what is the best way to time the distributor. where is the harmonic balancer also? the reason its out of tune is because i had to time the valves and i turned the crank so i don't know where its firing now. i was thinking open up the number 8 spark plug and see when the piston reaches TDC with the valves up and place the distributor on or near number 8

 

The harmonic balancer is behind the crank pully on the front of the motor, under the water pump. To time the motor, take the driver side valve cover off. Then turn the motor over till the intake valve on the #1 cylinder (front cylinder driver side, second rocker back) opens and starts to close. At this point check the position of the top dead center mark. It should be getting close to the timing tab. Line these markes up and this should put you int the ball park. Install the distributor with the rotor on the #1 wire. Hope this helps.

 

do i need to take the pulley off to do this. because when i timed the valves i couldn't find the timing tab

 

No you should not have to take the pulley off. If you are looking at the front of the motor, it should be on the driver side of the timing cover. What year is the car? What motor is in the car? Is it the stock motor?

 

its a 91 305 original motor... my guess is someone has changed the front cover at one point or it fell off.. because i have searched and i can see nothing.. i know the harmonic balancer is the black drum thing behind the pulley. i see no marks on the cover or the balacer, no timing tab or anything. i timed my valves the hard way...

 

correction.. i mean the timing tab must have fallen off

 

There should be a machined line on the balancer for the timing mark. They can be hard to find sometimes. Turn the motor over slow use a real bright light. It might be easier to find from under the car for the first time. Once you see the mark, put something on it so it won't be so hard to see from top. I used my girlfriend white nail polish Do you have any friends with a third gen you could look at?

 

when i was timing the valves i saw that line and i thought thats was there for a reason.

 

That is the one you are looking for. Did you see where the tab fell off from?

 

my old motor was a 305 and the timing mark was straight up and you couldnt see the tab because of the water pump, so if push comes to shove, straight up is top dead center, make sure the valves over the #1 cylinder are closed to, if they arent your 180* out, good luck