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#1 |
Alright Alright Alright
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Midland, Texas
Posts: 1,672
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distributor installation
i just built a 350 and got it running. however, it doesnt idle right and i cant get the timing mark to show up on the balancer. will the engine run if its a tooth off? it ran well enough to do the cam break in. i installed the distributor with the rotor pointed roughly in the area of the no. 1 wire and then i turned the distributor to where the no. 1 wire was on the rotor and then tightened it so that i could still move it a little to adjust the timing. what do yall guys think?
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1972 Cheyenne Chevrolet red and white 357ci, Vortec heads, GM Performance high rise intake, Comp 268H .454/.454 218/218 110 LSA Quadrajet carb, Flowtech headers, 2.25 40 series HEI, Curve kit, TH 350, 3.07 gears 275/60/15s on 15x8 rallies |
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#2 |
Designated A-hole!
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Mississippi
Posts: 36,450
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Re: distributor installation
Get #1 piston top dead center on the compression stroke (if you put your finger over the sparkplug hole you'll feel the compression.). Then install the dizzy with the rotor pointing to the #1 cylinder and wire it. You should be close enough to time it. BTW if your harmonic balancer is old it may have slipped and the timing mark not be in the proper place.
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"If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!" Being stupid ain't illegal. ![]() We're Still Debt Free Except for the House!!! www.daveramsey.com 70 GMC SWB Stepside project "Green Booger" soon to be 6.0l/4l80e 93 S-10 "Poppaw's Truck" |
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#3 |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: San Jose Ca.
Posts: 3,335
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Re: distributor installation
Take out the plug in #1. Put in a shop rag and bump it until it spits that rag out. That will get you pretty close.
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RIP to my son Dylan. 5/17/2002 - 8/18/2018 If you want to know more about rare forms of pediatric cancer or if you want to help fund pediatric cancer research, please check out the website for the non-profit I started. https://slothforpedcancer.org 68 build thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=223234 |
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#4 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Shelley Idaho
Posts: 876
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Re: distributor installation
Quote:
![]() On 72 and earlier pick ups and 68 and earlier car V8s with the short water pumps the timing marks were at about a 2 oclock position on the timing cover after they went to the long pumps most of the timing marks went strait up and the mark on the balancer changed as well. If you have a old timing cover (2 oclock) and a newer balancer (or vice versa) the marks won't line up. |
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#5 |
Designated A-hole!
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Mississippi
Posts: 36,450
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Re: distributor installation
I guess it behooves you to have the harmonic balancer match the timing mark yearwise if you want to use it then.
__________________
"If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!" Being stupid ain't illegal. ![]() We're Still Debt Free Except for the House!!! www.daveramsey.com 70 GMC SWB Stepside project "Green Booger" soon to be 6.0l/4l80e 93 S-10 "Poppaw's Truck" |
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#6 |
Java Mechanic
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Martinsburg, WV
Posts: 6,764
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Re: distributor installation
I'm an old meat head.. I just start at TDC and advance to a "nudge" before ping at idle and under load at ~4000rpm.
My motor is such a mismatched conglomeration from different years that any spec is little more than a guess anyway... :P
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Keith 11 Lincoln MKT -- Momma's wagon ![]() 13 G37xS -- middle age crazy car 68 C20 Fleetside -- RIP Decorating the whole town up at a cost of $27 .... |
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#7 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Leander, Texas
Posts: 850
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Re: distributor installation
Everything these guys are saying is right on. I have heard that you can be a "tooth off" but I'm not sure about that. Theorectically you should be able to turn the distributor far enough to get that tooth back. But, I have stabbed the dist just a little off and the motor ran like crapola until I found TDC and re-stabbed it.
The whole thing about have to point the rotor towards the #1 piston is just to make it easier/look nicer to wire. The rotor can be pointing anywhere you want as long as the #1 piston is getting spark at TDC. Good luck and let us know if you figure it out. |
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#8 |
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: harvard, il. USA
Posts: 389
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Re: distributor installation
Is your timing light hooked to plug #1? Don't ask how I know (big grin).
A few years back I also had problems find the timing mark and the guage. I ended up timing it w/a vacuum guage. HTH.....good luck.....don t. ..... Last edited by don t. - 72gmc; 02-08-2007 at 12:46 PM. |
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#9 |
Alright Alright Alright
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Midland, Texas
Posts: 1,672
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Re: distributor installation
thanks for all the info. i made sure it was on TDC when i put it in. the block is acutally a 1989 van block. are yall saying that the timing tab on the timing chain cover should be at the 12 o clock position because its not on this motor. it could have the wrong cover on it. it also has a long pump. since the balancer is bad, could i just buy a 1972 (brand new) balancer and continue using the current timing chain cover?
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1972 Cheyenne Chevrolet red and white 357ci, Vortec heads, GM Performance high rise intake, Comp 268H .454/.454 218/218 110 LSA Quadrajet carb, Flowtech headers, 2.25 40 series HEI, Curve kit, TH 350, 3.07 gears 275/60/15s on 15x8 rallies |
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#10 |
Parts and more parts
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lebo, Kansas (middle of nowhere
Posts: 6,821
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Re: distributor installation
If you happen to have a balancer for one style of timing tab, such as the mid eighties motors that had the timing mark tabs behind the water pump and have a timiing tab for an earlier design of balancer, where the tab is out by the block, then you will not line up.
When in doubt: go to the basics and run from there. Set the timing at TDC on #1 again, and then look for your mark on the balancer. That will give you an idea of where to go. The mark should be in one or the other areas (top of the balancer or on the driver's side about 2 O clock.) Your decision will come from that point. |
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#11 |
Designated A-hole!
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Mississippi
Posts: 36,450
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Re: distributor installation
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__________________
"If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!" Being stupid ain't illegal. ![]() We're Still Debt Free Except for the House!!! www.daveramsey.com 70 GMC SWB Stepside project "Green Booger" soon to be 6.0l/4l80e 93 S-10 "Poppaw's Truck" |
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#12 |
Alright Alright Alright
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Midland, Texas
Posts: 1,672
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Re: distributor installation
if the balancer was off, i hope i didnt shave the cam because i used it to adjust the valves. however, did see that none of the valves that i adjusted were not being acutated by the cam and were seated. there might be mix matched parts on this motor that i dont know about. i do know that the timing tab on this timing cover looks just like the on my 72 cheyenne which is original. could i just buy a balancer for a 72? will the 89 crank and the 72 crank hold the balancer in the same position?
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1972 Cheyenne Chevrolet red and white 357ci, Vortec heads, GM Performance high rise intake, Comp 268H .454/.454 218/218 110 LSA Quadrajet carb, Flowtech headers, 2.25 40 series HEI, Curve kit, TH 350, 3.07 gears 275/60/15s on 15x8 rallies |
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#13 | |
Parts and more parts
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lebo, Kansas (middle of nowhere
Posts: 6,821
|
Re: distributor installation
Quote:
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