small block oil priming question

-
Confusedcuda

Confusedcuda

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
408
Reaction score
135
Location
KC MO
Got a new priming rod from summit and I want to prime my 340. Couple questions, when I pull my distributor gear out, do I need to make sure it goes back in any certain way? Also, are they hard to get out? Any little tricks? I was going to just bend some 18 gauge steel into L shapes and pull it out like that. Also, which way should my drill turn clockwise or counter. Thanks
 
Yes the gear goes in a certain way, pay attention to its orientation before pulling it out.
Turn and lift at the same time,a big screwdriver works good,it will only turn out one way.
Prime clockwise,turn motor while doing it(if possible),otherwise,prime a little turn a little and repeat.
 
Confusedcuda said:
Got a new priming rod from summit and I want to prime my 340. Couple questions, when I pull my distributor gear out, do I need to make sure it goes back in any certain way? Also, are they hard to get out? Any little tricks? I was going to just bend some 18 gauge steel into L shapes and pull it out like that. Also, which way should my drill turn clockwise or counter. Thanks
Click to expand...

Clockwise on the drill rotation. I've had good luck putting a screwdriver in the intermediate shaft slot and turning it counter clockwise. Usually, it'll lift right out. And yes, if you want to do it by the book, it does go in one way. With the engine timed to #1 TDC on the compression stroke, point the slot in the intermediate shaft towards the front driver's side intake manifold bolt.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Clockwise on the drill rotation. I've had good luck putting a screwdriver in the intermediate shaft slot and turning it counter clockwise. Usually, it'll lift right out. And yes, if you want to do it by the book, it does go in one way. With the engine timed to #1 TDC on the compression stroke, point the slot in the intermediate shaft towards the front driver's side intake manifold bolt.
Click to expand...
Technically, doesn't it go in 2 ways ?
(The right way, and 180 degrees of)

The reason I mention this is, if it truly only goes in one way, then "in is good"
 
We're assuming this is a fresh rebuild, so, the gear should come right out with little resistance. To remove it with the intake one, I've used a wooden dowel whittled down on the gear end to drive in and fit tight in the slot. This works especially well on high mileage engines where the shaft on the gear gets really gummed up. Working the gear up and down with a good spray of WD40 helps get things free again. If your engine's not a fresh rebuild, priming probably isn't necessary unless it's been sitting for many years.
 
diymirage said:
Technically, doesn't it go in 2 ways ?
(The right way, and 180 degrees of)

The reason I mention this is, if it truly only goes in one way, then "in is good"
Click to expand...
The gear will go in the same number of ways as the number of teeth on the gear. To get the slot aimed at the #1 cylinder, it can go in two ways and still be correct.
 
diymirage said:
Technically, doesn't it go in 2 ways ?
(The right way, and 180 degrees of)

The reason I mention this is, if it truly only goes in one way, then "in is good"
Click to expand...

No. The service manual only shows one way. You can put it anywhere you want, but there's only one correct way.
 
diymirage said:
Technically, doesn't it go in 2 ways ?
(The right way, and 180 degrees of)

The reason I mention this is, if it truly only goes in one way, then "in is good"
Click to expand...


That's funny. It would not be 180 out. It would just be the other side of the gear.
 
cudamark said:
The gear will go in the same number of ways as the number of teeth on the gear. To get the slot aimed at the #1 cylinder, it can go in two ways and still be correct.
Click to expand...

Jadaharabi said:
That's funny. It would not be 180 out. It would just be the other side of the gear.
Click to expand...

Ok, I was thinking of the distributor, not the intermediate shaft

My bad
 
I recommend using a 1/2" drill to turn the rod because as pressure builds some smaller drills start to strain.
 
The dr head oils when the crank is at 20 deg ATDC #6 compression (use the tab as a ruler to get to 20) or cut a strip of paper 1.265" to use as a ruler & preoil with the drill/hex. Then go around to 90 deg (1/4 turn) BTDC #1 compression & preoil the pass head. There might be partial slits at 90/180/270 degrees & use the 90 degree one or cut a strip of paper 5.694" to use a ruler. then you can go forward a bit to for example 15 BTDC #1 compression for your initial. this might be a bit OCD but cam failures are epidemic & also I want to confirm that both heads are receiving oil.
 
Make sure you get oil to both heads. Covers off. For the shaft, yes one “book” way. How can it cause issues not doing it that way? The vacuum canister can interfere/hit other things when trying to timing it if you just drop it in. One tooth off isn’t much, but you would be surprised how quickly you run out of real estate around the distributor. Also, if you haven’t and it is not a roller, make sure the lifters are turning as you turn it over by hand.
 
Last edited:
RustyRatRod said:
No. The service manual only shows one way. You can put it anywhere you want, but there's only one correct way.
Click to expand...
Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll .........................that's not really "correct" either LOL

HERE'S THE DEAL on intermediate shafts....................

The book indeed shows a "correct" orientation, which is designed to get the "then" distributor correctly set so that the factory assembly line folks could stick everything together, rinse, repeat.

BUT THERE IS A FLAW.......................

And that flaw is that some distributors do NOT have the drive tang oriented in the same position relative to the rotor that others do, and so even though you plug the gear in "correctly" by the book, the dist will not sit right either.

The FACT is that so far as getting the engine to run and correctly timed, you can actually throw the shaft in with your eyes closed, and toss the dist. in right after it, either 1 way or 180 different, and time it to wherever the rotor is pointing

You really should go to MyMopar and download yourself a factory service manual..........................
 
67Dart273 said:
Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll .........................that's not really "correct" either LOL

HERE'S THE DEAL on intermediate shafts....................

The book indeed shows a "correct" orientation, which is designed to get the "then" distributor correctly set so that the factory assembly line folks could stick everything together, rinse, repeat.

BUT THERE IS A FLAW.......................

And that flaw is that some distributors do NOT have the drive tang oriented in the same position relative to the rotor that others do, and so even though you plug the gear in "correctly" by the book, the dist will not sit right either.

The FACT is that so far as getting the engine to run and correctly timed, you can actually throw the shaft in with your eyes closed, and toss the dist. in right after it, either 1 way or 180 different, and time it to wherever the rotor is pointing

You really should go to MyMopar and download yourself a factory service manual..........................
Click to expand...

I've never seen a factory "unaltered" distributor phased wrong. Now reman units on the other hand and after market, yes.
 
I 've used a strong magnet to pull the distributor drive gear out. You just have to rotate it slightly as you lift.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I've never seen a factory "unaltered" distributor phased wrong. Now reman units on the other hand and after market, yes.
Click to expand...
I don't know whether rebuilt, aftermarket, or what but some are different.........Of course we both know the aftermarket would NEVER do anything like that..............
 
67Dart273 said:
I don't know whether rebuilt, aftermarket, or what but some are different.........Of course we both know the aftermarket would NEVER do anything like that..............
Click to expand...

Just like we know they never swap parts around with starters and alternators. yeah. lol
 
It's a rebuilt never ran motor. So if I put the motor at TDC and then maybe mark my gear and mark like the oil plug or something, then pull the gear out, prime it, then make sure to put the motor back at TDC, then re-insert the gear at the same spot, I should be Okay? Thanks
 
I would set the dampener to 15 BTDC #1 compression (or whatever your desired initial is) then with everything all sorted out/ready to fire you want the rotor directly under the #1 cap terminal/wire or better yet slightly clockwise from it, ideally would be the trailing edge of the rotor "even" with the trailing edge of the cap terminal cuz vac advance will shift the rotor back CCW a bit (you do have some leeway there) but dead even or the above is fine. barely file the rotor & cap terminals as needed to keep the edges sharp as it requires less voltage to jump from/to a sharp edge than to a smoother one. Also Echlin has a rotor (MO3000) with a .060" longer blade to reduce the gap.
 
TDC-----------I wish people would stop saying this so to speak

WHY

There is TDC and then there is TDC

No1 cylinder only fires every other turn of the crank, in other words, every other time that TDC comes up on the marks. So "TDC" is a 50-50 gamble.

You want No1 ready to fire

HOW? EASY

Pull the no1 plug. Bump or wrench the engine over while holding a finger in no1 plug hole. As soon as you start to feel compression, stop and then slowly bring the timing marks up BUT DO NOT set them right on TDC

RATHER stop rotation on WHERE YOU WANT the initial timing, say, 8BTC for a stocker, 12-15 for a mild cam and maybe 15 or maybe more depending on distributor curve for a wild cam

Now put the dist in with rotor pointing to no1 plug tower. Rotate dist. so that the body has lots of movement for adjustment, and is not banging on firewall, coil, or intake, etc. If the rotor is nowhere near the no1 tower, you either will have to use a different tower for no1 or else "walk" the drive gear up with a screwdriver and move it a tooth or two in whatever direction

Now with rotor at no1 tower you STILL ARE NOT DONE. Rotate the dist body CW (small block) which is retarded.

Now slowly rotate the dist CCW (advanced) until the points just break open or until the reluctor tip is in the center of the pickup coil. Check that the rotor is "just coming to" the no1 tower going CW, IE from left to right. Install plug wires and START IT UP

You can also check the timing on the starter after the cap is installed

There is never any reason to explode huge fireballs back through the carb, and there is never any reason to endlessly crank with the starter. It should fire right up
 
Last edited:
You want the rotor "just leaving" the #1 terminal (its going CW) as the vac adv will pull the rotor back CCW thereby advancing the timing. With the points just opening or the reluctor tooth dead even with the magnet as "67" said, if the rotor is too far away from the cap terminal called "Rotor Phasing" at that point in time there are several ways to correct it. If the available voltage is less than the required voltage necessary to jump that amount of air gap there it will misfire. the Echlin rotor can easily help with that by reducing the air gap which is a bennie even if the phasing is acceptable as is.
 
The vacuum advance pod doesn't move the rotor at all. It pulls on the point/pickup plate which causes the spark to trigger sooner. The rotor phase changes with the mechanical advance.
 
only vac advance changes rotor phasing. If you drill a 1/2" hole in the top flat of the dist cap 2/3 of the way from the center tower to the #1 tower. pull/plug the vac adv hose & look down at the rotor with your timing light & gun it & the rotor does not move. plug the can back in & repeat & the rotor does move.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top