I have a 1963 327 that I swapped the delco distributor out for a MSD distributor. I wanted confirmation of the location of the #1 spark plug. Is the #1 plug located just in front of the drivers side hold down on the distributor?

any help would be great

 

I didn't have a good pic of my MSD distributor here's a frozen image of a video I have that shows a white tape mark on the dist. cap where No.#1 cylinder is located.

It is a little left of the centerline of the engine orientation.

[IMG][/IMG]

Hope this helps a little.

65-StingRay
Wayne

 

I'm sure I have the firing order correct on the distributer but it's the #1 plug location with respect to the drivers side hold down screw that i think I may have messed up when I did the swap. Presently I have the #1 plug located just ahead of the hold down screw on the drivers side or I guess it would be clockwise by one from the drivers side hold down screw

 

thanks for the reply but I can't tell where the #1 is located with respect to the drivers side hold down screw

 

If the hold down screw is on the passenger side the No.1 plug is on the driver's side. The top of the No.1 plug tower almost points to the No.1 cylinder.

I'm at work now so I only have access to a few of my pics here. Tomorrow morningafter night shift I'll look thru my home pics and send you a few better ones.

65-StingRay
Wayne.

 

I'm sure you realize distributor brand doesn't matter. The firing order and distributor plug location is the same.

 

The #1 plug wire location is wherever you want it to be. How you install the distributor and time the engine determines the location.

 

You can't assume anything about where #1 is. It could be anywhere, when you pulled the distributor out. The orientation of the oil pump drive shaft may be lined up so that #1 is where it was from the factory, but no guarantees.

Turn the motor over until you find TDC on the damper with a finger in #1 to make sure it's on compression stroke and then adjust the oil pump driveshaft as needed to get the rotor where you want to match the factory diagram.

I hope this helps and made sense.

 

What I suspect is that I have to rotate my #1 plug one position clockwise but I'm not sure. I did take pics of the old distributor but didn't do a proper job of labelling the #1 plug After installing msd distributer and 6al ignition my car wil not fire. I have 12vdc and I did try a different coil but have no success. I'm going to try and move all the plugs on the distributor clockwise by one and see what happens, if this doesn't work I will have to get someone to come over and give my a hand getting the motor to tdc and go from there. I do appreciate all the help.

 

The imporatant missing bit of info- in which direction did you point distributor rotor when inserting the housing? It should be identical to the the old distributor prior to removal.

 

I did install the msd with the rotor pointing in the same direction as the old one.

 

If that's true, and the plug wires are also in the original position, the engine should at least pop and f*rt while you adjust the housing back and forth while cranking. Are you sure you have a spark?

 

I just check for spark as per msd's recommondations and also checked resistance of coil and it seems good. I also have 12vdc when ignition is on. I have gas coming to the carb. My question is if I did screw up when I orientated the plugs on the cap by having them one position off would that cause no spark?

thanks for the help

Warren

 

It's possible having a plug wire off by 1 would keep you from getting any hint of the engine starting.

If you can, try this: With a helper trying to start the car, grab the distributor and rotate it back and forth slowly to see if you can get the car running again. This at least will tell us something about the state of your installation.

 

No. I'm not really clear if you've tested for (and seen) a spark at a plug or just done continuity and voltage tests of the individual components.

Take a plug out and ground the shell on the engine while cranking the engine. Does the plug fire?

If yes, go back to square one, put #1 cylinder at TDC on the compression, not exhaust stroke and see where the rotor is pointing on the cap. That's where you want to install the #1 wire.

If no, take all the MSD bling off the engine, put it back in the box and return it. Since it won't make your engine run any better anyway, may as well go back to the stock distributor.

 

Yeah, it will tell you if you have spark

 

I moved the cap around and have finally got some action from the carb but not running yet. I do appreciate the help.

 

Good, so sounds like you have spark and the timing is just way off. Get that puppy at TDC on compression stroke, pull the cap and see where the rotor is and adjust your wires as needed to make that #1...

If you don't like where the rotor is when firing on #1, take the distributor out and rotate the oil pump shaft accordingly to get #1 firing at the position on the cap you are aiming for.

Good luck, you're almost there.

 

Thanks for the help. I will have to wait until tomorrow now.

 

Start here. Please note the information in post #8 and #15 regarding getting #1 cylinder at Top Dead Center (TDC) on a COMPRESSION STROKE. Pull the coil wire and disable the ignition. Pull #1 spark plug out (1st plug driverside nearest radiator). Get a helper to "bump" the ignition using the key. Hold your thumb tightly over #1 plug hole as helper does this. When #1 comes up on compression stroke you won't be able to hold the air back with your thumb. Stop there. Helper is done now. Remove your distributor cap and note where the rotor is pointing and which corresponding post on your distributor at which it points. That is the post and wire for #1 cylinder. You may want to or have to clock your distributor again so it more closely aligns with your needs. If you got the MSD with the tach drive this will be very important in order to connect your tach cable. You have to start here in order for the rest to fall more closely in place. One additional thought. How did you deal with power to the 6al box AND how did you deal with the ballast resistor on your firewall?

Here's mine. #1 has the long piece of masking tape on the wire.


Dennis