I'm getting really confused here. My problem is I have a 327/365 hp, and recently installed a new cam and lifters. I got everything back together and now I can't seem to get my dist in correctly. With the #1 cylinder at TDC, I drop the dist in and when its seated fully, its pointing directly at 3-o-clock (betwwen the 8 and 4 I believe). What do I need to do to correct this problem. Also when I correct this problem I need to face the Adv can directly at the rear valve cover bolt to prevent ....correct? also, i been trying to find that picture of thr dist shoeing the dimple and the rotor orientation, anyone know where that is?


Thanks

 

The distribitor will rotate as it goes down due the spiral gears. You must also
rotate the oil pump with a long screw driver to line it up with the blade at the
bottom of the shaft.

 

The dimple on the distributor drive gear points to the rotor tip. If you don't want to bother rotating the oil pump, every time you lift the distributor clear of the gear and oil pump, it will reseat one cylinder clockwise so if you take it in and out six times it should point somewhere between #2 and #1.

 

the dimple is down by the drive gear at the lower end, it is not unlike the depression you would see if you began to drill a hole than then stopped. drive gear goes on with this dimple pointing in the same direction as the rotor tip. Other possibility is 180 deg. the wrong way, which will actually let you get the car running but wil result in the vac can hitting the manifold before you can get it to the right timing.

there are two things you need to "line up when you drop the dist in - the body of the dist needs to be oriented properly (if your crank is at 8 BTDC on #1 the body should be going back down to how it was sitting properly timed, vac cn should have some room to move ahead and back), and the rotor needs to be 15 degrees or so (JohnZ or Duke will now wiegh in with the exact info!) counterclock from where you eventually want it to end up - try it a few times to understand how foar it will twist so you can get good at setting it up.

yes and absolutely the reason it is not seating is the oil pump slot - get your longest flat head out, look down in the hole and see the slot (note the slotted end of the dist shaft too) - twist the slot a few degrees around (use the dist shaft slot as a guide to where you think it should be, but I never perfected this part) and slide it back down until it seats, remove and reposition the oil pump slot until it works.


[Modified by ctjackster, 11:29 AM 5/10/2004]

 

If the engine will not start, check the rocker arms, you may be firing on 6 instead of 1. With the install of the gears, and the dots together, the engine is actually timed for firing on 6 not 1. You may be 180 off.

 

Well after looking, I do believe the dimple is actually 180 deg out of place. How difficult is it to change? Also, am I correct by saying just pull the dist out rotate the oil pump shaft approx. 20 deg counter-clockwise and the dist should fall in the correct place. Also, with the can facing the bach valve cover bolt. I should be able to crank it with no problem and proceed with the timing......set at 10 or 12 degrees with the can plugged?

 

punch out the pin (taking care not to mar the shaft), reorient the gear and reinstall pin

 

The centrifugal advance on a 365 horse distributor starts at 700 rpm. The engine will barely run at that speed, but you will not get the correct initial advance if you try to set it at a higher speed. I find it much easier to set the total advance at about 36 - 38 degrees instead.

 

yes, excellent advice from JSB69 - get a dial back timing light and set total timing, vac disconnected, rpm @ 2500 (or when it stops advancing), at 36 - 38. Best way for my 65 L76 too, from experience.

One problem you encounter when trying to set the timing at idle, with the vac can disconnected, is the fact that the engine is likely stumbling/dying, and reving it to keep it running gets the advance involved.

 

Excellent advice folks. Thanks. I won't be cranking it for another 2 or 3 weeks, but at least I got my dist located correctly. I took the pin out, rotated it 180 deg, I turned the oil pump dial back a few deg and whala....perfect. Thanks again. I'm sure I be visiting this subject again when I do start setting the timing.

 

Now that you have the distributor correctly installed/oriented, you can manually set the timing almost dead-on before you fire it up. Set the balancer index mark on your desired initial timing on the timing tab (like 10* BTDC), and put a test light across the points. Turn the distributor clockwise until the light is on, then slowly turn it counter-clockwise until the light JUST goes out (points opening, which triggers the coil to fire), and lock the distributor clamp down. This will get you within one degree every time, and eliminates surprises when you fire it up for cam break-in.

Unless you already know what curve you have and when the centrifugal starts, either remove the weights (leave the springs on) or wrap a rubber band around the weights to set initial timing with the engine running to eliminate any influence of the centrifugal advance on true initial timing. Remove the rubber band (or re-install the weights) and check it again with a timing light and that will tell you how soon the centrifugal starts and how much it's adding at idle. Then connect the vacuum advance and that will tell you how much that system is adding at idle. Then disconnect the vacuum advance and rev it up until it stops advancing, subtract the initial timing setting from that, and you'll know exactly how much advance the centrifugal is adding and how soon it's "all in". Once you've "mapped" the advance this way, you know what your baseline is to work from for further tuning. :thumbs:

 

I'll will sure give that a try. If I succeed at that...It'll be a first time for me. I might even brag about it. Thanks alot for the help.