I have a question that I hope someone can answer for me. When I bought the '69 convertible I am working on the motor was running. I haven’t started it in over a year but yesterday I put new spark plug wires on it. I had printed out a diagram that showed the cylinders numbered 1-4 front to back on the passenger side, and 5-8 front to back on the driver’s side. The distributor in the diagram showed #1 at about 1 o’clock facing towards the back of the car, fan in front. The firing order on the diagram showed 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 counter-clockwise. I have my new plug wires using this arrangement.
However, when I removed the original plug wires from the engine the PO had cylinder 6 at 1 o’clock. The firing order went 6-5-4-8-1-3-7-2. I have seen engines that ran 180 degrees out before, so I am thinking this is the case here?
Which is right? I gots to know…
All the guy had to do to get that situation was to install and tap in the distributor three hexes off (180 degrees). What he’s done is a solution to his laziness in not pulling it out and re-seating it. Done those sorts of things myself as temporary fixes. But it is in no way running “180 degrees off.”
This motor was supposed to have been built by Jeff Jahns. IDK what to think.
As long as the rotor points to the #1 post at the time that #1 is supposed to fire, it doesn’t matter where on the cap #1 is. I think on mine it’s in the 2 or 3 o’clock position and the wires follow the firing order counter-clockwise from there.
Don’t need to blame the engine builder, as someone previously may have removed the dizzy and re-stabbed it incorrectly.
Remove distributor, rotate rotor 180 and reinstall. Then wires will be where they belong.
Thanks guys for your input.
Robert, I was lying in bed last night thinking about how the motor turns 720 degrees for each power stroke per cylinder, and that a V8 would fire every 90 degrees to have all cylinders fire in 720. It then occurred to me that the distributor must turn at half the rotation of the crank, and that it would turn 360 degrees for all cylinders to fire in 720. Thus one 360 degree turn of the crank with the distributor pulled out should move the distributor 180 degrees and advance the firing order four cylinders.
Is this what you are saying? It makes sense to me.