for some reason my rotor keeps turning 180 * off. I put the enging at TDC and set to rotor in according to #1 cylinder and i crank it a few times no start, then i pull off my cap and its 180 off again .... its done it 4 times now

 

That isn't possible. How can you even tell that it is 180 degrees off? Are you pulling the distributor out and cranking the engine over until #1 is at tdc, then dropping it in with the rotor pointing to #1? If you did this it has to either be correct or 180 degrees off, so you just pop it out, spin it around, and drop it back in.

You have to make sure the #1 piston is as high as it will go, then orient the oil pump shaft to accept the distributor so that the rotor points to #1 on the cap, which will be around the front drivers side of the car. Relatively in the same direction as the actual #1 cylinder.

 

thats what ive been doin and after i pop it back in and crank it a little bit then pull the cap off and its 180 off from when i put it

 

Hmm.. that is odd. The only thing that I can think of that would cause your dist to go 180 degrees off from how you set it would be having like half of the gears chewed off of the cam or a really strange timing chain problem. I couldn't imagine that actually happening, though.

Does it backfire when you crank it? Are you making sure that the dist. falls all the way down to completely make contact with the camshaft? I'd take off the valve cover and watch when both of the valves are closed on #1 to make sure it was at tdc on the compression stroke, then do what you have been doing. At least then you'll be 100% sure it is in correctly.

 

very rarely it fires the # 1 cylinder, sounds like a freaking half stick goin off when it pops ...... had the cops here last night thinking i was lighting off fireworks ... but its ever so rare that it hits even that

 

not sure i'm foloowing what you're saying, i'm a little slow sometimes, mom dropped me on my head when i was little. anyway if you chack the rotor then crank the engine it'll not be where you put it. if you set it to #1, the crank mark on tdc, or close and then check it again the rotor may be pointing at # 1 or 180* out since #1 comes to tdc two times per cycle

 

I am having the same issue. The distributor is in great shape, I've confirmed the engine is on TDC then I stab distributor with rotor facing 1 on cap. The engine will die right up I'll run it for a bit then it'll die after I unchoke it. It went start again and the distributor will be 180 degrees out. It's happened about 7-8 times. It's always 180 out.

 

English ?

 

The piston will be on TDC twice, once on compression stroke, and once on exhaust stroke.

Install the distributor on the compression stroke.

Theres no physical way for it to be correct, then be 180* out. You must be looking at it on the exhaust stroke when you think its 180 off.