Good afternoon all this may be my daftest question yet and there’s been a few daft ones but I’m hoping this fine weather will have you all in a “benevolent” mood and you can help me!! I’m putting my engine tinware back together so should be thinking about getting it running tomorrow or Friday so I’ve been looking at what needs done and I have a question the attached photos show the position of the rotor where I believe it was at cylinder 1 TDC but it seems too far left as I said maybe a daft question but am I right or wrong thanks in advance cheers
It all depends on which position the slot in the distributor drive shaft lines up in when the engine is at TDC. To me it looks 180 degrees out.. The gear on the drive shaft has about 19 teeth, so it can engage in many positions with the gear on the crank. Check the engine is at TDC, cylinder No1 , check the drive dog on the distributor is lined up with the slot in the drive shaft down in the engine..and not 180 degrees out. Then No 1 spark plug lead GOES WHERE THE ROTOR POINTS. And the other leads in order. Rotate the distributor body in the clamp until the notch is under the hot end of the arm. If the condenser hits, move it 90 degrees and forget the notch, or lift the drive shaft out, rotate it until it is as shown in the books if you like.
First of all thanks for taking the time to answer and give advice all I’m trying to do is get to know my engine so I can deal with any problems that come up it’s part of owning a T2 and the fun of it but having little or no knowledge mechanically means I have to ask loads of questions So what’s the drive dog? Rotate the distributor body in the clamp until the notch is under the hot end of the arm. If the condenser hits, move it 90 degrees and forget the notch, or lift the drive shaft out, rotate it until it is as shown in the books if you like.[/QUOTE] Sorry I don’t understand any of this paragraph lol don’t know what a hot end is
No, it has a vacuum can on the side. A 009 is non vacuum advance distributor which usually leads to a flat spot under acceleration.
There is no need to apologise for your inexperience. When we had our bay initially we knew next to bugger all about them. Got to a point where we could service it ourselves, even drop and then reinstall the engine. Getting a few light hearted responses, amongst the serious ones, to any question you put up here is just how it is on TLB
Sorry I don’t understand any of this paragraph lol don’t know what a hot end is[/QUOTE] Look at the end of the distributor shaft. It has a drive dog ridge on it. This is slightly off centre. There is a slot down the hole on the distributor drive shaft also slightly offset. Place ridge in slot. There should also be a spring in the hole in the middle of the drive shaft. The hot end of the rotor arm is the metal bit. When the drive dog is correctly engaged in the slot, with the engine at top dead centre on No1 cylinder (both valves closed, 0.15mm clearance) then the rotor arm will point at where the spark plug No1 lead goes. You can rotate the distributor body, to get the notch in the outer rim of the distributor under the rotor arm at that point, but the condenser and vacuum canister will hit the fuel pump in some positions. If that happens then you just have to either lift and rotate the drive shaft using a big magnet on a stick, or a pencil jammed in the hole in the top. Or just mark up where the rotor arm points as being No1 ignition lead position. In the Bentley service manual, available for download, there is a picture of what it should look like down the distributor drive shaft hole with the engine at Top Dead Centre No1 cylinder
By what method have you determined the rotor is pointing at no.1 on it's firing stroke because it looks like you have it at no.3 to me.
Look at the end of the distributor shaft. It has a drive dog ridge on it. This is slightly off centre. There is a slot down the hole on the distributor drive shaft also slightly offset. Place ridge in slot. There should also be a spring in the hole in the middle of the drive shaft. The hot end of the rotor arm is the metal bit. When the drive dog is correctly engaged in the slot, with the engine at top dead centre on No1 cylinder (both valves closed, 0.15mm clearance) then the rotor arm will point at where the spark plug No1 lead goes. You can rotate the distributor body, to get the notch in the outer rim of the distributor under the rotor arm at that point, but the condenser and vacuum canister will hit the fuel pump in some positions. If that happens then you just have to either lift and rotate the drive shaft using a big magnet on a stick, or a pencil jammed in the hole in the top. Or just mark up where the rotor arm points as being No1 ignition lead position. In the Bentley service manual, available for download, there is a picture of what it should look like down the distributor drive shaft hole with the engine at Top Dead Centre No1 cylinder[/QUOTE] Thanks for taking the time to write this reply it really is appreciated but I think it just proved I’m too far out my depth judging by the fact I really don’t understand very much of what you’ve written so probably best I leave well alone
Thanks all for taking the time to comment even Baysearcher who seems keen I blow my engine?? I think setting this up is probably a step too far for me lol was only trying to find my way round the set up and running of an air cooled but looks like I’m no bright enough lol I’ll have to leave it till after lockdown and pay a mechanic cheers and stay safe all
You're letting Mike confuse you. I'll ask again. How did you determine no.1 was on it's firing stroke?
