Hi all,

Yup - I'm a newbie, but I wanted to get some smarter minds to dumb this down for me a little... hopefully *grin.

Here's the back story:

So I've got a 350 v8 (believe cira 1979 specs) and had one of those darn leaky brass fittings for the oil pressure sending unit. Had to take off the intake manifold to get the brass fitting off to seal the leak. Of course, to remove the intake manifold, I had to take out the distributor... HOWEVER, I diligently made markings on the dist. shaft and the manifold to capture the timing position (since the car was running perfect before all of this)... so here comes my DOH! - I didn't mark where the distributor rotor was facing, yeah... I know. I went and slapped myself.

So...in putting it all back together... I bumped the engine over till the tick on the harmonic balancer aligned with the 0 degree mark on the timing plate - TDC right? (I didn't want to do the whole remove spark plug #1, finger on hole, feel for vacuum thing... ) With the engine at TDC, I rasied the distributor and rotated the dist. rotor to align with the wire on the cap going to the #1 cylinder. I lower it back down, lined up the timing marks I made on the shaft and manifold, then bolted it down. I went to start up the car - it would start, barely, I'd have to give it almost 3/4 throttle to keep it alive and it would backfire...

NOW - Here's the Theory Question:

Will the timing position of the distributor (the rotation location of the distributor shaft) always be in the same place for a certain timing degree? In other words... are the rotor and the shaft positions independent of one another? Should I be able to take the dist. out (marking the position), rotate the engine, and put it back to the same timing position (as long as the #1 fires at TDC)? - OR... is it a situation where if you change the rotor position, you have to change the timing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.

Just because the timing mark is 0 degrees does not mean it is at top dead center. You might be out 180 and the piston is at the top of the exhaust stroke.

Thanks Hammy... I was a little hesitant about that... best pull the plug and feel for vacuum, eh? I'll do that tonight...

Any thoughts on the theory question? Can't seem to wrap the ol' noodle around that...

When looking for #1 TDC you want the compression stroke so you are looking air pressure (not vacuum) from the spark plug hole. Then line up the timing marks on balancer and timing tab.
are the rotor and the shaft positions independent of one another?
They are physically connected together so, no.

Thanks Hammy... I was a little hesitant about that... best pull the plug and feel for vacuum, eh? I'll do that tonight...

You need to stop when you get pressure. This is the top of the compression stroke which is TDC. Then you can align the timing marks to get it perfect.

If you had marked the rotor and dist body you would not have had to turn the motor at all.



Will the timing position of the distributor (the rotation location of the distributor shaft) always be in the same place for a certain timing degree? In other words... are the rotor and the shaft positions independent of one another? Should I be able to take the dist. out (marking the position), rotate the engine, and put it back to the same timing position (as long as the #1 fires at TDC)? - OR... is it a situation where if you change the rotor position, you have to change the timing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.

Any thoughts on the theory question? Can't seem to wrap the ol' noodle around that...

The distributer can really be in any orientation in relation to the motor, it's the orientation between the rotor and distributer thats important. The spark plug wiring, firewall and motor accessory interference kinda dictates how the distributer fits on top of the motor.

OK, DON'T make it line up with the #1 cyl with it out, as it will turn when you put it down & the gear engages. play around with it a little, 1 tooth 2 teeth 3 teeth foreward, so when it sits down in position, it is now pointing at #1 on the cap.

If it is 180 out, just pull it & go exactly 180 from where it is. no reason to have to pull a spk plug.

What we usually do here is get it in, & leave the bolt loose for the hold down on the dist., & play the retard advance game to get it fired, let it warm up & then power tune it...i.e. set max. advance at high RPMs. take & get it started & up to temp. raise engine rpms to 3500 ish & hold steady, so the dist. is at full advance, then advance the dist (turn it) until the engine starts to run rough, then back slightly. shut it off, & try restarting after about 1 min. if it drags, or tries to kick back, retard the timing a degree or so more, & retry. then test drive it. put the heaviest load you can on it (like heavy foot on the brake in high gear with max throttle...like you are gonna do a brake stand...NOT a neutral drop), & if it pings at all, retard 1 more degree at a time. now with that set, take it back to the shop & adjust the carb, as it most def. will need to be adjusted with the diff in timing.

LOL it is rare when we pull a dist. & then reinstall it without making any mods, so whatever timing it was at is now no longer relavent.

& I am not shure what you mean about shaft vs rotor position. do you mean, dist. shaft vs vibration dampener (with timing marks on it)? If so, yes & no. if there is any slop in the timing chain & the crank gets turned back it could be different. but it should only be a tooth or so. You can check if there is slop by putting in the dist. turn the engine clockwise with a ratchet on the crank bolt say 1/2 turn SLOWLY, then mark it, & then turn the crank counterclockwise just to the point there the dist starts to turn & STOP. I think the max is 5/8 of an inch of play.....ehh 5/8 or 3/4....lol hell if it is either one it is time for a new chain LOL

hopefully that was what ya needed

When looking for #1 TDC you want the compression stroke so you are looking air pressure (not vacuum) from the spark plug hole.

Sorry... I feel for vacuum b/c then you KNOW that the next "pressure stroke" is the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke (since the vacuum will tell you it's the intake stroke)... for-going the guesswork of being 180 off or not... then you feel for compression and you're near TDC. I should have expanded on that... DOH! (again) :(

They are physically connected together so, no.

Thanks! So to recap... so that's what bass says... that if the engine moves or the rotor moves (b/c I didn't mark it) while the distributor is out, then the mark I made on the dist. shaft on the manifold is no longer relavent and I'll have to retune... AFTER I get the rotor line up with the #1 at TDC? Sound like i got it now?


Basspro... when I've done this in the past (starting fresh with a new engine or dist vs taking one out and putting the same one back in) - I get the engine to TDC with the dist out... then with a long screwdriver, turn the oil pump shaft until I can get the dist rotor to set into the gears where I want the #1 wire to be on the dist. cap... (as dictated by spark plug wiring, firewall and motor accessory interference, etc as Hammy had mentioned) - I've always done this to avoid having to walk the gears a tooth at a time... is this bad?

well, only true if it was marked at tdc in the 1st place....getting back to slop in the chain thing again also. It is always a good idea NOT to turn the motor with the dist out.

(in my indian wiseman voice)

you must go take what knowledge with you you can, but you must go.

LMAO...oh I am easily amused

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge you all have!

Thanks guys for edju-ma-catin' me.