During the summer I replased the 302 with a new one from AutoZone. I have the truck idling perty smooth, I finaly got a timing light to hook up to it and here is the problem.
I have the original harmonic balancer and timming point. When I shoot the light on it, the mark is more to the 1 o'clock position to were the pointer is at the 11. when I try to bring the mark to the 11, it dies.
What could it be, confused in virginia. thnx

 

Your Timing marks could have slipped, if it doesn't start really hard and has good power, i wouldn't mess with it. the only way to correct this is to get another balancer (if this is the problem) and replace it. but beware some 302s used the 50 ounce imbalance some years and 28 ounce the other.

 

When you bolted the harmonic balancer back on, it probably did not end up in the same place as it was when you took it off. If you are really concerned about the mark, you can find TDC and make a new mark on the harmonic balancer that you can use as a reference point. Then you can advance or retard from there. When I set the timing, I advance a little bit at a time, test driving it around the neighborhood, and when I start to hear it ping a little, I turn it back (retard) just a little bit, and tighten it down. Then I go on a longer test drive and listen carefully for any pinging - if you hear it ping, set it back a little bit more. This should give you the most performance and economy.

 

How can I tell if I need the 50 or 28 ounce balancer? If they gave me the wrong block, I then need the other balancer?!? Having the wrong balancer on, am I putting undue stress on the reciporcating system?
The dampner is solid, I couldnt get any play out of it, so I beleive it hasn't sliped.

thnx, shawn

 

if the engine isn't violently shaking (like it would with the wrong balancer) then i wouldn't worry about it.
no need in opening a bigger can of worms. i wouldn't worry about it myself if it ran smooth and didn't look like it was about to shake itself out of the engine bay.

 

Since a woodriff key is used to aling the dampher during assembly, it's unlikely that you installed it in the wrong place, unless you forgot to install the key in the slot, in which case the whole dampher can slip. With the key in the slot, you can only install it in one position. If, by dampher mark, you mean the big slot cut across the outside surface of the dampher, this represents TDC only, and there will be etched marks around this slot for the different degrees you can use. These may be hard to see if there's a bit of road grim on the wheel.

Also, the outside section may seem solid when you try to move it, but at 3000 rpm it really can slip if the rubber bond is bad. I've seen old but solid looking damphers that were really off! It will slip opposite from the direction of crank travel, causing what you described. The easy cure is to replace the dampher with a new one. If you take a chance on a junkyard dampher, you might end up with the same problem. But I have been surprised lately by the high prices of stock replacement damphers! If you used your old timing cover, I would replace the front seal as well.

 

...and speaking of those lovely AutoZone engines, my #6 rod cap decided it doesn't need to hold on real tight anymore, it's knocking like a piece of crap after a wonderful 22,500 miles. The best part is that I never revved it with a load on it higher than 4100 RPM. Can't hide quality. Anyways, I hope you're luckier than I am, every now and then they screw up and do one right. TK

'77 F100, 302 (the aftermarket Prodigy), C4
Cadet Second Lieutenant John F. Daly III
South Carolina Corps of Cadets, The Citadel
The TorqueKing

 

Clean off the timing marks and put a line of paint where you want to set the timing to. I once put together a odd ball setup and had to glue a timing tape to the dampner to get tdc to where the pointer was.