I just rebuilt my 2.8L and was inquiring how to install the distributor. Forgot to mark the damn thing. Pretty sure its a HVS, it has a 3 prong harness along with another separate harness. Thanks
TOm

 

well, it will slide back into the engine, but you shoul check a chilton manual in order to make sure you get it installed near the correct timing. If you cranked the engine, you'll have to adjust the oil pump too, but if not, it'll slide back in, either correct or 180 degrees off. The wiring should only connect one way.

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'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
edelbrock performer rpm intake
edelbrock 600 cfm carb
msd pro billet hei
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension

 

A 3-prong harness? What year is the 2.8?

Get the #1 cylinder (front PASSENGER side cylinder, NOT front driver's side) up to TDC. Pick any spark plug terminal on your distributor cap to be "#1", and mark the cap with white-out. Put the cap on the distributor. Make a mark on the distributor base, right below the "new" #1 cap terminal.

Drop the distributor in to the engine. Make the rotor line up with the #1 mark you made on the distributor base.

Wait- check that; don't drop the distributor in. Have you rebuilt it? If not, you should at least consider changing the distributor seal. It's an o-ring, and after time, it dries up, gets tiny hair-line cracks in it, and you wind up with an oil leak. Go to a parts store, preferably a "real" one (aside from Pep Boys and Strauss and etc), and ask them for a "one inch inside diameter o-ring". Crack the old one off your distributor shaft, lube the new one with some engine oil, and roll it into place.

While you've got the old one in your hand, bend it "outward", so the inside of the o-ring's on the outside. Chances are good you'll see a ton of small cracks.

I actually found a pack of o-rings at Pep Boys. It was in their hardware aisle, by the lug nuts and wheel studs, in metal drawers. Some of the drawers were labeled "brake hardware", "carb return springs", etc. There was one draw labeled O-rings. I bought a pack of 5 "one inch inside diameter" o-rings for $1.25.

Once your distrib's back in, rotate it counterclockwise a bit so the rotor points between the #1 and #6 cylinder. This will give you some advance, which will help get the car started on your first try. You'll need to hook up the timing light after the engine starts running.

Oh and the firing order's 1-2-3-4-5-6 (clockwise), but you probably knew that. How'd the rebuild go?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)