I'm back after a long while with out posts but I'm still trying to get my bronco running new cyliderheads just bought ccame off a 1986 351 and I have a 1996 351 but yeah almost 1200 dollars later and truck I had sent it upto a local trustworthy shop and asked them to put my hedder on the passangerside of the engine they said it wasnt going to work due to the angle in the flanges the mechanic said it would be better to put the original exhaust manifolds back on and get my money back for the hedders so I agreed they put the OEM exhaust manifolds back on and still had a huge exhaust leak well yeah then found out due to the reason that it was off an 86 not a 96 the emissions was all wrong instead of having an EGR pipe it was to have a cross over pipe so yeah now I gotta go through the DM of the zone to get my money money back for the parts plus labor and towing and have to buy the hedders again but anyway before I jump off topic when I took the distibutor out I didnt mark it correctly and my timing is way off I belive so Is there away to detimine the correct positioning for the distributor or am I looking at another trip to the shop on this please rsopond thank you

 

Maybe you have it 180* off I had the same problem when i swapped to my 5.8L it didn't come with a distributor and when i put it in I was off. I'll snap a pic of mine for reference In an hour or two My motor is a '96-Bob

 

I would think the Chilton, or Haynes manual would have a good step by step procedure for reinstalling the dizzy.....even with no marks.

I know you would start with the #1 at TDC...........

 

I just readjusted my timing after installing a reman. motor. Heres what to do.

1. look under the hood for the sticker with the vacuum hose diagram/emissons stuff on it. There should be a spec about the location of the #1 cylinder. Mine (a '90) is 10* BTDC.

2. disconnect the SPOUT, a connector comming straigth out of the front harness on the distributor. this resets the timing on the ECU, or so I'm told.

3. rotate your engine as close to 10*(or whatever the sticker says) as possible using the marks on the harmonic balancer. mark the line with a piece of chaulk to make it easier to read.

4. locate your #1 wire on the distributor cap and make a mark directly below it on the distributor body. Now, insert the distributor so that the rotor aligns with the mark you've just made. if the rotor is facing forward instead of rearward, rotate the engine 360*. you want the engine at 10* BTDC on the compression stroke, not the exhaust stroke. I did that accidently and was sucking air in the exhaust and out the intake...oops. good thing it won't start like that.

5. skip teeth on the distributor untill your rotor is aligned as closely as possible with the #1 cylinder wire mark you've made in step #4.

6. start the engine and use a timing light to dial yourself in.

7. reconnect SPOUT and tighten down the distributor.

 

You set your timing by following that procedure? You're close, but some more detail needs to be added.

#2 - The SPOUT connector removal disables the computer timing advance. It's a small grey plug in the wiring to the dizzy.

#3 - you want your engine at TDC - top dead center. This is the top of the compression stroke for the #1 cylinder. Take the spark plug out, and turn the engine over by hand. When you feel air coming out of the spark plug hole, stick a straw or something into the cylinder. You'll feel the piston coming up. When it gets to the top, you're at top dead center.

Then install the dizzy, but ignore the part about the rotor facing the wrong way and rotating the engine again. If you find TDC correctly, you won't have that problem.

Also, sucking air in from the exhaust and out the intake is impossible unless you've installed the wrong cam. Timing has NOTHING to do with when the valves open. Air is always following the correct path, setting the timing just controls when the plugs fire.

 

why would he ignore if the rotor is 180* off, there are two TDC, one at compression and one at exhaust stoke. or am i way off here?

 

If you follow my directions to the letter, the #1 cylinder will be at the top of the compression stroke. That's the reason for feeling air coming out of the spark plug hole - if the air isn't coming out, then it's at the top of the exhaust stroke, and therefore 180* degrees off.

 

your procedure does take out the guess work, thanks