I have a quick question regarding the distributor. I know how the distributor goes in and which way its supposed to face BUT can someone tell me which way the rotor is supposed to face when the engine is at TDC on the compression stroke?? A picture would be great. Thanks.
FYI: there is no such thing as one tooth off on distributor installation
Putting the distributor back in is fairly simple. Pull #1 sparkplug, put your finger in the sparkplug hole, crank the engine until you feel compression. Then line up the TDC mark on the balancer with the pointer on the engine block.
The distributor starts out with the #1 plug wire lined up at about 12:00 with you facing it. Align the rotor to about 11:00, since it will turn clockwise as it slides into place.
Align the distributor rotor up with the #1 position marked on the cap, slide the distributor down into the block, (you may have to wiggle the rotor slightly to get the gear to engage) and then note where the rotor is pointing. If it still lines up with #1 position on the cap, install the clamp and bolt. If not, pull it out and turn 1 tooth forwards or backwards and try again. Put the #1 spark plug back in and tighten it down, put the clamp on the distributor, but don't tighten it too much, as you will have to move the distributor to set the timing. Note that if it doesn't align perfectly with #1 position, you can turn the distributor until it does. The only problem is that if you are too far one way or the other, you can't turn the distributor enough to get the 10-14 degree optimum timing range.
At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light and start the engine. Set the timing where your car runs best. Don't forget to disconnect the SPOUT jumper connector when you set the timing, and plug it back in when you finish.