The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 Timing Mark

Hey Guys, when I woke up my 55 1st series from its winter nap
it ran very roughly and would not idle. I ended up rebuilding the carb, new coil, points, condenser, cap and rotor.
So I get it running and go to time it and can't find the ball with the timing light. I took the dust cover off and cleaned up the flywheel and painted the ball white and still cant locate it with the timing light. Any ideas?
Thanks!

Which spark plug (number & location) are you connecting the timing light to?

If you have a vacuum gauge, attach it to the wiper port in the intake manifold, under the carburetor. Rotate the distributor to obtain maximum vacuum (warmed-up engine at idle). This will get you close to optimum vacuum.

Stovebolt Engine Tuning using a Vacuum Gauge

If you've got the ball on the flywheel cleaned up and painted, it should be a simple task to turn the flywheel until the ball aligns with the pointer and check to see which spark plug wire the distributor rotor is pointing toward. It should be #1 or #6, as the engine turns twice for every turn of the distributor. You can use either spark plug with a strobe light to set the timing. The flywheel bolt pattern is almost, but not quite idiot-proof, as the bolt holes are not perfectly spaced. A sufficiently persistent idiot could probably install it wrong by not using all the bolts, but there would also be a massive oil leak through the hole for the missing bolt(s) as the bolt holes go all the way through the crankshaft flange and a leak can bypass the rear oil seal if they're not all there.
Jerry

Thanks for the tips guys. I had the light hooked up to the
first cylinder plug wire. I'll see if I can round up a vacuum gauge. Thanks again!

You are looking into the hole in the bellhousing above the starter, right? There's also a hole on the driver's side with no pointer in it, and trying to find a timing mark in that one is a totally lost cause. I think the vacuum gauge "timing" method is a bunch of bovine scatology- - - -there are MUCH more accurate methods of setting and checking ignition timing.
Jerry

pjdee,

Bovine scatology (tuning a stove bolt six's timing and original carburetor using a vacuum gauge) has worked for me on 216/235/261 engines for over 40 years.

I do not race them, but they run smoothly and seemingly flawlessly (that's what matters).

Jerry,

I once "timed" my '48 using that hole on the driver's side with some hole in the flywheel. It ran awful but it did run.

I know a little more now but not much more.

If you know someone with an adjustable timing light, you'll be able to find the elusive BB with that....

I am following this thread with great interest. All BB's must be accounted for! lol