I've been trying get my new disty in today and the damn thing will only go all the way down in the block in one or two positions (both make the rotor point way off from my two points I marked on the firewall from the old one). I've tryed playing with it for an hour, nothing is down there, no reason why it shouldent go down from what I know. Also I broke the clip on the battery to coil harness off so it wont stay on there now, what can I do about that.

It never ceaces to amaze me that even the simpilest things I do to my car get screwed up somehow.

Thanks for the help and your time,
Matt

 

If I were you I would start over. Bring #1 up to TDC on the compression stroke.....and point the rotor on the dist. at #1 make sure you look at the oil pump rod and see which way its pointed........you may have to turn the rod to get the dist. to set in right.

 

The reason it won't go down is that the oil pump shaft is in the wrong position. You need to remove the dist and stick a long flathead screwdriver(I actually used a hack saw blade yesterday) down the hole to rotate the oil pump until it is in the right position to set the rotor down where you want it. Look down the hole with a flashlight and you'll see. Look at the bottom of your distributor and you'll see how it fits in there.

As for the clip, zip tie it?

 

You can also put the distributor in exactly how you want it, and where you want the rotor to point. Then turn the engine over (by bumping the starter or turning the damper,) until the distributor drops down onto the oil pump shaft.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I went back out there and went ahead and let the disty down where it would go all the way down, then I tryed to see if it would start. It started, but barly held an idle...so I turned it until it sounded right to me. Now its idling great, much better acceleration and throttle response too.
CC-distys suck! I dont have access to a timing light, will this be okay?

Thanks again,
Matt

 

As long as it don't PING go with it!!!!

 

My dad also told me if your timing is too advanced, it can put more strain on the starter and make weird sounds when trying to start and sometimes it might kick back on the starter. Just listen closely for a ping especially when the engine is under a load (it may do it under load but not at idle.)

 

Beg, borrow, or buy a timing light. It isn't O.K. now...