Distributor questions..

[Anonymous]

Hi all.. I'm new to this board even though I've been around the Stangnet boards for a while..

I've got a '66 200 Mustang that runs extremely rough. I'm thinking that the distributor might not be installed correctly. Here's my questions:
1. If the #1 cylinder is exactly at TDC, where should the rotor point? Perpendicular to the engine and towards the left side of the car?
2. How loose should the rotor be on the distributor shaft? Mine can wobble up to about an eighth of an inch. I thought they were supposed to fit on fairly snugly.
3. Can somebody explain to me how the distributor can be a "tooth off"? I understand that the rotor will not be pointing in the correct direction, but can't this be fixed by rotating the distributor body to match it (aside from the inability to connect the vacuum line)?

Thanks for your help, guys.. 8)

 

[CobraSix]

1) My #1 is towards the left side of the car.

2) The rotor needs to be secure. Loosen it to adjust...but make sure it is tight. If it is loose, it can wooble and change the timing of you car.

3) I think mine may be a tooth off. People told me that my distributor vacuum line should point towards #6 cylinder. Mine points to the firewall straight back. I replaced my vacuum line with a flexible vacuum line. I don't like steel vacuum lines.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info..

That's pretty much what I thought..

On my question #3, what I really want to know is what is different by putting the distributor in another tooth of the cam and then setting the body of the distributor so that the points are still in the same position compared to the rotor at TDC. I mean, say that I (for some unknown reason :roll: ) wanted to have the vacuum advance portion of my distributor pointing directly toward the left fender (having #1 at the front of the engine because the distributor shaft was a few teeth off on the cam), but I still set my timing to about 12-16 degrees... Why is this any different from setting my timing to 12-16 degrees while having the vacuum advance pointed at cylinder #6 (as I thought it should be when in the "correct" tooth of the cam)? Does that explain my question?

Thanks again!

 

[CobraSix]

In theory...there should be no difference at all that I'm aware of but I could be missing something.

Slade

 

[61Futura]

The rotor can be snugged up by either bending or replacing a small metal device that snaps onto the distributor shaft at the top where the rotor fits onto it. I noticed the same problem on my spare load-o-matic that I was cleaning up a couple of weeks ago. I just used a pocket sized flat screw driver to bend the metal piece away from the flat spot of the dizzy shaft. The rotor felt snug after that. I don't know how long this kind of fix will work and now that you mentioned it, I should get a hold of a new clip since all of mine are 40 years old.

About installing the distributor 1 tooth off, I did change mine by 1 tooth on purpose to get my vacuum advance aiming where I could adjust my timing without bumping into the block or whatever else is around there. It must have been installed 1 tooth off when I first put all the pieces back together a couple years ago. I could barely get the timing adjusted to 10 degrees the way it used to be installed.

Steve

 

[61Futura]

After further thought, I probably moved mine by 2 teeth because of the hex shaft and 14 teeth on the distributor. Maybe even 3 teeth because it sure is aimed alot different than before.

Steve