[track73]

FYI I had that cam in a low compression 400 and loved it.

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by grandville455

That's #6 firing tho in that pic, dot needs to be at midnight on cam and 6 on crank and then drop in pointing at #1, if just aligning them, then that's how i do it also

Like I mentioned, I know other ways may work, but I follow the directions with the gear sets, and the service manual, and have never had a problem doing that.

It's kind of hard to argue with the directions and the service manual, and not going to 'tell' anyone to do it other than what they choose to do. If others have done it a different way, and had success, then it is your choice to do it another way than I do.

When you go dot to dot, it's much easier to align, because you can actually see the teeth aligned. If they are not together, you stand a much great chance of being off a tooth.



.

[66sprint6]

When I was having trouble, I was considering doing the cam-12:00, crank-12:00 thing, just to start off at #1. Then I thought: if I can't start the thing off at #6, then I shouldn't be doing the work. I looked at it again and realized that I stabbed the distributor one "tooth" over, giving it no adjustability. But it's all good now, this motor is running as good as it's going to.

[Dragncar]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Like I mentioned, I know other ways may work, but I follow the directions with the gear sets, and the service manual, and have never had a problem doing that.

It's kind of hard to argue with the directions and the service manual, and not going to 'tell' anyone to do it other than what they choose to do. If others have done it a different way, and had success, then it is your choice to do it another way than I do.

When you go dot to dot, it's much easier to align, because you can actually see the teeth aligned. If they are not together, you stand a much great chance of being off a tooth.



.

The service manuals are wrong and should be changed. They leave room for error when they do not have to. People who do not know better put their engine together dot to dot then they install the distributor up on # 1 thinking they are doing it right.
So they try and break in their sft cam and the engine does not fire right up and we all know a quick fire up is essential to braking in a sft cam.
So the engine pops and sputters and by the time they figure it out and flip the distributor 180 all the lube is smeared off the cam and the cam goes flat.
Seen it happen.
Dot to dot put the distributor up on # 6. Or tun the engine one full crank turn lake Darby says and put the distributor in the correct spot on #1.
The manuals have screwed up a lot of engines if the person doing the initial fire up was a novice.

[Kenth]

Pontiac changed the manuals 1969 and on regarding the dots on cam drive gears, due to laymen didn´t understand that #6 is in firing order with dots shown as in 1968 and earlier manuals.
When you´ve learnt that crank turns two revs while cam turns one you can install the gears dot to dot if you like and then turn the crank one rev before install distributor correctly.

FWIW

[Cliff R]

WAY back when I first started building V-8 engines for customers I sent one out and the customer couldn't get it to fire. He ended up pulling the water pump and timing cover and discovered that I had the timing gears/marks "180 out". He called up here all pissed off, trying to round up a linch mob to have me tarred and feathered and ran out of town on a rail, and no matter how much I tried to explain to him that all he needed to do was rotate the engine from firing #6 over to firing #1 and re-installing the distributor he wasn't going to hear any of it. He labeled me STOOPID and that's just the way it was going to be.

Learning from that experience I started REQUIRING the distributor with the engine and started installing them at 10-12 degrees BTDC on the #1 firing position and "static" timing them. This is done by setting them so the points are just starting to open or the reluctor is just starting to line things up to fire the coil with the engine turned so the balancer marks are lined up on the #1 compression stroke.

That worked OK for a while then I had some issues with folks throwing untested carbs on fresh engines and "washing" them out or excessive cranking before they would fire up.

This led to requiring the carb AND distributor sent with the engine so I could delivery the engine with both items in place, both parts tested, static timed and ready to eye-dropper some fuel in to the carb vent so the engine would fire before it made one revolution.

That worked pretty well for a while but I still had a few customers that had issues so I started dynoing all the engines I built and delivering them turn-key ready to fire with no leaks, knocks, timing set and ready to plug & play.

Some of lifes's lessons with this hobby that should make folks realize that all hobbyists don't have the same experience or skill sets and can quickly get themselves into trouble with these sort of things........FWIW.......

Anyhow, I am NOT trying to be overly critical here, but the basic fundaments for this sort of thing need to ALL be in place BEFORE you attempt a start up after a cam change or with a "fresh" engine. Camshaft installed correctly, lifters set at the correct pre-load, known working distributor installed on the #1 compression stroke about 10-12 degrees BTDC and "static" timed. The carb should be a known working flawlessly unit, fuel in it, etc before you attempt to start the engine. I'd also go as far as to pressure test the cooling system since the engine was all apart AND put a small hole in the thermostat or push it slightly open and cut a small piece of platic tube from your can of carb cleaner and pry the thermostat open and let it come to rest on the piece of plastic. This will allow you to top off the cooling system before you fire it up and you don't have to start dumping water in and all over the engine when the stat opens and it "pukes" water all over, the fan picks it up and sprays down the engine compartment and cars windshield, etc, during run-in (sound familiar?).

A lot of these things are learned from decades of doing this sort of thing and finding all the weak spots in your armor. Hope the info helps some...........Cliff

[Sun Tuned]

We been wedging the thermostat open with a small baby aspirin or two. They dissolve after a few minutes time and leave no trace at all.

More stuff to buy…lol

At least it takes care of coolant headaches

[HWYSTR455]

Just to say, regardless of how you install the gears, to be sure when you stab the dizzy, you HAVE to rotate the crank to ensure you're on a compression stroke.

I personally prefer to watch the rockers, see the #1 intake valve close, then align the balancer mark with the timing mark.

I also use the same method Cliff does, bringing the timing mark to 12 degrees and THEN stabbing the dizzy. This prevents the 'hunting' of turning the dizzy while cranking. This is 101 SOP imo. Kills me to see all the 'hollywood' shows with the flame thru the carb moment.

Again, do what YOU feel is right, and have had success with. I'm not telling anyone what it 'right' or 'wrong' or how it 'must' be done, just what I've done for 40+ years and works for ME.



.