDC and the rotor was pointing toward the driver side headlight I have now gotten the car to run. Runs fine until I punch it from a stop or a roll - then it knocks and falls flat for just a moment but doesn't quite stall.

I didn't try the finger/starter trick to find TDC because I need to take some heat shields off to get my finder that far down - and I don't know how to bump the starter from the engine bay. Obviously, I need to find the correct TDC if I want to time it right...
 
The dowel method probably isn't real accurate.Better take the heat shields off and do it right.To bump the starter just take a screw and put it across both terminals on the starter relay by the battery.Take the cap off the dist and then bump the starter until you get it to TDC.When your finger can't stay on the hole because of the compression you are there.Use some brake cleaner and spray your timing indicator so its clean and you can see the marks ,use some red paint and draw a line across the zero and the damper.That will be your starting point to set your timing.
 
First off, you gotta remember that the piston comes up twice during the firing cycle, once during the compression stroke and the other during the exhaust stroke. You need to find TDC during the compression stroke as suggested by clutch, or some other method like a compression guage or removing the valve cover and making sure that the valves are both closed on the #1 cylinder. When you are sure that you are nearing TDC on the compression stroke, stop the balancer at 12 degrees BTDC. Mark the balancer with white chalk on the timing mark. Now configure your distributor the way you want the vacuum canister to face, usually the canister is in the clear swing area when the vacuum port is facing the passenger tire area and back towards the passenger door post. Where is your distributor gear slot facing? If you can't drop the distributor in and have the rotor facing the #1 cylinder, you need to back out the drive gear with a screwdriver and turn it until the rotor does face the #1 cylinder. Simply insert a screwdriver into the gear slot and turn counterclockwise. The gear will climb the teeth on the cam to back itself out and then turn the gear until you have the slot configured where the rotor faces the #1 cylinder. You should now be firing the #1 sparkplug on the compression stroke at 12 degrees before TDC, basically your starting point for setting timing. Make sure that the rotor and the #1 plugwire are lined up also. You now have the the distributor in and configured right, and you have the necessary sweep/ free swing area for the vacuum canister so you can move the distributor to bring in the timing for your application. From there, a good timing light will go a long way to set the timing as desired and also trim the vacuum advance "all in" setting. Good luck with your project, Geof
 
Great detail cosgig... I found TDC by removing the valve cover to verify the valves were closed and moved the drive gear so the rotor was in the correcty spot.

Now that I've timed it runs great across the RPM range and I can punch it when ever I want with no hesitation.

Thank again everyone for all the help.
 
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