63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Good idea. Never though of that. Yeah, there is a lot of stuff in the way.

[William C.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

actually, if you have the correct large damper, I believe there was only one orientation for the tab, although different lengths were used in service, but the "0" and "10" marks stayed in the same place and as I recall, the service piece can be trimmed to be a good approximation of the original configuration.

[Dennis O.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

I hate to sound like a broken record here, but make sure your balancer hasn't "slipped". The rubber gets old and hard, and both of my smallblocks ('67 and '68) the balancers had slipped, and both of the timing marks were off. You can have them rebuilt.

[John D.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Troy, Misinformation on the "dent" on the Vacuum advance. If Dr. Mike McCagh is listening in maybe he can explain this better than I can. Especially since I am running out of gas.
At an NCRS National at Warren, MI in the early 90's there was a fellow who worked on the Flint assembly line. After the National this worker came to Dr. Mike's farm and conducted a seminar for a lot of NCRS members.
His info was similiar to Dukes on installing the distributor. As far as the dent goes here is what we were told. The worker used a rubber mallet to hit the side of the vacuum advance (lightly) when the distributor was being installed. He did this so he could get the Gear in the right location. You know how easy it is to be one tooth off. Well hitting the VA on the passenger side was a bubba way of making sure he got the distributor installed correctly.
When he was installing the distributor the wires were dangling from the cap. I believe he turned the bottom gear so that the dimple on the gear and the seam on the distributor housing were in alignment. Then he knew that the rotor was pointing to#1.
Correct me if I am wrong as I really don't work on engines. Just a part on top of them. JD

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

I have the correct damper for sure. If the tabs are in the same location on all timing covers another possibility is that the outer ring on the damper has slipped.

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

That may have happened. Not sure how to tell though.

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Thanks for clarifying the use of the rubber mallet and that there should not be a dent in the VAC.

[John H.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

That may have happened. Not sure how to tell though.

Troy -

If the timing index line on the edge of the balancer is directly in line with the balancer hub keyway and a pulley bolt hole, the inertia weight hasn't moved.


BalancerIndexLine.jpg

[William C.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Also the lower drive gear on the distributor may have been improperly assembled. There is an uneven number od teeth on the bottom gear and a misassembly there will play hell with the proper positioning of the vacuum can.

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Great info, John...as usual. Can you confirm that the timing tabs on the timing covers are the same or not?

[John H.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Great info, John...as usual. Can you confirm that the timing tabs on the timing covers are the same or not?

Troy -

The radial position of the "0" mark on the timing tab is the same on all pre-'69 small-block engines , although the detail configuration/shape of the tab itself has several variations, and the tab dimension from the crank centerline is different between the 6+" and 8" balancers.

[Troy P.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

So the odds are my timing cover and thus the tab location are correct and thus not complicit in my inability to time the engine with a light. But there is still a chance it could be a '69 or newer.

I suppose when the previous owner sent the engine out to be rebuilt the shop could have installed a cover from some other engine. Othewise you'd have to think its a part that would never need replacing.

[John H.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

So the odds are my timing cover and thus the tab location are correct and thus not complicit in my inability to time the engine with a light. But there is still a chance it could be a '69 or newer.

I suppose when the previous owner sent the engine out to be rebuilt the shop could have installed a cover from some other engine. Othewise you'd have to think its a part that would never need replacing.

Troy -

The best way to verify that you don't have a '69-up passenger car timing cover (which had the "0" mark on the tab moved 10* counter-clockwise from its traditional position) is to use a piston stop tool to locate true TDC - with the traditional timing cover, the true TDC location will align with the "0" mark on the timing tab.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Troy, Misinformation on the "dent" on the Vacuum advance. If Dr. Mike McCagh is listening in maybe he can explain this better than I can. Especially since I am running out of gas.
At an NCRS National at Warren, MI in the early 90's there was a fellow who worked on the Flint assembly line. After the National this worker came to Dr. Mike's farm and conducted a seminar for a lot of NCRS members.
His info was similiar to Dukes on installing the distributor. As far as the dent goes here is what we were told. The worker used a rubber mallet to hit the side of the vacuum advance (lightly) when the distributor was being installed. He did this so he could get the Gear in the right location. You know how easy it is to be one tooth off. Well hitting the VA on the passenger side was a bubba way of making sure he got the distributor installed correctly.
When he was installing the distributor the wires were dangling from the cap. I believe he turned the bottom gear so that the dimple on the gear and the seam on the distributor housing were in alignment. Then he knew that the rotor was pointing to#1.
Correct me if I am wrong as I really don't work on engines. Just a part on top of them. JD

If the cap was on the distributor at Flint, the dimple on the bottom gear would for sure have been an aid to installing the distributor correctly. It's the only refenence point I can think of to allow the correct installation.

[John D.]

Re: 63 (64-65 also?) Fuelie Distributor Orientation

Troy, I only read some of the posts as I am very busy here. I have been thinking about your problem and really do think your problem is your are one tooth off, or the bottom gear is installed 180" degrees backwards. I see new bottom gears that have two sets of holes to install the pin to hole the gear on. Must be awfully confusing.
Last night I remember that the Flint Engine worker said he used a wooden mallet and not a rubber dead blow. Come to think of it we didn't really use dead blows 50 years ago. Or did we? John