Did my builder put the cam in 180 off ???

[amceaglesx4]

When the dots are aligned the distributor is 180 off. I'm lost here because if I'm that off it wouldn't run. Or if I pulled the dizzy and set to one would I mess up timing. I'm just confused on this !!!

[amceaglesx4]

I'll try to explain it easier

cam and crank dots aligned number one piston is all the ways up but the dizzy is 180 off with rotor pointing at the block

cam and crank dots are opposite from eachother with number one piston up top with rotor pointing at number one


How is this running ???
Shouldn't the number piston be on top with the rotor pointed at one with both dots aligned ?

[SilverXJ]

Dot to dot is how it should be. #1 piston will be at the top, but IIRC not on the compression stroke. Pay no attention to the distributor when setting cam to crank timing.

[jsawduste]

The cam turns at half speed of the crank. Turn the crank one more revolution and the dizzy will be correct.

Not that it is on the compression stroke but it will be 180* from where it is now.

[amceaglesx4]

It just confuses me. My whole thought process and concept of timing is piston on top , dots match , rotor points at one. Its all backwards which makes my brain confused. Its like saying brakes help steer a car !!! Technically it could affect steering but anyways lol. If it works it works so who cares right ? But since I'm a curious guy would it still run the same if I turned the dizzy back 180 ? I'm going to mark and replace the new cam the way it is now. I just don't understand because my knowledge of timing. My friend Joel is a small shop mechanic. I called him saying " ugh...what is this shit ? " He's even lost on this one so at least its not me lmfao !!!

[jeepxj3]

Dot to Dot with piston at the top, then install the head.

[Cheromaniac]

The cam turns at half speed of the crank. Turn the crank one more revolution and the dizzy will be correct.

What he said. Your timing set appears to be correctly installed with the dots facing one another when the no.1 piston is at TDC.
However it'll help to have the valve cover off to determine if the piston is at TDC at the end of the compression stroke (both valves closed) or at TDC at the end of the exhaust stroke (both valves partially open).
With the no.1 piston at TDC at the end of the compression stroke, the rotor should be in the 5 O' Clock position when viewed from the passenger side.



One more thing. Make sure that the plug leads are attached to the dizzy cap in the correct firing order (1-5-3-6-2-4 clockwise).

[amceaglesx4]

Well first off from the front of the car looking back the rotor is 3 o'clock which is 180 off from number one. Piston is at tdc "the head is off " and the dots line up. If I rotate the crank to number one plug the piston is back at tdc but the dots are on opposite ends.

[Cheromaniac]

Sounds like you have the rotor out of synch. Here's what you need to do since the head is off.

1. Rotate the crank until the no.1 piston is at TDC.
2. Look down the lifter bores of the no.1 cylinder. You'll have one of these two scenarios.
a) If you see the cam lobes pointing up in both lifter bores and the dots on both sprockets on opposite sides from each other, rotate the crank 360 degrees until the no.1 piston is at TDC again with the dots facing each other. Lock down the distributor with the rotor in the position that I described earlier.
b) If you see the base circle of the cam in both lifter bores, the dots on both sprockets should be facing towards each other and you can lock down the distributor with the rotor in the position that I described earlier.

[TR1Hemi]

What probably happened is after assembly, the motor was turned and they just lined up timing marks and slapped the dizzy in (50/50 chance of getting it right, and they got it wrong). With timing mark at 0* and the neither rocker arms pushing on valves, drop in the dizzy with rotor pointing 3cm from the gap like in Cheromaniacs pic. Eezy Peezy

[amceaglesx4]

Lol..... you guys just aren't getting it. I talked to Russ and still cant wrap my head around as to why but whatever it works fine. When the dots match and the piston is tdc the rotor points at the block which is opposite of number one. When the dots are completely opposite with piston at tdc the rotor points at one. Yea I could pull the dizzy and turn it 180 and technically that's the way it should be. From basic timing 101 procedures lol the distributor is 180 off. So basically figure I am running great 180 degrees off. I'm not messing with it because it works lmao.

[Cheromaniac]

Maybe your plug wires are connected to different positions on the dizzy cap than mine. Can you post a pic?

BTW, if we're not getting it the reason may be that you're not being very clear in your description of your problem.

[amceaglesx4]

Weird. I got it running now. When I set everything up the way it was it was obviously off 180 by flooding and a backfire. Turned the crank to tdc again and was off about 40 degrees. Turned to tdc again and off 180 so at that point I pulled the dizzy and set it to number one again and it fired up. Whatever I guess !!! I then ran it at about 15 minutes at 1500 +/- with a few revs at that point. No tapety tap tap so that's good news. I made sure coolant was up to par and that's where I'm at now. I know there has to be a slight tweaking of timing I'm sure but there usually is. The eagle fires after the normal few cranks so its gotta be close. I'll drive around the block later and see how it goes.

[jsawduste]

[Cheromaniac]

Weird. I got it running now. When I set everything up the way it was it was obviously off 180 by flooding and a backfire. Turned the crank to tdc again and was off about 40 degrees. Turned to tdc again and off 180 so at that point I pulled the dizzy and set it to number one again and it fired up. Whatever I guess !!! I then ran it at about 15 minutes at 1500 +/- with a few revs at that point. No tapety tap tap so that's good news. I made sure coolant was up to par and that's where I'm at now. I know there has to be a slight tweaking of timing I'm sure but there usually is. The eagle fires after the normal few cranks so its gotta be close. I'll drive around the block later and see how it goes.

Glad you're up and running again even though it took you 5 days to figure out that we were right all along.