Timing issue on Rebuild L28

[TBK1]

ok guys , got it all back together and installed in car heres whats up!

before tear down I set engine at TDC compression stroke #1 cylinder, removed head, cam never got moved after that point(head previously rebuilt).

The timing kit I received had no bright links or indicator marks on crank gear, but did had the 1, 2, 3, settings on cam gear.

After rebuilding lower end brought #1 to tdc and installed the timing chain and cam gear to #1 posistion. had to rotate prob to 10 btdc to line up so cam gear would go on evenly. (prob real close cause I did the thumb pressure trick on tear down).

when installing the oil pump,shaft,dizzy tried to line it up for #1 and thought I had it right but hear is what I am experienceing.

car starts and runs with dizzy twisted at max cw . the indicator on the dizzy is @ max A not R, have used both lockdown screws for adjustment, but can only get it to 5 BTDC. But runs semi ok.

Thinking I screwed up moved all the plug wires one spot on dizzy and it runs much stronger ( by ear wise, throttle response) but the timing mark is way way BTDC my light advances to 99 degrees advance and that only put the mark at about 25 BTDC. I put every thing to right posistion for now but what do you guys think!

[TBK1]

ALMOST FORGOT, if it matters I used the dizzy out of his 240 which is some type of optical , or mag pickup type, unknown what brand or era, on his 240 it was set and running at 20 BTDC, do have the dizzy from the 77 motor but not sure about how to wire it in, dont remeber seeing any kind of ign box for the 77 but his 240 dizzy is wired thru some type of a ign box that has been mounted to the fender well, I beleive his is a 3 wire dizzy and the 77 is a 2 wire (or visa versa I was tired by that point, and half loaded)(had to, dealing with 4 teenagers during this process)heheheh

[TBK1]

HUMMMMMMMM!!! Come on, even if I pulled a BONER! I can Take it!

[TBK1]

come on dont be scared ,no one?

[Ed]

O.k. I'll bite, it sounds a little confusing.

First off changing your plug wires around, put them back.

I hope you have a service manual. Let's start with the easy stuff first. Make sure your wires are correct. On the distruibutor cap and at the plugs. Then move your engine to TDC. Which direction is your rotor facing? In your service manual there should be a picture, if not search around here and you will find several pictures. IMO it sounds like the oil pump/distruibutor shaft is off one tooth.

[Arne]

Sounds like the oil pump shaft is one tooth off. The L28 in my car came equipped with a small vice-grips pliers when I bought it. The only way the previous owners could get the timing close was to remove the lower lock bolt completely and clamp the dizzy in place with the vice-grips.

Set the engine at TDC for #1 and pull the dizzy. I'm betting the drive tang will be almost perfectly vertical. Looking from the dizzy end, it should really be just a touch counter-clockwise from vertical. (Call it 11:25 using the clock face as a reference.) If this is the case, you need to drop the pump and shaft, move it one tooth back - clock-wise when looking from underneath.

[beandip]

You didn't mention this but , is one of the dist, in question a ZX dist. Or is it possible that a ZX base part , the part that actually bolts to the block, is coupled to a 240 dist. These parts look the same at first look but they are different and you will have timing problems if they are interchanged. Just a thought .Gary

[TBK1]

Thinking the one tooth thing myself, plug wire are back where they should be, still runs but onlt 5 btdc max obtainable. Is it possible to pull dizzy remove and reposistion the shaft WITHOUT removing the oil pump? Will the shaft fall into the pump slot ok, maybe by hand rotating the motor alittle to get it to drop in place? will the shaft bind up on the crank gear not fully installed this way? Think they are both zx dizzys or pss 1 is 77 org, but they were both one engines before with there housing and ran fine. Think rotor faces more to straight front towards radiator! havent looked at it in a couple weeks!

[Arne]

No. The shaft must come out the bottom, it cannot be removed from the top. But it's a simple job, probably only took me 30 minutes or less.

[TBK1]

did u have to drain the oil first, new oil hate to if dont have to.!

[Arne]

I don't recall draining the oil first. Seems to me that you'll lose a little oil out of the pump itself, but not much.

BTW, I found these instructions to be better for this task than those in the FSM. Might help.

http://autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1d/16/b5/0900823d801d16b5.jsp

[EricB]

oil is cheap...

if you're really worried get a clean container, drain it into that and pour it back into your engine afterwards...

-e