i pulled all the wiring out of my 1984 berlinetta its a 2.8l v6 i believe the firing order is 135 from passenger side starting from front working way back to engine and 246 driver side from front to back... but i dont know where the wires go on the distributor and i need to set the timing i think ??? i pulled the whole thing out with the rod please help and send a link.. i have no idea what im doing with this i have a rough idea how it should work but dont know how to set it?? thanks in advance all help is appreciated

Pull the #1 spark plug and the distributor cap. Turn the crank until you're on top dead center with the valves closed, and then where ever the rotor is pointing is the #1 terminal. With the distributor dropped correctly the rotor should be pointing towards cyl #1.
To set the timing, the EST needs to be disconnected. I can't remember if 84 has a seperate EST... if there's a tan wire with a black stripe with a single weatherpack connector near the distributor or in the harness by the A/C box, that's the EST. If it doesn't have one, the harness needs to be unplugged from the distributor.

on a v6 2.8l engine i know i can pick which ever one to be the first spark on the distributor cap but what is the order on the cap??? i know the engine is 135 left side front to back and 246 right side front to back of engine and i know i start by find tdc now that i watched a few you tube clips my only concern is how do i know in what order do the numbers go around on the cap ???

firing order for a V6 = 1-2-3-4-5-6 and its clockwise, the #1 on a V6 is on the front left if u are in front of the engine, then zig zag around ...#2 woould be right front,#3 LF and so on!!

The distributer should point at #1

On a 4 cylinder its 1-3-4-2 and on a V8 its 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 but on a V8 #1 is on the RF if u are in front of the engine.

Hope this helps.

i get i thank you very much! but #3 just were clear would be lf but back one spot :P thats all i need to know this actually seems very simple to do! thanks again o and is there any thing else i should know about setting the timeing or do you have any links would be helpful im just learning on an the original engine before i go to build a new one practice makes perfect

I would pull #1 spark plug, get somebody to crank the engine over tick by tick , while u hold the thumb on the plug hole. as soon as u feel and hear ...........sssswwwwsh...., stop!!!!!!
Now take distributer and set in hole so the rotor finger is pointing @ #1 on the cap.
Tighten and wire , start engine !!!! If it will run real shitty,,,u messed up ! LOL

the thump test is just so you know both valves are closed once you feel that air come out of the spark plug hole. you want to use a soft wire.. or tube trough a spark plug going into a jar of water to see when it stops blowing bubbles or starts sucking in water you want it just between the two to be perfect or where the wire is furthest outward NOTE (soft wire so you dont scratch the top of the piston) or you can get a bolt on gauge to measure it either way the thumb is just a rough idea.... correct ??
wow at the beginning of the day i didn't even know how a distributor worked lol now im ready to set the timing

I use the thumb on any engine, as soon as u feel it ,,u know u got it !!!

Even on my 800+ HP boat i do it like that, rev @ 7400 RPM WOT ,,never been off !!!!

Then check with timing light and you good to go .
But it will be close enough in a car with a nock sensor , it will adjust the timing 1-2 +/-* so it will be fine.

PS,,,WATER TRICK........BAD IDEA !!!!!!!

only other thing is i guess i have to jack the back end of my car up.. so i can be able to spin the crank... since everything is still connected??

ookay cancel the water idea i can see how that would be bad.. lol. the sensor is that metal part sticking out from the distibutor base with a little tube coming out of it correct ?

WHY WOULD U JACK THE CAR UP ??????????? Crank it in PARK or NEUTRAL !!!!! HAHAHA

Remember ,,,there is a thing in there called transmision LOL.

What metal tube ?????? mmmmmmhhhhhh cant follow u there,,sensor ???

lmao you see im still learning man this is scary that im under going such a project by my self lol :P heres a pic im talking about the silver part to the right of the the distributor is that the sensor ?

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/u...t_20100107.jpg

LOL,,,dont know what u call that ..but it has nothing to do with seting the timing !!!
Its a vacuum box .....NO .....ITS NOT GONNA CLEAN THE CARPET , HAHAHAHA

.....its actually what retarts or increaces your timing acording to whats needed. BASICLY a saftey so to speak in case of detonation, it will actually safe the motor from blowing up.

lmao im not stupid :P well after the jacking the back end up comment i see why you'd think to clear that up for me lmao.. well what the hell is that thing for ??? hmm...

that silver thing is what makes the distributor advance as the rpm's go up using vacuume

sorry i dont mean to annoy you but.. advance as in what??

THE TIMING !!!!!!!!!

Lol, don't matter ,,its good for the engine. NO NEED TO DISCUSS .HAHAHA

i know some things i ask may be dumb but when im trying to learn things i like to know all the ins and outs of things so im able to picture it in my head and know how everything works together.. some times i ask dumb things but its only dumb not to ask..

Is it a Canadian car? US domestic market cars used an electronic distributor. That's a vacuum advance distributor. It's possible someone converted it to get rid of the computer control. The only thing that changes with vacuum advance is unplug the vacuum line to set timing, and reconnect it when the timing is set.

possibly, I wouldn't doubt it because the wiring in the car was like Micky mouse bought a spaghetti factory..
it has a wire coming striat off the distributor that went under the middle consul as an on/off switch so they did something... and i believe its a Canadian car..
is vacuum better ?
i think they did change it he metioned something about the starter not being that great that i might have to replace it.. thus im trying to learn how..

It's not necessarily better or worse. The vacuum advance setup is older, but also less complicated. It's not uncommon for the computer controlled cars to be converted to an older HEI and a none feedback carb. When you get right down to it, when both systems work, the output of the system is the same and the result is the same.

so do the computer controlled ones use a solenoid?

hey guys i found tdc, got the distributor set and lining up with the first spark plug...
I'm now trying to figure out how to wire the coil back up to the distributor???
the coil has 4 four metal connectors coming out of the top and one wire coming out that looks like the ground... i know two wires from the distributor go to the coil but which ones do i plug the two wires into and then what are the two other connectors on the coil for ??