distributor shot?

Larry,
Since you mentioned springs, I'd start there and look for a set. The play in the shaft is a concern. How about pulling the distributor and do a visual check on the drive gear.

Holy Crap Larry. I agree with Tim. That should not be able to move both directions. Somethings definitely amiss. They do wear out. It's not terribly common but it does happen. I'd say that removal and inspection is the first step and see what's going on.

I wouldn't bother marking the dizzy/rotor/intake prior to removal, getting it back in the same exact position will be painful. Getting it close isn't worth it- much faster to time it from scratch. Distributor position is all relative.

Prior to reinstallation, just get the engine rolled over (with a breaker bar) to TDC (0 deg marked on the balancer) on the compression stroke. Have someone hold their thumb over the #1 spark plug hole as you roll the engine around (make sure you're rolling it the same direction that the engine rotates). As you approach 0deg on the compression stroke, it'll push your thumb off the plug hole. Line up at 0-10 deg btdc per the balancer. Then install dizzy. Rotate so that the rotor points directly towards a post. Install #1 plug wire on that post. Follow around installing plug wires per correct firing order. Timing should be close enough at this point for the engine to start. Retime it at idle. Check full advance, adjust base timing as necessary. Pretty simple. 15min job we can knock out at WL if you have a dizzy by then.

75 Tique wrote: I was talking to a motor head car builder type co worker of mine about it (who when I asked, told me he was just getting ready to swap out his points dist for electronic in the "new" vette he just bought. Its a beauty.

Is that a '65 1/2 with a 396 or is she a '66? Super pretty vette. My uncle had a '65 1/2 with the 396. Pretty rare and worth quite a bit of money.

Larry, if you have the engine pulley at 10BTDC on compression stroke of #1 cylinder, and you don't want to pull the distributor, then turn the distributor base and put the rotor on the dist shaft and temporarily place cap on to see where the rotor is pointing. Then try to align the rotor as close as possible with the center of one of the eight terminals inside the cap. Whichever terminal the rotor is pointing to......you make that number 1 plug wire. Then, in the direction of distributor rotation you put all the other wires in the correct firing order for your engine.

You're close enough now to start the engine and put a timing light on it for a few degrees of adjustment. Like TRB says, it's all relative.

If you have all of your wires on the cap and you don't want to change their position, then you have to pull the distributor out and install it so the rotor Iines up with the number one wire. The distributor gear is a helical cut gear, so it rotates a few degrees as it engages the camshaft helical gear..... so sometimes you have to pull and re-install to line it up with #1 wire terminal on the cap. It's a little bit of pull and replace to get it exact or close enough as above.. You'll still need to check it with the timing light, but you won't have to mess with the wires if you do it this way.

Take your time. This is the clean and simple work and being slow and methodical is a major bonus. Anyone who can make masterful videos of breaking ski ropes with good soundtracks can do this better than I can. Working on these old boats and cars brings me back to high school days with muscle cars and DIY all the time!

75 Tique wrote: 65 as far as I know. Never said anything about 1/2. 327 Has a cool 1965 vintage license plate on it. He also has a T-bucket that he made.

Cool. It looked like it had the BB hood on it + the side pipes. Reminded me of the rare 65 1/2. The L78 optioned Vette is worth around $100K+ these days.




Didn't mean to get off topic fellas.

Great info TRBenj, I might add that normally the dist won't sit all the way down until the oil pump shaft enters the end of the dist. Probably have to "bump" the engine over to get it to sit down the last 3/8" or so. That can be done after the cap is installed. The whole process is a lot easier than it sounds. Don't force anything, it will fall into place. Good luck

Duane in Indy wrote: Great info TRBenj, I might add that normally the dist won't sit all the way down until the oil pump shaft enters the end of the dist. Probably have to "bump" the engine over to get it to sit down the last 3/8" or so. That can be done after the cap is installed. The whole process is a lot easier than it sounds. Don't force anything, it will fall into place. Good luck

+1.

I had no issues when installing mine. I got everything lined up fairly easily during the dizzy swap. Bumping the engine worked great to seat the dizzy all the way.