you guys, i'm stuck... Oly and I were trying to set the timing on the distributor yesterday, but idk what happened and the timing is all ****ed up now... lolz.. any one of you guys know how to set the cap and distributor rotor, and the position it's supposed to be in? thanks!

 

#1 cyl. on TDC on the compression stroke, rotor pointing at #1 spark plug hole on cap, aprox 10-11 oclock position when viewed from drivers side of rig.

 

how do i know if its on the compression stroke? lol
(i have an idea, but want to be sure.)

 

spin the motor around with the #1 spark plug out. when you get the motor to tdc on the crank pulley, stick the dipstick down the spark plug hole. now turn the motor a little bit to make sure that you are actually at tdc. Put the motor back at tdc and take the distributor cap off, the rotor should be pointing straight at the #1 spark plug wire in the cap.. if not adjust the distributor, or if its really really off, take the distributor out and re-index it in the cam...

If the rotor is facing 180 from #1 you are on the exhaust stroke and need to spin the motor around one more time to get on the compression stroke.

do you have a timing light to set how many degrees advance? also when you set your timing pull both vaccum lines from the distributor advance unit thing.

 

Pull #1 spark plug out, get a ratchet and 19mm socket, stick your finger over the #1 plug hole, and turn the crank bolt with the ratchet clockwise, you should feel compression starting to build as it comes up on the compression stroke plus you should see the timing mark on the damper closing in on the timing tab on the cover, when you hit 0 its at TDC provided the pointer is close to being accurate, normally they are close enough.
Or if you want to get it closer, stop the crank at 5 degrees or thereabouts, install the distributor and align the rotor with the #1 spark plug tower on the cap, leave the holddown bolt loose enough to turn the distributor, put the spark plug in the wire, ground the plug body to the valve cover bolt, turn the key on and rotate the distributor back and forth, the plug should fire at one point as you do that, just as it fires, stop and snug down the distributor, put the plug back in and its ready to start, you just finished static timing it at aprox 5 degrees give or take a couple.

 

thanks guys, this stuff's been really helpful!...