Borked my ignition

[lilblue289]

Hi all. I've gotten myself into a bit of a sticky situation and I'm hoping someone here can help me out of it. About a week back I noticed some white smoke out of my exhaust and after some reading decided to try a compression test to see if I had a leaking head gasket. I got the spark wires and plugs out when something else came up and I had to put the project on hold. It is my understanding that the compression test needs to be done warm, but the problem is that I've forgotten the order that the wires hooked up to the cylinders

I have a '68 with a 289, is it correct that the #1 cylinder is on the right bank closest to the radiator and the cylinders are numbered back along the bank from there? I also have an MSD ignition and distributor, if the #1 cylinder is hooked up to the terminal closest to my carb should the rest follow the firing order in a clockwise fashion? Is that order 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8?

I want to be sure I have this all down right, I imagine that firing cylinders off in the wrong order could be a very bad thing

 

[6Stang7]

Welcome to the board! He is what you need to do. Place your finger over the spark plug hole for cylinder 1 (which is on the passenger side closest to the rad. like you said). Turn the engine over until you feel the air compress. Now you are on the compression stroke for cylinder 1. Pull your cap off and see what tower the rotor is pointing to. That is were the spark plug wire for cylinder 1 needs to go. After that, just go in a counterclock wise direction, in the firing order 15426378, like you said. The cylinder on the pass side go from 1-4, counting back to the firewall, and 5-8 on the driverside going from the front of the car back.

-Shaun

 

[lilblue289]

Well I'm glad I asked, I thought that the #1 cylinder was on the driver's side! Thanks a lot for the welcome and help, but I have one more question. How do I turn the engine over while I have my finger over the spark plug hole? Do I connect the two sides of the starter solenoid?

 

[LMan]

ensuring that the coil wire is removed, you can 'bump' the motor over by bridging the solenoid with a long screwdriver. Dont let go of the handle