Quick question. After a heads and cam swap, if the distributor is put in a tooth or two off, could that cause the car to run like complete and utter crap? Friend and I worked on my car a few weeks ago, and we are trying to hunt down why its not running good, and he mentioned when he put in the dizzy again, he rotated the oil pump slot to get it to line up right

I would think you would keep that exactly where it was to use as a reference, so that you couldnt mess up the positioning of the distributor.

Anyways, I want to tear into that this weekend or next...whenever I get home from college, what do you guys think?

 

Check the timming if it's off a notch the time will be off. You could bring it into time again by turning the distributor if you have room. If it's off better to take it out and relocate.

 

check the timing with a timing light first and foremost....remember to disconnect the EST wire first.

 

Yeah, I did all that already, I've done pretty much everything (timing, made sure the new plugs I got werent burnt, custom chip, datalogging, relashing valves, ect.) and I still cant find out why my car is running so poorly, and missing like crazy. Timing is pegged at 6* but I've read that you cant compensate for a misaligned distributor through timing.

 

set your motor to TDC firing number 1,
the rotor should point at the number 1 hole

 

I know, this is what I will be checking for.

 

i recently went thru this and my dizzy was off one tooth and ran like crap. repositioned it and everything was fine.

 

Again, you cant compensate a tooth being off with timing correct?

 

you can compensate as long as the timing light shows you're firing on #1 then you are, no way around that. as long as the distributor has enough wiggle room to rotate far enough you can be one tooth or 2 teeth on some dizzys and still be fine.

 

Yes your right, as far as firing on number one, but your cam timing will be off +/-. I think this is what LesPaulGoth is guestioning. If for say you jump a tooth on the timing chain you can get the car running to get home this way. It will run fine, just maybe not as much power, but it will work.

 

As long as you install the distributor with the motor at #1 TDC and the rotor pointing to #1, then you installed it correctly. After that you just set base timing and your done. Make sure your wires are in the correct spots. A friend of mine was having some issues with a tbi motor of his after a tune up and he accidently put all the wires one spot off. Just something to double check.

 

Well, to many other's estimation, I pulled off my distributor cap, and what did I find? Rotor was off 180 degrees =/. Guess I had the motor on the exhast stroke when I put it in. I shot down this idea a few times though because I have seen cars do this and then not even be able to start, let alone be able to drive.

But, the rotor looks like it might be off the #1 terminal ever so slightly, but it looks like there will be room to turn the cap to compensate for this.

Thanks for your input guys, we'll see what happens tomorrow when I can get back home!

 

it doesn't matter where the rotor points when you drop it in. so long as you are on the compression stroke for #1, where ever the rotor points is where you put the #1 plug wire. in a SBC V8, you cannot be 'a tooth off' with the distributor.

 

First off, I sincerely HOPE you didn't advance your cam 6* for "more torque", right? Because I'm gay and did that not realizing that it came pre-advanced
6*, and REALLY f*cked up my timing. If that's not the case, try turning the distributor while the car is running. Try turning left and right until it runs properly. Let us know if that helps any.

 

your cam timing is controlled by the timing chain and gears, not the distributor.