Well I just got back from picking up my new balancer at Napa and guess what? The marks are in the same place as the original. I'm wondering if someone put on the wrong pointer. Does anyone have a picture of what the timing pointer looks like. Mine appears to be bolted on using the front cover bolts. Or could my cam have slipped, or possibly been installed wrong? I can't get it smogged like this...very frustrating.

 

Rotate your engine to TDC on the first cylinder and see where your rotor is pointed; That will rule out something simple like the dizzy just being in a tooth or so off.

 

Yeah, I think it bolts on ..... I'll have to look later.

When setting timing or checking, I simply make sure I have timing marks up to 35 degrees BTC on my balancer that are clear and easy to see.

I pul thel vacum hose at the dist, block it, speed motor up until centrifugal advance stops advancing and I set timing at 34 degrees with light so that total mechanical advance is that 34 degrees.

By all acounts of what I've read, these engines like 34 degrees total under load. Mine seems happy at 34 anyway, it pinged and burnt some valves a few years back when I tried higher.

Hook vac hose back up, check to see that the vacum diaphram is working, done.

With the vacum hooked up it'll go up into the 40s under light load / coasting at speed when the centrifugal advance is all in for good mileage ...
... but when you mash down on the go peddle, the vacume signal dies, amd the timing drops back for the load.

My distributor has a advance kit in it which let's mechanical advance come in sooner so the stock low idle timing specs result in what is actually retarded timing since the advance has started then. Stock distributors start advancing later and the initial setting is more reliable if you ghet the motor idling slow so if you have one, after setting it like I did, check it idling real slow and see where it's at.

 

Here is what I have done so far: instaled new balancer, rotated the engine until I felt compression on #1 cylinder then I made sure balancer marks were aligned with the timing pointer. I then checked the dist. rotor and it was pointing about half way to the #3 terminal, so I pulled dist. out and lined rotor up with #1 terminal and the truck won't run there. So then I put the rotor back where it was and the truck starts and runs there. I think my cam timing has slipped or is installed wrong. My next step is to pull off the front cover and check the cam sprockets and chain... don't know what else it could be.

 

I would be inclined to re-install the distributor with the rotor pointing at the correct terminal.

 

I did that and the truck won't run. I'm leaning towards the cam being out of time... don't know what else it could be.

 

351M / 400 / 351C Firing order and general distributor position.



Might help? Can't hurt.

 

When you roll the engine over to TDC,,, use a 15/16 socket on the balancer,,,, PULL the #1 plug,, make sure you are at TDC! Feel/watch the piston come to the top,,, THAT is TDC,,, then adjust your dist. while out,, check the gear at the bottom,, make sure it hasn't slipped,, re-install the dist. with the rotor pointing to #1,, you are then going to need to ADJUST your timing to a base of 6-10 now that your dist is in the correct position,,, it simply will not run if you just pull the dist. without adjusting your timing,, when you pull the dist. you ARE changing the timing, so you will need to adjust it.