So I’ve gotten to the part of my engine swap that I’m least familiar with: transferring the distributor and harmonic balancer from the old engine to the new one. I’m pretty sure I have to make sure both engines are lined up at top dead center so I can do a direct swap, but am not positive, since I’ve never done this before.
Once the old engine is lined up, can I simply mark the position of the distributor cap relative to the intake manifold, and then just transfer them to the new engine, once that is also lined up at top dead center? And is there any certain way the harmonic balancer needs to be transferred as well?
Some general info on the engines: old block is a '78 302 that came with the car (along with the distributor), new block is a re-manufactured '68 302. I’m also just assuming the distributor should work on both engines without having to buy a new one, since every other engine accessory seems to be directly compatible so far.
Also, in case this is relevant, the distributor has been converted from points to an electronic system by a previous owner.
Any info on the best way to swap these parts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Here’s what I know, The balancer won’t go on but one way because it is keyed, what I don’t know is, if they are the same balance. 68 being 28oz and the 78 may be 50oz maybe some else will chime in on this.
If the dist. is from 78, it is a Ford Duraspark and you will need a electronic module to go with it, that you can buy from any parts store,tell them you want the one with the blue strain relief. and a wiring diagram you can Google Ford Duraspark and find on-line. Put the engine on TDC on compression stroke, mark on dist. housing where rotor is pointing, then a mark on manifold to match, and you should be good to go.
Interesting. Does the possible difference between the balancers mean it would not work correctly if I used the one from the '78 on the new block? I’m not against getting new parts, I just figured I’d use all the parts that were still in good working order from the old motor, but I don’t want to cause any damage by swapping a part that shouldn’t be installed. Especially once everything is installed back into the car
I took a closer look at the distributor, and it’s an Autolite, with the markings C8UF 12127 and 8011 stamped on it.
Unfortunately, what I do not know is when it was put on. The guy I bought it from told me that the engine (and everything attached to it) was all replaced by the original owner. So since it’s not a FoMoCo product, I can only assume it was picked up at a parts store either when the '78 block was put in, or sometime thereafter.
Does that mean I don’t need the electronic module since it’s a parts store replacement and not a Ford Duraspark? It already has the points to electronic conversion done to it (from the original owner), so that’s why I was thinking I could just mark the position and do a simple swap
Sidetrack…68mercougar is also an Opel owner…does Blitz know about this? My Manta died an untimely rear-end death (from a chick in a TR3 'vert no less) after a complete rebuild. I miss that car.
'78 and '68 balancers should both be 28oz. '68 probably takes a three bolt pulley and '78 a four bolt though. And timing marks may be in a different location. So balancer should match the front cover and the pulley set you use.
As long as the engine isn’t turned over while the distributor is out, and the new distributor’s rotor and vacuum advance both point to the same spots the old ones did, it should be fine.
Line up the engine, take off the distributor cap, and the rotor should point towards between 12 and 1 o clock when standing in front of the motor, look at the edge of the distributor, normally there is a small mark in the housing to mark the # 1 position, and the rotor will turn slightly clockwise when you take it out, so you have to remember to position the rotor to ensure it comes back to position # 1 when entering, as it will turn slightly clockwise when entering
Best way to go as Jan-O says and let me clarify, you should be at TDC on #1 Compression stroke (which would be easier with an intact timing mark), then rotor position only matters relative to the cap, in that it should line up with the #1 Plug wire terminal.
You could spin the whole dizzy 180 degrees, insert it, and as long as the rotor was ready on #1, you’re good to go. Of course then the vacuum advance won’t clear. So just be sure you can move that thing some to the left/right for adjustment and you should be fine.
The pulley from the '78 is a three bolt, oddly enough. I’m going to re-use all the pulleys and brackets on the front end of the engine (after a nice refresh, or course), so thankfully there shouldn’t be an issue there. The timing marks on the balancer are pretty difficult to see, but I think legible enough to get the job done after I clean it up a bit.
Thanks so much for all of the great information everyone! I’m going to shoot to line up both engines this weekend and hopefully transfer the distributor and intake manifold over. If all goes well, I’ll officially be halfway done with my engine swap!
Oh and devildog…Sorry to hear about the Manta; I looked at a few of those before settling on the GT, they are beautiful cars too. I picked up the Opel last fall (along with a 1969 GT parts car). It’s in pretty good shape, but leaks a fair amount of oil - haven’t had time to diagnose what the culprit is yet. Some day I’ll learn my lesson about waiting to finish one project before starting another…
So I see the harmonic balancer itself has a little notch etched into it, but I don’t see any corresponding notches in the crankshaft itself to line up the balancer to go on one specific way. The crankshaft (on the old engine) does appear to have some numbers stamped in the center, along with what looks like “(A&A)”, but nothing that looks specific to the notch on the balancer that would indicate it’s keyed one way. Also, the new engine’s crankshaft has nothing stamped on it - no crazy numbers/symbols or anything, so I can’t easily see how it would be keyed to only go on one way.
Is there something I’m missing? It would have to be keyed one way to the new engine so that you could then line that engine up to TDC, right? I don’t want to really mess with it until I know how it’s supposed to be properly removed and transferred.
With the marks aligned on the timing gears, that is #1 compression TDC.
When the timing marks are aligned on the harmonic balancer it’s a 50/50 chance of being #1 tdc compression, could be #1 tdc on the exhaust stroke. #1 is at TDC on exhaust stroke and at compression.
The camshaft runs half the speed of the crankshaft.
“Fire out the carburetor” is an indicator of timing being 180* out.
When you pull the balancer off you will see that the crankshaft and balancer has a grove cut in them, and they are aligned using a key or square stock to keep the balancer from rotating on the crank, cant go but one way if you are using the correct balancer.
Ah there is a little notch on the crankshaft that I didn’t see; it was recessed deep enough into the engine that I missed it at first glance.
Ok, so here’s the stupid question: Since the balancer can only go on one way, there is no way/need to put the new engine at top dead center before the harmonic balancer is transferred from the old engine, right? I mean, you would need the balancer itself to be already attached to the crankshaft of the new engine to align it to top dead center, correct? Sorry if I’m over thinking this haha, I’m just terrified I’ll do something catastrophically wrong as I’m putting it all back together, especially since this is the area I know absolutely nothing about
Also - I found a chart that says the torque spec for the balancer bolt is only 70-90 ft-lbs, does that seem a bit low? I’m using this chart as a reference as it’s the only thing I’ve found so far
