The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop rebuilt 261 putting it back together

hi all

i need some help with installing the distributor into my 261, i had a photo of the firing order of inline six's before and it showed the dist and engine with wire diagram ect ect....

the oil pump orientation to the distributor cam ect ect,,,, can someone help me get thru this area...

thanks
jeff

It goes something like this:
Your cylinders are number front to back, 1 to 6. The distributor turns clockwise. In the usual layout, #1 on the cap sits pointing straight out sideways from the passengers side of the cap. The firing order is 1 5 3 6 2 4.
So, rotate the crank until the timing mark, I presume on the flywheel, is lined up with the pointer. At this point #6 intake should be starting to open and #1s valves are closed. If #1 intake is opening, you need to rotate the motor another revolution. Then insert the distributor, with the rotor pointing to the #1 position. The bottom of the distributor shaft looks like a large slot screwdriver. That fits into a slot in the oil pump. Afterwards, put the number 1 wire on from cap to plug and then go around the circle and install the rest.

i was looking down the distributor hole and the slot was not pointing in the right direction, see i had rotaded the crankshaft to #1 tdc, grabbed the distributor to put it in and the slot was wrong, and the rotor was pointing wrong,

so i am guessing that now after a lil research that i need to have #1 tdc and take a long screwdriver and turn the oil pump till the slot is in the right areaand drop the dist shaft in...


jeff

yep,,,thats it

Also, since the gears of the distributor and cam are helical, the slot won't line up exactly where you think it does, so be prepared to experiment a bit.

superpieboy,

If you follow the advice above, you'll be in business in no time. It's perfectly fine to stick the distributor in and let #1 plug wire fall where it may! The important thing is to seat the oil pump drive tang in the slot. If the distributor doesn't drop down all the way to the little collar, it isn't seated in the oil pump.

Stuart

4 on the Floor is right about the cam alignment...if I remember correctly, you will need to rotate the distributor clockwise just past the point that you want it to line up and the distributor gear will line up with the cam gear. Also, if you have an extra distributor laying around, you can pull the shaft off of it and chuck it up into a drill and use it to prime your oil pump. I don't know if leaving the distributor gear on the shaft will allow you to spin the engine. Haven't tried that one, maybe someone else can sound off on whether or not it is a good idea. Good luck...the 261 is a good motor.

I may be showing age...as well as being NON-politically correct...lol..

But I learned six cyc firing order as "153624" or??? too young....too old.... just right.....
15 36 24

Michael