Quote:
Originally Posted by blykins
OK...the scale for BTDC should be to the right of the 0° mark. Think about it...direction of crank rotation is clockwise as you're facing the engine. As you're rotating the engine over, the pointer is going to come to degree marks to the right of the 0 first....because that's BEFORE top dead center. Make sense? As you turn the crankshaft some more, and the pointer passes the 0, it's going to be AFTER top dead center.
So let me understand something better.....how did you know you were at TDC without a piston stop or a previous harmonic balancer to read off of? You can't really eyeball it and be dead on....you really need to use a piston stop because the crank actually rotates several degrees while the piston is stationary at TDC. Chances are that everything is ok, but I think it would be good insurance to double check everything...and it's not difficult.
Spark plug piston stops are easy to use and they're effective. You can use your degree wheel with the balancer on it.
If you want, PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Sometimes this is easier to explain when someone is talking to you.
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Ah.. I see.. that makes sense. There are three separate sets of scales so two of them are BTDC. So after checking the idle timing I estimate the total timing by installing the applicable springs in the distibutor then run the engine at 3000 - 3500 rpm and see if the estimated number shows up with the timing light? I guess a safe number would be 35 degrees? You're right I'll buy that piston stop and double check the TDC. I eyeballed it through the sparkplug hole plus I didn't have the intake manifold on then so I could see the pushrod moving very easily.
I'll give it a shot this weekend with the piston stop. Thanks for all your help.. I'm learning a lot! I'll probably take you up on the phone call help in the future!