New 86 I6 300 incorrect dizzy hookup

[ThinLizzy13]

Well I finally got a new(er) 300 in my 66 F250.

Its a 300 out of a 86 F250 with only about 87k miles. I had my mechanic take all the smog/emissions stuff off, weld up the holes, and take the DS II dizzy of my busted 300 for it. They rebuilt the dizzy for me cause of some damage to the insides.



So heres where it gets weird. The dizzy hookup is wrong, but works. The mechanic told me that he could not get the correct hookup to work, and this is the only way the engine would fire up.
Everything is a spot off, rotated clockwise on the distributor.

The 5 spot on the dizzy is connected to the #1 sparkplug, 3 to 5, 6 to 3, 2 to 6, 4 to 2, and 1 to 4.


Anyone ever have this happen?
Everything runs fine, and the engine sounds great. I'm just confused as to why everything works as though it moved into it's neighbor's spot on the dizzy....

[ThinLizzy13]

I always prefer visual aids, so here's my sketch of what it looks like



Also I doubt it makes any difference but it came out of an old Air Force truck

[Toyz]

Not to be overly critical, but I would be concerned as to your mechanic. If he or she has the ability to rebuild your DSII, he should be able to install it correctly.
It should function just fine as it is; it certainly would not be the first found that way. I just would be concerned as to other critical settings. I may be missing an explaining factor, but it sounds as if it is a simple matter of re-positioning the distributor and oil pump drive shaft to allow the proper alignment to #1 TDC. Looking at your pic, it appears the distributor might be rotated to allow correct cap locations without removal. It would not be correct , but the visual indicators would not be so obvious. The vacuum line might need lengthening, and the vacuum advance would be incorrectly orientated, but that would put #1 in the indicated spot on the cap. There may be something unseen limiting distributor movement, however. Correct answer is to remove the assembly and clock it to correct position.
Just to get a feel for the quality of the repair, you might ask how much play was found in the distributor shaft, how it was measured, and how it was corrected. I would also be concerned as to what has been eliminated from the emissions system. If the Thermactor system has been disabled; it is probably not a problem, other than in California eyes. If other emission items have been done in the manner of the distributor, problems could result.
Hopefully, I am missing a reasonable explanation; I just don't know what that might be!
Best of luck on this!
Paul

[ThinLizzy13]

Thanks for the reply Paul. I had anything emissions related taken off, which I think was the smog pump and anything connected to it. The distributor that came on the engine was controlled by the emissions equipment, so I switched it out with my old one. Also the holes on the intake for the smog stuff were welded up. And I used the old carburetor from my busted 300. As far as I can tell after doing all that the engine should work as though it never had emissions stuff on it?

Now that I've got it home I'm hopin to get in there soon and get it corrected. Every day with this truck is a learning experience!
And I'll be sure to get back and talk to the mechanic more in depth about it.

I was sure I wasn't the first person to run into this. I've only driven it about half mile down the road and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something that could totally screw up the engine.

[bobenhotep]

I was going to say something, but pretty much what Paul said.

[R Pope]

First, don't use the old '66 carb with a Duraspark setup! The vacuum advance will not work. You can hook the advance hose direct to manifold vacuum, but to look "right" you need the newer carb that matches the distributor.
As far as the wiring goes, you have the distributor a tooth or two out. Pull it out and turn it whichever way it needs to go, then drop it back in. It will take some "fiddling" to get the oil pump drive to line up so it goes together again. Sometimes you have to "bump" the starter with the coil wire out to get things lined up.

[ThinLizzy13]

Thanks for the responses guys!

Pope: The old 300 that was in it was out of a 75 something or other, so I'm using the carb and DSII from that together on the new 86 300.

Luckily I got a hold of my uncle who always has had an ol' ford layin around. He said he should be able to help me out this weekend when I get into it, so hopefully I won't muck it up!

[Toyz]

You will want to turn the distributor SHAFT clockwise by 45 degrees, assuming timing is now somewhat close. , while holding the distributor itself in the current position. As it engages the gears, it will move a little more, possibly triggering a "do-over". If this is the case try moving the distributor housing to line up with the #1 position. Once the distributor is fully seated; if the rotor does not now line up with the 1 terminal on the cap, you will be able to determine if you moved the shaft too far, not enough, or, if you are lucky, just right. Snug it down, reset the base timing , check the dwell, reset point gap if needed to correct dwell; then fully tighten distributor.
OR,
just leave it alone if it is running correctly; it's going to look odd if noticed, but if timed correctly, it will cause no problems, and you can always reset at next tuning session if needed.
Paul

[ThinLizzy13]

Just an update on this issue.

I guess the 300 has two sets of timing marks. One on the driver side that is extremely easy to read, and one of the passenger side which is small and extremely inconvenient to use. Anyway what I ended up doing was using the driver side ones. I took out spark plug #1, turned the engine by hand until I found TDC, and made a mark on the flywheel for TDC.

Then I put the spark plug back in, dropped in the dizzy, and hooked up the firing order the correct way. Turned the key and it fired right up. Timed it to 6 and it seems to be running fine.

Now my question is, is this ok? Or should it be timed to the passenger side timing marks?

Thanks

[Toyz]

Since the marks you used correspond with your TDC findings, and the vehicle runs well, everything should be fine. Duplicate timing marks would be strange on a 300, but if one is set is part of the cover, and one is bolted in place; it is possibly a difference through the years of manufacture. I think the '86 may also have had a relief cut in the balancer for a timing probe, and this may be the explanation for the second set of marks.
Paul

[cooter]

I never trust factory marks to be spot on, they are a good starting point. If the ruck runs great leave it be but advance the timing a degree or two and see if it runs better.

[ThinLizzy13]

Toyz - Yes there was a relief cut in which I originally had mistaken for the timing marks lol And the two timing marks were a little confusing...my 79 block has them

Cooter - there's a little adjusting I need to do still, seems to be a bit laggy at times, but I'm happy with it now.

Thanks for all the input guys