Slanted timing issues

[64ragtop]

FOR OPENERS, THIS SHOULD BE AFTER BILL GRISSOM'S REPLY TO MY FIRST POST IN THIS THREAD, which has mysteriously gone missing.

Thanks, Bill. I think that adaptability is part of our failure to understand.

Cannot turn the dizzy far enough clockwise to get the engine to start because the nipple on the vacuum advance can hits a red bracket of some kind attached to the inner fender.

MAJOR brain fart!! Neither of us has much previous experience with /6s. V8s don't have clearance issues like I touched on in my first post (the red bracket). What we completely missed is that the first step HAS to be rotating the dist body so that the vac can has plenty of room to move wherever it needs to.

(OK, folks, you can quit the snickering now! I finally figured it out and the rest of you were kind enough to not point out my ignorance.)

Once the dizzy can be turned enough, the rest of the setup is a piece of cake.

The car is 40 miles away and we're not going out there today, but I'm looking forward to a brighter day tomorrow!

ATB

BC

 

[inkjunkie]

Would not trust that device to find tdc. Balloon will start to inflate and continue as the piston travels up ward, Guessing maximum inflation means piston is at tdc, but how can you tell when it is fully inflated??? Sure it will get you close but.......

 

[67Dart273]

Easy. (But I prefer piston stops, not balloons) Yank the dist out and move the gear one tooth so the dist. housing can "come away" from whatever it's hitting. If it won't drop clear down, into the pump drive, no big deal. Just use a remote starter (or screwdriver across the starter relay) and bump the engine while gently holding down the distributor, so that it drops back in.

 

[64ragtop]

Would not trust that device to find tdc. Balloon will start to inflate and continue as the piston travels up ward, Guessing maximum inflation means piston is at tdc, but how can you tell when it is fully inflated??? Sure it will get you close but.......

I agree, my pal brainstormed this idea for quick & dirty tdc finding when working alone. Though I've never used one (or a degree wheel either) it seems obvious that the precision possible makes a piston stop the better choice.

Easy. (But I prefer piston stops, not balloons) Yank the dist out and move the gear one tooth so the dist. housing can "come away" from whatever it's hitting. If it won't drop clear down, into the pump drive, no big deal. Just use a remote starter (or screwdriver across the starter relay) and bump the engine while gently holding down the distributor, so that it drops back in.

we were trying to move the gear one tooth by turning the rotor while holding the dist, but bumping the engine is more my style. Let the machine do the work! I think we both were suffering from brain farts, and a good nights rest will shine a new light on the situation. [So, what the hell am I doing at 3 am futzing around the internet??]

ATB - and good night

BC

 

[BillGrissom]

A slant distributor is the most adaptable, having many gear teeth to choose from plus the adjustable hold-down bar. You do have to account for the rotor spin as it drops in. If you still can't fit it, you could always change which post you call #1 plug. On all slants I had, you can turn the crank very precisely by hand using the fan belt.

 

[64ragtop]

When I thought about it some more, I realized that the vacuum can was not the real problem. There's a plate that bolts to the underside of the distributor, with a slot that the timing lock bolt goes through. When we got the engine as smooth as we could, our timing mark was just about straight up, quite a way away from the tab on the engine and we had the lock bolt out, because that slot wouldn't let us turn the dist far enough.

A response I got on another forum said that: "Some aftermarket dist. pick-ups are wired backwards and cause the ign. to fire 20-30 degrees off from the correct phasing."

Then I found this on the MSD Ignition site: "Not sure about the polarity of the pickup you are using? Test by checking the engine's timing. Check the timing with the pickup wires connected one way, then swap the wires and check the timing again. You will notice that the timing changes significantly and may appear very erratic. The correct connection depends on the ignition control that you are using."

and, also from MSD "Chrysler pickup leads should be Orange/White
for positive and black for negative."

I think we're closing in on it!

ATB

BC

 

[KitCarlson]

Incorrect pickup wiring, fires the ignition in an indeterminate way between the teeth on the reluctor. The rotor alignment, will be between plug terminals. It may lead to undesirable tracking in the cap. Beware. Tracking is not always visible to the eye.