TDC, Distributor Gear an Distributor Installation Question

[Daveh]

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to install my distributor on my 340 and I have been going through the following steps below but I'm having no luck.  The engine is out of the car and I don't have the intake on so I can see everything.  Can someone give me a little direction?  Thanks

1. I'm locating TDC with putting my finger over the #1 cylinder hole and getting the puff of air.
2. Then I set it to 12 degrees prior to TDC like I was told.
3. I drop in the distributor Gear where the slot is facing the #1 intake bolt.
4. Then I drop in the distributor (I'm using a Pertronix Flame Thrower Bullet Distributor) and I can't get the rotor to line up with the #1 cylinder/plug.  It's going to the other side facing the # 2 cylinder.  I tried it with my old Mopar distributor with the same results.

What am I doing wrong?  The only thing I can think of is pulling out the distributor gear and orientating it so I can install the distributor to the #1 sparkplug.

Your thought are greatly appreciated. 

Dave

[Cuda Cody]

Is it 180 out?  Are you sure you have TDC?  When you have the #1 piston at TDC, does the distributor line up with the #1 on the cap?

Put #1 to TDC, line the distributor up to #1 and then adjust the timing to where you want it.  @wanderlustin  I thought posting a cheat sheet for easy starting?

[Cuda Cody]

Here it is...

[Daveh]

So then I install the distributor gear so I can line up the distributor to the #1 plug?  Correct?

I was off base with lining up the slot on the gear to the #1 intake bolt? 

[HP_Cuda]

Look at it this way, you can only put it in correctly or 180 degrees out.

You will know if it's 180 out right away!

[Daveh]

So it's ok to move the gear out and orient it back in so so when I drop in the distributor the rotor is pointing to the #1 spark plug? 

[Cuda Cody]

When you say gear are you talking about the end of the distributor?  It should be slotted so there's only 2 ways it can go, right?  Once it's in there's a clamp holds it down.  Keep it semi loose and you can turn the distributor to get it to line up.  Hope this photo helps explain it. 

You just need to get it close enough to fire off and run.  Once it's running then you set the timing with a light. 

So it's ok to move the gear out and orient it back in so so when I drop in the distributor the rotor is pointing to the #1 spark plug?

[Daveh]

I was referring to this gear

[Cuda Cody]

Yes, pretty sure that gear can go in anyway that works best.  Then when you line up the end of the distributor it can only go in 2 ways with the slot.  So I'm pretty sure you can move the gear anyway you need to get the distributor close then use the adjustment of the clamp to line it up with #1.  Make sure you have room to adjust on both side (that it moves a little each way) so you can fine tune the timing when you get it running.  Line up the #1 cylinder and then move around the cap in the proper direction with the correct firing order on the rest of the plug wires.

You can do it!   

[usraptor]

Here it is...

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I have a question about these instructions.  I assume they are for an electronic distributor?  I thought the proper way to set the timing was to set the crankshaft at 12 degrees and then adjust the distributor so that the reluctor wheel and pick up were directly opposite each other with a .08 gap?Then install distributor cap?  And I missing something here?

[Cuda Cody]

Yes, I'm like you and I set my distributors to .08 too.  But getting it started and broke in is the main goal here.  As soon as it fires up I adjust the timing at 2,000 to 2,200 RPMs to 36 to 38 degrees.  If it likes 40 better, fine.  I just don't like to be down under 36 degrees until it's broke in.  Rather it run rich during break in so not to stick a value.  I also keep a "point" the red dot temp gauge and keep an eye on all the exhaust temps plus the cooling lines.

Here it is...

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I have a question about these instructions.  I assume they are for an electronic distributor?  I thought the proper way to set the timing was to set the crankshaft at 12 degrees and then adjust the distributor so that the reluctor wheel and pick up were directly opposite each other with a .08 gap?Then install distributor cap?  And I missing something here?

[Burdar]

It all depends on what distributor you're using.  Not all of them will be "clocked" the same as a factory distributor.  You could put two different manufacturers distributors in the hole and the rotor could be pointing at two different spots with each one.  I've got a Pertronix distributor and it's not clocked the same as the MP piece.

First, decide which post on the distributor cap you want to be #1. Position the vacuum advance canister where you want it.(where it doesn't get in the way of anything else) Put a piece of tape on the distributor body and mark the tape directly under the #1 post so you know where that location is.  Then remove the cap and place it aside.

Find TDC.  Then set the timing mark to 12 degrees like you wanted to.  Now you can set the intermediate shaft/gear in place.  Don't worry about where the slot is pointing.  That only works with a factory/MP distributor.

Set the distributor in place.  Now look at where your rotor is pointing.  You want it to point right at the mark you put on the tape.  If it's not pointing at that mark, remove the distributor and re-index the intermediate shaft gear.  You can just put a flat screwdriver in the slot and turn.  The gear will lift right out of the cam.  With the gear moved to a new location, put the distributor back in and recheck where the rotor is pointing.

You want the rotor tip to be exactly lined up with your mark.  Once you get it close, the gear is in the correct spot.  Then fine tune by turning the distributor body.

[Burdar]

Since we are on the subject of the distributor and intermediate shaft...have you checked the fit between the gear and distributor shaft?  My distributor "tang" had a very sloppy fit in the gear slot.  You don't want any slop there.  If the distributor shaft can move around in the gear slot, the timing won't be stable.  Now is the time to check and fix yours since the intake is off.  Here's what I did to my Pertronix distributor...

The "tang"(don't know exactly what to call it) needed to be swelled so it fit snuggly into the intermediate shaft slot.  I used a hammer/punch and smacked the four outer corners of the "tang". That distorted the metal...made the tang wider so the slop went away. 

The next thing I checked was the up and down movement of the shaft in the housing.  There was a lot of movement which will also cause erratic timing.  If the shaft can move up and down, the intermediate shaft gear can move up and down as well.  Intermediate shaft "bounce" is the main reason you can see the timing marks moving all around when you're trying to set the timing.  Since the gear teeth are angled, any up/down movement also changes the timing.

I did two things to fix it.  First, I removed the collar from the bottom of the distributor and added another washer/shim.  That took most of the movement out of the distributor itself.

Two shims instead of just one...


The next thing I did was to add a second collar at the bottom of the distributor shaft.  The "tang" on the distributor shaft doesn't bottom out in the gear slot.  There is the possibility that the gear can bounce.  The collar prevents the gear from bouncing.  I used a feeler gauge to leave .010 clearance between the collar and the gear.  This allows some room for expansion.