[DeTomaso] Help!

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

CHRIS,
Excellent tutorial by Asa, follow his instructions to the letter, you'll be
fine.  Michael Shortt
On Dec 12, 2010 8:24 PM, "Asa Jay Laughton" <asajay at asajay.com> wrote:
> Chris,
>
> First off, don't panic. You've positioned your timing in such a way
> that it's fighting the engine rotating. Just take a deep breath and
> let's start over.
>
> Don't pay -any- attention to any pre-existing marks on the distributor,
> on the housing, on the block or any other place at or near the
> distributor that you -think- may have been used to indicate number 1.
>
> Now, find top dead center on number one cylinder.
> Number one cylinder is the forward-most cylinder on the passenger side.
> You want the compression stroke, we've talked about that recently so you
> should know how to find it. It should be marked relatively close on the
> crankshaft damper. Remember the crank will point to TDC -twice-, only
> one of them is the compressions stroke.
>
> Okay you got number one cylinder near the top of the bore on the
> compression stroke. Next, let's look at your distributor.
>
> Okay at this point people will argue over what's best, but here is the
> bottom line....
> It -doesn't- matter exactly where the rotor is pointing. What matters,
> is that the rotor is at a post in the distributor cap that has the
> number one cylinder plug wire attached. That one has to fire when the
> piston is near the top of the compression stroke.
>
> So, if the rotor is pointing to cylinder 8, I don't really care, as long
> as you can see exactly where the rotor tip is, -that- is where number 1
> is going to fire. Got it? Okay, good.
>
> Now, placing the cap on the distributor, is the rotor positioned so that
> number one cylinder is at the tip of the rotor? If yes, then proceed
> counterclockwise around the cap and verify the firing order,
> 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
>
> Now that you have the firing order set properly and you know the rotor
> is at number one on the compression stroke, fire it up. Then you'll
> have to fine tune the timing by gently turning the distributor one way,
> then the other to get the proper timing.
>
> I hope this makes sense. If not, please ask questions.
>
> Asa Jay
>
> Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
> & Shelley Marie
> Spokane, WA
> ******************************
> http://www.racingagainstautism.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
>
>
> On 12/12/2010 13:27, Christopher Kimball wrote:
>> Well, this is what I get for trying to work on a Pantera myself...
>>
>> The car timing, as you might recall, was strange, and there seemed to be
a slight "missing" when it was running well (at 38 degrees instead of the
recommended 16 degrees). It was postulated that it might be the spark plugs,
so I bought new ones (Taylor) and installed them.
>>
>> While I was at it, I noticed that with the damper at tdc, the rotor's
contact was actually more between #1 and the next cylinder over, instead of
pointing directly at #1. The distributor had a small mark on it, indicating
(I think) the correct position for the distributor to be when checking these
things.
>>
>> Remembering that someone suggested the distributor might be out of place
by one gear, I decided to move it over one position so that the contact
would line up with the #1 cylinder (the base of the distributor was marked
so with the cap off I know where the #1 position is when the distributor is
rotated in the correct position).
>>
>> When I tried to start it, the car chugged in a very strange way, but
wouldn't start.
>>
>> I assumed I had moved the distributor over too far, so I moved it again,
and it seems to be dead on pointing at the #1 cylinder, but now the car
won't start at all. It just turns over and over. I checked the MSD box, and
I think the LED is supposed to flash when trying to start the car, but the
LED did not come on at all.
>>
>> Did I destroy my MSD box, and if so, how?
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Chris
>>
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