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I helped a guy out with his '76 today (replaced wheel bearings and races, replaced master cylinder and repaired alternator). Then checked the timing to see where it was at and no mark was visible even with an advance light. I went to the other side and hit it with the light and there it was - maybe 90 degrees off. To my knowledge balancers are just keyed for one position, so this has me confused. If it has slipped, well, that seems to be too much slipping without shearing the rubber (like on Hudman's 68 BB). It starts up instantly, runs very well and smooth as is. Plug wires are in the right spot, etc. Also the balancer/pointer combo doesn't appear original since the pointer overlaps it by 1/4" or so. Any ideas? :confused:
From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Re: Balancer timing mark... (Chris69)
Could be the cam was installed with the dot at 12:00 and the crank at 12:00 instead of cam at 6:00 and crank at 12:00 ( which is the easiest way to do it since the dots are close together ). Just a guess here it's getting late :lol:
Mine had slipped almost exactly 90degrees without coming apart. The outer ring had slipped about 1/16" backwards, but the balancer functioned fine except for the fact that the timing mark was waaaaay off.
Sounds like it's time for a new balancer. Next time I see the car I'll have to pay more attention to the position of the ring to see if it has slipped back towards the motor, which would explain the pointer issue. It wasn't very obvious though. we'll see.... Tnx.
Before you install the new ballancer, mark the TDC on the inner hub with a center punch. Always good to see early if the outer ring starts slipping. :cheers:
Mine has slipped or was installed about 45 degrees counter clockwise from TDC viewed from the front. I tried using other plug wires and could not find the mark against the index.
To get things going, I cranked the distributor to #1 LF plug and made a paint mark then tuned by ear. Someday I plan to take the timing cover off and find real TDC.