Milke,

Thanks. It is difficult to tell from a book. I have a Haynes manual, but
the drawing isn't that clear and it doesn't have any details on the
early GM engines, only the similar Dauntless V6. The rotor is wide on
the Oddfire distributor and mine will either center on #1 at TDC on the
compression stroke or point between #1 and #6. If you have one of these
engines (Delco distributor), could you pop the cap and look at where the
centerline of the rotor points at TDC? There is a small notch on the
distributor that represents the #1 position. One would assume it would
point to that mark, not past it.

Bill

Mike Romain wrote:
> My book shows it to be at the 5:00 position looking at it from the front
> of the engine with the firing order 165432 clockwise.
>
> Yours sounds like it is off a gear tooth maybe on the rotor or the
> distributor needs to be turned to clock it. It should be at 1 or just
> slightly after towards the 6. My book also shows two different
> advances. It says 0 for the prestolite distributor and 5 deg for the
> delco remy.
>
> Also make sure it is on the compression stroke TDC, not the exhaust
> stroke's TDC. You can stick you finger in the plug hole and feel the
> compression as it comes up.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
> Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
>
> Bill Lahr wrote:
>
>>I'm trying to fire up a '61 CJ5 that I am almost finished restoring.
>>Engine is from a '64 Buick Special, suspect it is the 198ci because it
>>has a Rochester Monojet rather than the 2bbl found on the 225. No
>>matter, same block, etc. I have compression, I have manifold vacuum,
>>rebuilt the carb, have fuel, rebuilt the distributor (vacuum advance had
>>a hole in it) and have spark, but it won't start. The previous owner had
>>installed a new timing chain after he parked it, but never drove it, and
>>I assume he did that correctly or it would have destroyed a valve in
>>cranking it over. But he apparently had to pull the distributor. It is
>>driven by a hypoid gear that causes the rotor to twist as you remove it,
>>so I suspect he may not have inserted it correctly. At TDC, the rotor
>>was pointing midway between #1 and #6.
>>
>>There is a small notch on the side of the distributor housing that marks
>>the #1 position. What I need is for someone with an Oddfire engine to
>>set it to TDC and tell me where the centerline of the contact strip on
>>top of the rotor is pointing. (The contact is wide at the end, but
>>please ignore that.) Right now, mine points directly at the notch, but I
>>am not sure if this is correct. I can't find any manuals that cover an
>>engine this old. I need to set the ignition timing before I can finish
>>troubleshooting it.
>>
>>Thanks.
>>--
>>
>>Bill Lahr



--

Bill Lahr