The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 timing instruction

Can anyone give me a link to instruction video on setting the timing on a 54 235 engine? A friend was going to do it but couldn't find the flywheel housing opening, the steel ball in the flywheel or the pointer on the housing.

What in the world did 5 or 6 generations of auto mechanics do before video was invented? The pointer is in the window of the bellhousing right above the starter. A blind man could stick his finger into the hole and find it. Try pulling the lower cover off the flywheel behind the oil pan and turning the flywheel a little at a time, cleaning as you go, until the Ball or "BB" is located. Then line the two of them up in the bellhousing window with both #1 cylinder valves closed, then loosen the clamp and turn the distributor housing clockwise until the points close, then turn it back CCW until they just barely open. This sets the initial timing. Fine-tune it up or down to eliminate detonation with the "octane selector", the slotted bolt hole that attaches the distributor to the block.
Jerry

Great stuff. The videos I found were for newer engines and required a timing light. I obviously need to do some cleaning too. Thanks for helping a guy who doesn't know his bell housing from his bolt hole!

StephenB, congratulations! You have successfully, right out of the gate, understood that Hotrod Lincoln, though abrupt at times, is here to help. And that, he does well.
Good luck and have fun.
Carl

http://devestechnet.com/Figures/enginetiming.pdf

then there is this one:

http://devestechnet.com/Home/TuneUpGuide

both done by some really talented people. But you would have to
print them out.

Nice documentation.

Is getting #1 at 6 o clock and the cap retainer tabs parallel to the block just a cosmetic thing?

I used the ball and watched the valves to find TDC. And verified that the rotor was pointing at #1. But #1 on my dizzy is roughly 2 o clock. And the vac advance points away to roughly 5 o clock.

Is this a problem?

The position of the gear at the bottom of the distributor will determine which plug tower lines up as #1. As long as the firing order goes clockwise as 1-5-3-6-2-4, it doesn't matter where #1 is. If you want #1 to be in a specific position it will be necessary to lift the distributor out of the engine, align the oil pump drive correctly, and drop the dizzy back into place with the rotor pointing where you want it. The only engines I know about where the position of #1 is critical are some Ford V8's where the vacuum advance can interfere with the intake, and 1955 and 56 Chevy 265's with a flat spot on the distributor housing that must align with the oil gallery to get oil to the right bank valve lifters. In 57 they changed the shape of the housing to eliminate that problem.
Jerry

You want the vac advance to line up with the vac line.

Once you index your distributor to where you want #1 to be, you can loosen the clamp on the distributor.

I used the method HRL described
Used a long flat blade screwdriver to turn the oil pump receiver.