Are you sure the dizzy/oil pump shaft is clocked correctly? Might be off a tooth.    

When I put the ZX distributor in I ran into this same thing.  Mine's about 30 minutes fast, high noon when it should be 11:25.  I pulled off the pump and tried getting it right without any luck.  It's all relative. 

 

yes, you can compensate for the dizzy shaft being off a tooth, but it's kinda wonky and will be a pain to get timing all correct. 

when i did this, i used a piece of inner tube rubber sheet to make a sling for the oil pump end of the shaft so i could work from the top and push it down, clock it, pull it back in place without a helper. it was the only way i could get that damn swirly gear in the right position. its actually a pretty simple job and once it's set right, all your other marks should line up better and it will be much easier to know where you are without extra marks and doing math...

I've been down that road!  But I'mma too stewpid when I'm in a hurry.

After Zed Head put up this pic from the FSM, I quit trying.  I need a reason to put a new clutch in and it has presented itself, REBUILD TIME.

My Dad always said timing lights are worthless on worn motors, I believe him now.

 

Well slow down dude!

So it is a tooth off?

It takes some luck and a couple of tries to get it right. Timing lights are good for troubleshooting.

These cars are also prone to detonation so it's nice to know when you are close to those limits. The ole "advance till it pings and then back off a couple of degrees", works on most cars, but an unexperienced ear might not pick up detonation before it's too late.

My argument for accurate or at least verifiable timing.   

This is funny, I just bought on of those advance style lights too. I spent a week trying to figure out whether or not I installed the dizzy correctly. Put the light it to see where timing was actually found it to 20 degrees advanced at idle with room for adjustment either way, to me at least confirming I have the dizzy drive gear in right. Then it slid of my front fender to be viciously attacked by my fan blade :'-( in anycase it still works great and I'm very glad I bought mine.

My teaching was to adjust the dizzy until it was the "smoothest" idling and sounding then back up a few degrees.  

 

 

Anyway, I really want a fresh motor and clutch and I've got the rest of winter to do it right.  The car looks good, now I want it to be dependable.  Next month it'll be 43 years old.

 

Timing problem: Engine runs great, I made a mark on the pulley at 0 degrees (#1 cylinder at TDC). I can't get the timing (with the timing light) to the recommended (5 degrees BTDC) without severely retarding the timing, (I have to take the bolt out of the distributor and turn it further) to get it to read 5 degrees. Here's my question: Could the distributor/oil pump shaft be one tooth out of time so the indicator is so far off?

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Ericjump

Edited April 20, 20159 yr by ericjump

Is it a 240 pulley?  Those marks are confusing.  

 

My mechanical timing was off a tooth on the cam sprocket so it ran best all with the distributor turned all the way clockwise.  After all the hassle I had, if it runs good just try and quit thinking about it.  I got fixated on the timing light lining up right with the pulley marks and wasted a lot of time.

 

BUT, if you want to pull the distributor it should look like this at TDC,

 

 

 

i always got flummoxed by the clock analogy - for me it's easier to lay a straight line from rear side of one bolt hole to front side of the other and line up the tang that way...

 

 

 

Now all will remember.

 

 

11:25-ish:

 

Edited April 21, 20159 yr by Blue