Do what Franklin said to get it running then we can help wire it right.

As for the carb choke wires, looks like you have a Holley carb and that choke use 12 volts to open. The stock carb used something 7 volts from the ALT so that other wire may be it?
I would not worry about it right now.
Dave - - - -

 

As long as I dont need it to drive around then Ill be good for now. Im going to get to work on the wiring, probably using wires already in the truck since he said 12 gauge and Ive only got 16-18 gauge on rolls.

 

Use 2, 16 gauge wires side by side. Twist them together at the end and crimp them in a yellow sized crimp. More than one way to get it done.

 

Im almost done taking the wiring out. What do I need hooked up/wired to be able to check the timing for my engine so I can know when I can install the distributor so that the gears will mesh correctly?

 

You do not need anything wired up to get the dist installed correctly. You might was well start from scratch on this;

Get a socket and ratchet that will fit the large bolt in the center of the lower pulley on the bottom front of the engine.

Lay on your back and get a flashlight and look at the damper that is behind the lower pulley. There should be marks on the damper. Clean this area up so you can see it. If you don't see marks, get your socket and turn the engine clockwise looking at it from the front, till you see marks. Clean this up. You should have a zero and a mark around 10 BTDC. Get some whiteout and paint this line at 10 BTDC so you can see it from above.

Go around to the top, look carefully, you should see a pointer over the damper. Clean it off if you have to, paint it white if you need to.

Go over to the pass side front, and take out the very front pass side sparkplug. This is #1 cylinder.

Get someone to help you turn the engine clockwise slowly, while you hold your thumb over the sparkplug hole to seal it off. As they turn the engine by hand, wait till it starts blowing air by your thumb forcing it off the hole. When it starts doing that stop, and then look down at the pointer you found. Keep turning the engine slowly till your 10 BTDC mark lines up with the pointer. Stop and don't move the engine anymore, it's now set for #1 firing position.

If you want to put the dist back in where your old one was, follow your #1 sparkplug wire you took off up to the old cap. Look at what position the wire is on the cap. for curiosity's sake, pull the cap off and look at the rotor underneath. If it's pointed to #1,then your old dist was set correctly. You will want to drop the new dist in place so the rotor is pointed to the same #1 wire.

 

Here's the standard wiring orientation for the Ford engines. This is the 302 firing order also.



You can put #1 anywhere you like as long as you keep them in the correct order. The problem you run into is the wire lengths do not work out well so the sparkplug wiring kits you get in the store do not fit very well if #1 is not where its supposed to be.

 

What is the point of checking when it pushes air out if Im just going to line it up with the 10 btdc mark?

 

The camshaft rotates twice for each single time the crankshaft rotates, once for the intake and once for the exhaust operations dictated by the valves on the head.

You need to have the rotating assembly and valves synchronized correctly with the ignition. IOW you want TDC on the *compression* stroke and not the exhaust stroke, an engine won't run real well when you fire the spark plugs as the pistons push the cylinder contents out the exhaust.

 

Yes, if you look at how the 4 cycle engine works, the piston comes up to push the exhaust out, and it also comes up to fire. One of those times the mark comes around to the pointer is the wrong one. You want to make sure and get the right one.

 

Tienfan789, please make sure you understand that a distributor change is not just a drop in plug up and go thing. The best way to ensure you are installing it right is to make sure to set the engine at TDC (Top Dead Center), Install the distributor, then make sure to run your plug wires accordingly. If you don't, you are going to have some serious issues, backfiring, etc.

I installed an HEI in my 302 about 2 years ago or so and have not had a single problem. I wanted to eliminate the existing ignition module, coil, etc so I could clean up the engine bay a bit. It is one of the best Mods I've done to my truck. You will absolutely not be able to use your original air cleaner though. I bought a smaller diameter air cleaner but at twice the height to ensure it did not restrict air flow..

I edited this to mention that there are actually 2 different HEI distributors for a 302 depending on whether your engine is roller or flat tappet. The gear on the HEI is different for each one.

 

Which is a pretty serious loss of factory equipment when you live in a cold climate and can really make use of some of the things they did to help operational capability.

 

If you have the room between cleaner & hood I have seen a tall spacer between carb & cleaner to raise it, would that work?


I want to say I have seen this on GM trucks but cant remember what they were.
Dave ----

 

So I turned the engine, tried to follow your instructions but I am having an issue. It blew my friends finger off the hole, and I finally spotted the marks on the damper. I can't find the pointer that I'm supposed to line the 10 btdc mark up with.

 

The older engines where over here.



Newer ones where over here.

 

So I found the pointer, and I installed the distributor. Not sure if I did it correctly though. My friend had his finger on the spark plug hole, and the air pushed it off. But then I had to turn it a bit more for it to line up with the 10 mark. I then installed the distributor with the cap off, and lined up the rotor with the #1 firing spark plug on the cap. I was turning the motor counter clock wise (Im pretty sure) could that have been an issue? The pointer was lined up with the 10 mark on the damper though.