Guest kcambron Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 I have a stock 71 Z, to time the engine @ 5btdc the hold down screw must be out of the slotted area. Does this mean my timing chain is worn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 No, the distributor is driven off the crank. It just means your distributor drive is off a tooth. You have to drop your oil pump part way, re-engage the drive shaft either advanced or retarded a tooth, and reconnect it and retime it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAW Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 How many degrees is one tooth worth? You could figure out which way it needs to go, pull out the distributor, rotate the crank by one tooth's worth of degrees and drop the distributor back in. That would be faster and easier (and less messy) than dropping the pump. DAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 I can offer a tip on holding the distributor shaft in place while the oil pump is removed from the engine.Gravity always lets the distributor shaft slip downwards without the pump holding the shaft in place which usually ends in "skipping a tooth" This is where I always "skipped a tooth" in installing the distributor shaft,external oil pump and distributor..... I use a small pair of needle nose vice grips that allows me to grip the distributor shaft from the top distributor mounting location where I can easily manuever the distributor gear teeth and the crankshaft gear teeth into proper location. With the needle nose vice grips properly set on the upper part of the distibutor shaft disallowing any gravity downward movement of the shaft... I can crawl under the car and re-install the oil pump with the distributor shaft firmly locked in place and in the proper tooth arrangement.Befire without the small needle nose vice grips it was repeated trial and error to properly re-install without "skipping a tooth" ///a long explaination for a simple solution but it works for me and saved me alot of time on many L20 B head gasket replacements where I disassemble the whole "shooting match" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Originally posted by Tomahawk Z:I can offer a tip on holding the distributor shaft in place while the oil pump is removed from the engine.Gravity always lets the distributor shaft slip downwards without the pump holding the shaft in place which usually ends in "skipping a tooth" This is where I always "skipped a tooth" in installing the distributor shaft,external oil pump and distributor..... I use a small pair of needle nose vice grips that allows me to grip the distributor shaft from the top distributor mounting location where I can easily manuever the distributor gear teeth and the crankshaft gear teeth into proper location. With the needle nose vice grips properly set on the upper part of the distibutor shaft disallowing any gravity downward movement of the shaft... I can crawl under the car and re-install the oil pump with the distributor shaft firmly locked in place and in the proper tooth arrangement.Befire without the small needle nose vice grips it was repeated trial and error to properly re-install without "skipping a tooth" ///a long explaination for a simple solution but it works for me and saved me alot of time on many L20 B head gasket replacements where I disassemble the whole "shooting match" I've done this - it works well. You can't just rotate the engine from under the dizzy, the dizzy only has one position atop the shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAW Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 You're right re the engagement of the distr onto the tang of the shaft, but you could move the wires around by one cylinder interval on the cap if it's off by that much. DAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clint78z Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 There is another 8mm bolt that keeps that lockdown plate on the distributor loosen it it will give you a little more adjustment since it is sloted as well. It hidden under neath !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest empracing Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 rock on the second screw under neath it saved my life a few times but not now i really cant get the timeing right now anyway i was going to say needle nosed standard plyers and sturdy rubber bands around the handels will do orr normal vice grips on the handels either way i used that meathd many times because getting that stupid oilpump around my sway bar sucked anybody else have that prob? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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