riring order off, no timing pointer, car runs great?

[garystocker]

So I did a tune up today. The car starts right up and runs much harder off the line than before. But I found a few interesting things...

There were 7 bosch plugs and one autolite. Gaps ranges from out-of-the-box huge, to correct .034 each one was gapped different. The points were burrnt, the cap was dropping plastic bits into the distributer.

I can't find a timing pointer. It's not where it should be. I think it's missing. So I can't set timing. It feels OK now though...

The next thing was firing order. The #1 marked distrributer wire goes to cyl #2! The firing order is not close to the book. But it runs perfect.

What does this mean?

Could this be why the pointer was removed? Would it not run if I tried to get the timing marks to line up? I bet if I put a light on there the marks would be off the chart.
Maybe the distributer was installed wrong, or the timing chain was incorrectly set during the rebuild?

My dwell meter no longer works. I set the point gap at .027 with a feeler gauge. It seems fine.

Chilton says counter clockwise distributer rotation. With ther cap stamped
"1" (with a wire going to cyl #2) the order is: 2 6 3 7 8 1 5 4...is this familiar?

 

[garystocker]

2 6 3 7 8 1 5 4

is 15426378! Only it starts with 2!

Now we know the firing order is correct only cyl #1 on the cap is in the wrong position. I don't think the cap can be installed wrong. So Cyl #1 is actually opposite cyl#1 marked on the cap...

What is happeneing here?

 

[mustangdave]

The cap could be installed backwards: there are only two ways to put the cap on because of the clips. So I'm wondering if the timing was 180 degrees out and they turned the cap around? It doesn't seem like it would work because it would be firing at the wrong time. Try leaving the wires where they are and turning your cap around and see what happens maybe?

 

[LONN17]

Sounds to me as if the previous owner just arbitrarily decided which position was #1.

Gary, where in NJ are you?

Trevor

 

[Rusty67]

What provably happened is when the PO put the distributor in he was off a tooth a 3 and decided to shift everything over to compensate for it. You can get a timing pointer from a bunch of different motors. Slap one on there and time it.... or just play with the distributor and leave it where you think it drives best

 

[garystocker]

Sounds to me as if the previous owner just arbitrarily decided which position was #1.

Gary, where in NJ are you?

Trevor[/QUOTE

I'm in Riverton, across the River from Philadelphia.

...but I don't think you can arbitrarily decide which position is #1 since the distributer is supposed to point at #1 marked at the cap when the cly#1 is at TDC of the compression stroke.

If I picked any other position on the cap arbitrarily to be #1, then the distributer will still be lighting up the same position marked "1" on the cap...

 

[69gmachine]

I'll bet a dollar to a donut Rusty67 is correct. You can make any terminal you wish be #1 so long as the order remains the same. What you will find however is that when the timing marks indicate TDC on compression, the pointer in the dizzy will be pointing at something other than the #1 plug on the cap, but it will be pointing at the #1 plug in the firing order.

Also, make sure you get the correct pointer. If the engine is 1969 or earlier 289/302, the pointer is at 2 o'clock (driver's side), the balancer has three bolt holes and the water pump inlet is on the passenger side. Beginning in 1970, the TDC mark is at 10 O'clock, the balancer has 4 bolt holes and the water pump inlet is on the driver's side. Most aftermarket performance dampers have both the 3 and 4 bolt patterns and are marked for both the 10 O'clock and the 2 O'clock positions. OEM replacemnt type balancers have only one set of marks for either the 10 or 2 position, whichever they were designed to replace.

Unless you have a garage queen thoroubred restoration, I would highly recommend getting rid of the points now.