I recently installed a new 351W in Bronco and have upgraded to an ACCEL super coil, Mallory Distributor with a Petronix Electric Ignition, and electric fuel pump. I am getting spark now, although it seems to be fluctuating. I have two questions:

1) How can I easily find TDC without removing the timing cover so I can correctly set the spark and firing order?

2) I was reading online that I would need to add a resistor to the coil (other then the supplied .85 Ohm resistor included with the coil) if there was not one already in the vehicle. Does the 83 Ford Bronco has a resitor in the ignition box?

Thanks!

 

The original coil wire already has a resistor from the factory in the wiring harness.

Pull the passenger side valve cover off. Turn the engine manually and when the mark on the balancer is getting close to zero on the scale, watch the rocker arms on the front cylinder(#1). If they are closed then put the mark on zero, and this is top dead center. If one of the rockers is opening one of the valves, then keep turning the engine till the mark on the damper comes around again. This time, the valves should be shut, and this will be top dead center. Pick which wire on the cap you want to be number 1 cylinder. Pull the dist, or move it around, till the rotor points to that plug wire. Then follow the firing order to plug in all the other wires into the dist cap.

 

A friend of mine told me what I should do is take out the spark plug on the 1st piston and putr a screwdriver in the hole and VERY SLOWLY turn the crank manually until the screwdriver slides up. When the screwdriver begins to fall down again the go back slightly and this will be TDC for the engine.

Is the above method much more specific? Do I need to get a balancer from Auto-Zone or something? Thanks a lot for your help!

 

Hey there, just a follow up! I want to make sure fo the Piston order on my 351W. I have a Haynes manual but it has a firing order and cylinder order for the 351C and I don't know if this is the same as the Windsor...

4 8
3 7
2 6
1 5

Anyone have the firing order for the 351W as well?

Thanks!

 

The balancer I am referring to is the harmonic balancer on front of the engine where the timing marks are. With the screwdriver method, you can find when the piston is up in the cylinder, but this could be the firing stroke (what you want) or the exhaust stroke (what you don't want). I have heard other guys using the thumb over the sparkplug hole method. Turn the engine around with your thumb over the sparkplug hole till you feel pressure pushing out of the hole. Then look at the balancer and line the marks up.

 

The firing order for 351C (Clevland Motor)and the 351W (Windsor motor) are the same 1 3 7 2 6 5 4 8.The cylinder locations are as you have described. 4 8
3 7
2 6
1 5

The other engines in the Clevland family which are the 351 BOSS, 351M and 400, have the same firing order as the 351C and the 351W.

The other engines in the 90 deg. V-8 smallblpck family. That is; 221, 260, 289s and 302s have the same cylinder order, but the firing order is 1 5 4 2 6 3 7 8 .

Cheers

--Heaven will be inherited by every man who has Ford in his soul--

 

 

The thumb over the no. 1 hole works just fine. That is the compression stroke. Line up the "0" (not btdc or atdc, but in between) and that is tdc.