Boat mechanic not sure about

[ezirider]

alpha1 888 302 ford V8 1976 he put in new electronic distributor, the problem is he put it 180 deg out and now
my plug wires are pulled tight and don't correctly fit so I can change the timing.. the number one is now on the opposite side of my dist and pulled very tight how hard is it to pull out and change it back.. I know I will have to move all the wires I have the wiring info or firing order.. one of those clymer books.. I have a timing light.. will I have to move each wire or can I leave them in and just turn the dist.. around?

 

[Maclin]

Re: Boat mechanic not sure about

Does your distributor cap only go on one way? If so then if you decide to take the distributor out and move it 180 degress then yes you will have to move the wires around the cap again. I know my Prestolite distributor cap just has the two screws and can go on either way.

If the cap is not keyed in any way then you can leave the wires as they are and remove the cap, remove and reclock the distributor then turn the cap 180 from where it was and reinstall.

If the connecting wires coming out of the distributor housing are stretched or stressed because of the distributor clocking then I would try to get the distributor clocked correctly and then adjust the sparkplug wire locations on the cap.

If you do not want to remove the distributor then you could also think about just swapping short/long wires two at a time to get them where they are not such a bad fit. Just make sure that the distributor terminal always goes to the same spark plug that it does now.

Or buy a new set of spark plug wires and cut them to length.

If it is running ok then I would try to swap wires between plugs to get them to fit or buy a new set, unless there is something else on the distributor that is not in the right "place" like the connecting wires or something.

 

[Uraijit]

Re: Boat mechanic not sure about

Is everything tight because the distributor was just twisted, rather than re-wiring it?

You should be able to turn the distributor back to where it would normally be pointed, and simply swap each wire across from each other, to take the twisting out of it, if that's the case.

If you want to re-stab the distro, just make sure your #1 piston is at TDC on compression stroke, pull the distributor, rotate 180 degrees, point the rotor toward the #1 piston, and drop it back it. It might take a couple of tries, and a little bit of rotation of the oil pump to get it to drop all the way down...

Then just wire it up normally, starting with the spot on the cap that's pointed toward the piston. Fire it up, and re-time it.

 

[freak007]

Re: Boat mechanic not sure about

turn the engine to spec timing (IE 8* BTDC compression... it doesn't have to be exact, just close)... you can get it close by "tapping" the key, then turn it by hand until it is where you need it...

remove the distributor cap, leaving the wires intact

remove the distributor clamp

lift the distributor and turn the rotor 180*

reinstall the distributor cap with the rotor pointing at the #1 plug wire

snug the distributor clap (leave it loose enough you can turn the distibutor)

hook up your timing light, and connect it to #1 plug wire

Turn the ignition on (don't start the engine yet)

SLOWLY turn the disributor one way or the other until your timing light "flashes"

you can now start the engine... let the engine run until it is warm and make your final timing/idle speed adjustments


from the time you start (turn the engine over) to the time you start the engine should only take 5-10 minutes...