Pinto - Distributor Timing??

[Nomexnomad]

If it all goes wrong Anthony, you should have a mark stamped on the rim of the body of the distributor.

When refitting, the dizzy will only go in one way, IE it is governed by the gear drive. Get it fitted with the engine at No1 TDC so you have about 1/3rd movement in each direction and ensuring it will not obstruct other components drive belts etc. Do this by rotating the rotor arm so it is near where your mark is, then fitting the distributor in the engine in a position of good movement. Once located rotate the body of the dizzy to acurately line up the rotor arm with the stamp mark. Now fit the cap in place (It too is on a keyway) and the ht lead hole nearest the point of the rotor arm will be No1 cylinder. From there fit your HT leads in a clockwise rotation in the order of 1,3,4,2 and then tighten the dizzy retaing bolt (just tight as you will need to adjust it).

This should make it fire and run. Even if you dont have a timing light you can come close doing the timing by ear. With the engine running loosen the dizzy retaining bolt, and try rotating the dizzy in VERY small increments anticlockwise. If the engine picks up speed and smooths out, try a bit more till a point where the engine fails to increase in speed with your movements. When that point is met, turn the dizzy clockwise just a fraction, and you will be pretty close. If turning anticlockwise makes the engine run slower or much rougher, try clockwise.

Edited to say* Be careful though, too much advance can cause you to burn out valves and put burn spots on pistons etc... This is for a basic get you running scenario. Your Cam will have a timing setting (if it is an uprated cam) an example would be 12deg BTC at 4500rpm, so you need to find 12deg BTC with a protractor or vernier, and mark that point on the bottom pulley with a white pen. then with the engine running at 4500 rpm rotate the dizzy to match the mark with the timing light to the static point on the engine.