Help!!! Timing issues!!!

Hey Chuck, No progress right now, I have had two vacations recently and now I'm back to work doing a project that is going to take up alot of time from now til the end of October.... After that I will be all over the boat again.

Cue,   earlier you said you thought the engine was an OMC. ( I assume block )
A 351 OMC out of an I/O would be Left Hand Rotation.
So, you DO Not have a reverse rotation engine.

What I believe you actually have is a Left Hand OMC block.
And all the external parts from the Commander. Right Hand.

So, RR engine - NO    
       RR starter - YES

You need Chuck's gear and a RR Cam

Thanks for all the replies, chuckactor, PM sent. So just to clear questions up, This is a reverse rotation engine.
1)The original crank cast numbers and wick lines are reverse
2)the alternator has a reverse fan on it
3) the impeller was still on the bracket installed for reverse rotation
4)water pump is reverse rotation
5)the starter is reverse rotation
all these parts also had a matching multi layer paint job/overspray which leads me to believe that it all came from the same engine except the distributor was the only part that didn't have and paint or overspray on it.....now I believe one of the previous owners knew this and didn't pass it on.

When you look at them the same way you can see they are different

I agree with Tim. If you did have the cam and that distributer installed you have a lefty cam. And as Tim said I would not rule out the wrong starter also.

MrMcD wrote: Sounds like the Cam, Distributor and Oil pump are fine.

From reading the thread again, yes for a standard rotation engine.

The oil pump is always going the same way because it's driven by the distributor which is always going the same way on LH and RH engines. That's why the gears are cut different on the cam and dizzy on a RH application. So the dizzy and pump go counter clockwise no matter what.

We manufactured Camshafts, Lifters, Oil Pumps in the 80's and 90's ( first TRW Brand then we bought Sealed Power brand and combined the companies, later we partnered with Melling for our oil pump supply) and although I was involved in selling many thousands of these I don't ever recall a request for a Reverse Rotation Oil Pump. Reverse rotation Marine camshafts we sold all the time.
We even had a special blueprinted Marine Oil Pump. It was built for higher flow but was sold for standard and reverse rotation applications.
Don't most Marine manufacturers keep the oil pump rotation standard even in reverse engines?
If your flywheel is on the front of your engine you need a newer boat!

When you are determining your rotation stand behind the flywheel on the transmission side. Rotate your engine from that view. If the flywheel turns to the right it is RH if it turns to the left it is LH rotation.
Engine Manufacturers always reference rotation from the Flywheel looking forward at the engine.
Your distributor gear and the one posted by Chuckactor appear the same to me.
If one is reverse rotation they both are.
If your gear currently turns your oil pump the rotation is correct.
I am not aware of a reverse rotation Oil Pump. I don't think the pump cares which direction it works.
If you adjust Hydraulic Lifters 3 times you are probably all messed up. Hydraulic lifters are very easy to set but you get one chance to do this correctly.
You will probably need to adjust them running once the engine starts.
Are you aware a Cam Break In will be necessary to avoid lobe failures.
On Start up of a new Cam and Lifters it is necessary to run the new engine on initial start up at 1,500 to 2,200 RPM for a minimum of 20 minutes.   You need to have your tune pretty close to good for this to happen.   Timing, Valve Adjustment and Carb tune have to be pretty close to on spec for this to happen.   It is very important or you risk camshaft failure. Use a high quality oil for break in. Some of the Diesel blends work well for this.   

Forgot to mention check with him on the gear too. There are some on eBay but you need to know shaft size. Check that your distributor is a marine one also since this now seems to be somewhat of a collection of parts.

Cam Research. TRBenj and I think JoeinNy has a lot of experience with their cams. I think Tim has said their recommendations are on the conservative side though. If he does not see this pm him.

Lefty being standard, normal rotation then?

Does that dizzy mesh properly with that camshaft? If it does, that's a left/standard camshaft as well.

the engine is cranking the correct way for a reverse rotation
I got this project from a guy who got it as a project....it was completely disassembled when I got it. The guy I got it from said the previous owner had the engine rebuilt and then left it outside. and water got inside the pistons and rusted the rings to the cylinder wall. he tore it apart and had the machine work done, then lost interest in it. other than that, I don't know much else but it looks like somebody got the engine out of a OMC IB/OB due to the parts that don't make the nautique.

or can I change the distributor gear?

The crank is for sure reverse rotation by the stamped numbers and the wick groves. I just look online at cams and it seems I might have the wrong cam, gear is opposite....if anyone can confirm this that would be great

Thanks