Okay guys, I goofed. I replaced my TFI on the side of the distributor, and in my haste did not mark the dizzy correctly. So now I have no idea where it was pointing.

So the question is -- what now?

Here's what I'm reasoning:

1) Crank engine until the timing pointer says TDC. This I assume will either be real TDC of the compression stroke, or TDC of the exhaust.
2) Insert the distributor, put the cap on pointing to the rotor, and try to start the engine.
3) If it starts, then I'm home free, and time the engine as normal.
4) If it doesn't start and backfires instead, take the cap and all off, turn the distributor 180 degrees, reinstall everything, and hope that it works.

So my concerns are:
1) Am I going to mess something up worse than it already is?
2) What aren't I thinking about?

Thanks folks.

 

So here's the outcome.

1) I cranked engine until mechanical timing point was just past TDC. I think it would be nearly impossible to stop right at TDC.
2) I inserted the distributor to be just past TDC on #1.
3) Hooked up all the plug wires, plugged the TFI in.
4) Cranked engine.
5) Absolutely nothing. My dad told me that if I'm off, it just won't start. He said it would be very unlikely that the engine backfire if that far off the firing sequence. He was right.

6) Took everything off, the plug wires, the cap, etc.
7) Turned rotor to be 180 degrees out. Basically, it sat between 1 & 4 (firing order is 142536), I turned it to be directly between 5&3.
8) Put everything back together -- the cap, the plug wires, the TFI
9) Cranked engine.

Started right up!

Then of course I had to time it, but that was the easy part.

Of note, I did not take plug #1 out, I didn't have to crank engine to feel the air rushing out, I didn't need to drop a pencil into plug #1 to find out if it were TDC.

Anyway, hope this may help someone.

Cheers,
--Mark

Mark Satterfield - Florida, Miami, Clearwater, Tampa, Melbourne, Orlando - Computers, Engineering

 

Good deal Mark.
Glad you got it figured out.

I am betting you grinned real big when it started

 

Gosh I sure did. I hope someone else is assisted by the idea. Certainly a lot easier than the pencil/plunger in #1 that I've read about.

Mark Satterfield - Florida, Miami, Clearwater, Tampa, Melbourne, Orlando - Computers, Engineering