Re: plug wire location on distributor

Posted by David Grubbs On 2012/11/16 22:04:17

Owen, as usual, is correct. When I rebuilt my oil pump on my 51 tried reinstalling it, I could not get the teeth to mesh correctly. My old mechanic buddy told me to pull the distributor out, bolt up the oil pump. Then reinstall the distributor - it can only go in two ways. Leaving the dist. cap off, crank the engine with the number one plug out. Put your thumb over the plug hole and when it puffs up, the rotor should be at number one. Note - it can be 180 degrees out, so check to see if the timing marks are roughly lined up. Note where the rotor is pointing - this is number one. Then reinstall the plug wires in the cap in the correct firing order. This trick actually works. Shame that it took me over 50 years to learn it!