Message text written by John Mitchell
>I made a chalk
>mark at 12 BTDC and unplugged the vacuum retard and plugged it. With
>the timing light on #1 the mark is 2" or 3" past the pointer. I had to
>turn the distributor CCW to get it anywhere near the mark at which point
>it was running very rough and back firing. I moved it back to where it
>was and bolted down for now.
<snip>
>I sure this will be an easy one for you guys.<
Well, I'm not one of them.
It sounds like you have an harmonic dampener that has slipped. That is
where the outer metal part has moved in relation to the inner hub. Since
these are bonded together with rubber the indexing can be disturbed if the
bond gives way.
I have never heard of this happening to a British car but I had something
similar happen on a Ford Escort. But in that case the outer portion started
to walk off of the hub. Of course, since the motor is mounted sideways and
the pulley is right next to frame and it didn;t get far before it started
to rub.
You can find TDC by watching the valves. When the #6 valves are rocking
(exhaust valve is just closing and the intake is just opening) #1 will be
at TDC. Pull the valve cover and turn the engine until the #6 valves rock
and then check the position of the timing mark. Is is 3 inches off? If so
then start looking for another harmonic dampener.
If not, check you timing light. Is it one of those models that has an
adjustable delay?
Cheers
Dave
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