It worked! Thanks for the easy timing repair, I just finished wrapping up the 84 chevy dually 454 for after sitting for more the 10 year's! The timing was the last thing on my list although I tried timing it a couple of times an gave up or took a break for awhile. I followed your technique today an it started right up. Your a old school chevy V8 timing genius my friend! Thanks
Glad it worked and made your life easier! I'd love to take all of the credit, but I learned it from someone else on You Tube too! Just passing along some great info that helped me a ton!
I’m new on the small block stuff I have been building the ls in my truck but I just got a 3rd gen Camaro a month ago and I am replacing the locked up 305 with a fresh 305 carb and hei distributor swap this is great help he went over everything I needed to know
Thank you, I have been searching for the perfect video from start to finish and this is it. I changed the dist. on my 73 C10 and it will not start. I am going to go back and retrace my steps using all the steps in the video. Wish me luck.
Thanks a lot Crazy Dad! I brought my indy C3 to to Europe and nobody knows this Vette in Barcelona, I use your tip, no strobe-lamp, no problem, car runs good! Simple basic tip that works! God bless America!!
Awesome. Made the mistake of removing the old distributor on my 68 SS Camaro, and not marking anything. I wasted a day trying to get button pointing at #1 and never could. Used your tip on manually turning female part of oil pump gear and bam! Had it lined up and fired up! Thanks!
Good detailed video. One thing you can do when it comes to the oil pump shaft alignment, no need to even mess with aligning it. The distrib drops in 2 stages, the cam gear then the pump shaft. Do everything you did the same as far as setting the distrib/timing. Once the cam gear is engaged it locks in your timing so you dont need to worry about the oil pump shaft, you can then just turn the crankshaft until the distrib drops the rest of the way when the distrib aligns with the pump shaft. Many people go thru such a process of trying to align the pump shaft before dropping the distrib when you dont need to.
u are awesome sir! thanks abunch! i really appreciate it! u took the time to record and share! i jus followed on how u explained it and u were rite, jus like u said, “it shud fire rite up first try,” and man WOW! it was goin on day-3 wit dis ol’ -79’ chevy scottsdale 2x4, 350 sb-motor! the guy i use to run to and ask wen i had machanical issue’s, my HERO, my DAD, he is no longer wit us! so again, Thanks Sir! u da man!
cursing using bad language i thought itwas only me, anyway i been me trying to install my 454 chevy dstributor with no luck so far i thought it was easy i took it for granted hopefully after watching you video i will eventually get it done , thanks for Uploading it!!
Wish I could have linked up with you when I lived in Utah. We just left in 2019 after being there for 10 years. We lived in Ogden, best wishes, and great video's!
What an excellent video sir. I will be sending this to a couple of guys I know. Heck even a caveman can do it or an overthinker. That's pretty much how I do it. 😊
Thank god i found this video, ive been at it for over 2 days. I made the mistake of pulling the distributer without marking anything. I pulled it trying to troubleshoot a backfire out of the carb, hopefully it takes car of that.
if you cant get the oil pump drive lined up, just set the distributor in place and crank the engine over. it will drop in. make sure gasket is seated properly, aftermarket manifolds have too big a hole, allowing distrubutor to be cocked to one side, not compressing the gasket well enough. it will leak there.
How would you advance the timing say 8 degrees? This video shows TDC and zero on the balancer, but what if I wanted to advance it? Could I get it set at 0 on the tab, then just clock it back to 8 without removing or fooling with the distributor?
Thanks, for all the details ( in the past 40 + years a Ford / Dodge guy ) first Chevy this part always trouble mostly can't see Cevrolet in the rear ??? anyway Many many thanks, got a new rebuilt block in basement, going to try ( first time chevy ) but got 3 Chevys now. Jason ( going into a 1985 C10 upgrade 305 to a 350 yea ). J.
If you can get it back in exactly the same spot then sure that would work. But why not set it at tdc before you take it out anyway just to give yourself some room for error in case something happens. By the way I think I would have done exactly what you are asking about myself before I found out how simple this process is. Good luck and enjoy your chevy!
The plugs are available at any hardware or plumbing store. They are just 1/4" pipe plugs for standard plumbing pipe and they screw right in. Just snug them down and you're there.
My 454 is the same way #8 is first . Could the timing chain have slipped a tooth or was it just the previous owner didn't do the timing right? It runs but I feel it could run better
I don't have a definitive answer for you on that one except that I do know that it is possible to put the distributor in more than one way and have your wires on different posts and still have it perfectly run perfectly fine. I doubt if your chain has jumped a tooth. That usually puts it so far out of time that it will barely run if at all.
That depends on whether it is actually an Olds 307 or a chevy 307 that was used in many GM cars back in the 70's. If it was the chevy motor, then it should be the same. If it was the true Olds 307, then I'm not sure, sorry.
Having trouble getting my small block timed up every time I drop the distributor in I wanted up having to turn my distributor palm around to the firewall and I’ve got a 500 lift cam in it and I don’t know if that’s what it is or if I’m just off
So, just checking my thinking (excellent video by the way), if a person does it this way, then the engine is timed with “0” degrees (TDC) correct? So, to my way of thinking, once this is done, a person can turn the crankshaft until the mark on the harmonic balancer is pointing at the desired advance - say 12 degrees on the engine timing cover mark. Then, if you gently rotate the distributor housing until the rotor is again pointing right at the number 1 wire (lifting the distributor cap so you can see where the rotor is now pointing as needed), then your engine is “statically” timed at 10 degrees advance - am I correct on my thinking? I am about to fire up a freshly rebuilt small block Chevy, and as it has a new cam and lifters, I’ve got to get it to 2,000rpm as fast as I can, and hold it for about 20 minutes. It’s been years since I did this, and everyone has me all nervous about ruining the cam 😱. Please advise, and I’m just trying to get this right in my mind and don’t want to have a problem at start up, if I can help it. Thanks!
I 'm not sure as to the exact answer to your question. However, I did it exactly as described in this video and my engine fired right up and worked perfectly. The timing was exactly where it was supposed to be and it has run perfectly for about 10k miles now with no adjusting. As for worrying about your camshaft, I believe that the real answer to breaking it in properly is to have it thoroughly lubed up with a camshaft assembly lube when assembling and make sure you use a zinc additive for older engines in your oil all the time.
Aside from making sure that you followed this procedure, my next question would be do you have any worn out parts like a harmonic balancer that has slipped the ring so the timing mark is in the wrong place! Are you sure that you have your cylinders numbered correctly? check for a video on that. Those are just a couple of my thoughts. Good luck!
From my understanding (and I don't consider myself an expert) in most situations you need a vacuum advance on a carbureted engine that doesn't have boost. Do a little more research to determine if that is correct. If so, you can get a new HEI distributor online fairly inexpensively.
Can anyone show me how to do it by myself I have a 89 Chevy 5.7 they say unplug the timing advance off the fire wall the go through with what your doing
To do what I'm describing here you need to have everything unhooked from the distributor, vacuum advance hose, control wires, distributor cap and spark plug wires.
Greetings my UA-cam brother I hope you are well, I will get straight to the point I know how precious our time is , 4 years ago my place burnt to the ground I lost everything cars drones my cats, I'm grateful to be alive,fast forward to today I have a job my own little place, again I'm very grateful, I'm buying an older car and I'm wondering if I get in a bind trying to bring her to life, may I ask your guidance? Thank you for your time
Sorry to hear about your loss. Good luck as you move forward. Realistically, I don't get on here to check out my comments as often as I should. I'd love to help, but don't forget the wealth of knowledge that all of us You-Tubers combined can bring to your project!
So I think there is an error in the position of your rotor in this video. If you are installing an HEI (like the one in your video) the rotor will point to #1 at about the 6:30ish position, not 5:30 as you show. On classic chevy small block engines that use ignition breaker points (points) instead of electronic ignitions, the number one cylinder is the one immediately clockwise of the small metal sash cover on the distributor cap. There is no sash cover on the distributor cap for GM HEI electronic ignitions, and the firing order is the same, but starting at the 5:30 position for the points distributor like what you show in the video.
So I'm really grateful for your detailed explanation and you may be right. I'm definitely not going to argue the point, but this process has worked perfectly for me the two different times I have done it and judging by the number of positive comments I've been getting, I think it is working for most people. Could it be that we are each just using a different pole on the distributor cap as our starting point? Not sure but thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.
You literally have to take out your #1 spark plug and put your finger over the hole while you turn the front of the crankshaft clockwise with a large socket and ratchet. When you feel pressure starting to build, you are on the compression stroke. Finish turning it until your timing mark lines up with the pointer.
Another option to finding TDC is pull the drivers side valve cover off. Both valves will be relaxed when on compression stroke. Otherwise if you are 360 off your exaust valve will be compressed (open)
I’d say this is a very direct,informative video. Straight to the point. Easy directions.
Thank you. It really helped me and seems to be very popular!
Great guide to making something that is usually aggravating, very easy.
Everyone, keep building big blocks! 👍😁
Literally the most informative video i have seen to date! and this sparked my memory of my dad telling me this! Right on!
Welcome!
Thanks man I blew half A-day trying to get a new engine to start. After watching your video I had it fired up in 15 minutes. Thank you brother!
Yeah that was exactly the same experience I had! Glad it's proving useful to others. So simple when you know the right tricks!
It worked! Thanks for the easy timing repair, I just finished wrapping up the 84 chevy dually 454 for after sitting for more the 10 year's! The timing was the last thing on my list although I tried timing it a couple of times an gave up or took a break for awhile. I followed your technique today an it started right up. Your a old school chevy V8 timing genius my friend! Thanks
Glad it worked and made your life easier! I'd love to take all of the credit, but I learned it from someone else on You Tube too! Just passing along some great info that helped me a ton!
Still.hard to do with the engine in the truck. 1991 454 one ton
Thanxx for this. Haven’t done it in decades and this brought it all right back in the most common sense way.
Thanks for the comment! Good Luck!
I’m new on the small block stuff I have been building the ls in my truck but I just got a 3rd gen Camaro a month ago and I am replacing the locked up 305 with a fresh 305 carb and hei distributor swap this is great help he went over everything I needed to know
Thank you, I have been searching for the perfect video from start to finish and this is it. I changed the dist. on my 73 C10 and it will not start. I am going to go back and retrace my steps using all the steps in the video. Wish me luck.
Exactly what happened to me!
Thanks a lot Crazy Dad! I brought my indy C3 to to Europe and nobody knows this Vette in Barcelona, I use your tip, no strobe-lamp, no problem, car runs good! Simple basic tip that works! God bless America!!
Cool!
Awesome. Made the mistake of removing the old distributor on my 68 SS Camaro, and not marking anything. I wasted a day trying to get button pointing at #1 and never could. Used your tip on manually turning female part of oil pump gear and bam! Had it lined up and fired up! Thanks!
Glad I could be some help!
Good detailed video. One thing you can do when it comes to the oil pump shaft alignment, no need to even mess with aligning it. The distrib drops in 2 stages, the cam gear then the pump shaft. Do everything you did the same as far as setting the distrib/timing. Once the cam gear is engaged it locks in your timing so you dont need to worry about the oil pump shaft, you can then just turn the crankshaft until the distrib drops the rest of the way when the distrib aligns with the pump shaft. Many people go thru such a process of trying to align the pump shaft before dropping the distrib when you dont need to.
Thanks for the tip!
Tried this and got it in and started in just a few minute's 👍
Crazy, most vids I found on how to set timing have been super confusing, but this is simple and straightforward. Thanks
Glad I could help!
Thanks for showing it in great detail!! Haven't been mechanic school in a long time .lol well done Sir
Glad to help
Crazy Dad! How's it goin'??? It's good to revisit the basics once in a while. Far too many people have no idea how to do something as simple as this.
Yeah with all my experience, nobody had ever taught me this one in such a simple way.
Just wanted to say your video was very helpful and I would like to thank you .
Finishing up a 57 Cadillac, and i needed this video, thanks for your knowledge.
Grateful that there are people out there who teach, otherwise I would have never discovered this to share!
Thankyou buddy!!! Best explanation and "working guys" description yet!!!!
Great to hear!
u are awesome sir! thanks abunch! i really appreciate it! u took the time to record and share! i jus followed on how u explained it and u were rite, jus like u said, “it shud fire rite up first try,” and man WOW! it was goin on day-3 wit dis ol’ -79’ chevy scottsdale 2x4, 350 sb-motor! the guy i use to run to and ask wen i had machanical issue’s, my HERO, my DAD, he is no longer wit us! so again, Thanks Sir! u da man!
I had a similar experience! Exactly why I posted it!
Thank you for a great and easy to follow video. It helped me out a lot.
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
cursing using bad language i thought itwas only me, anyway i been me trying to install my 454 chevy dstributor with no luck so far i thought it was easy i took it for granted hopefully after watching you video i will eventually get it done , thanks for Uploading it!!
Sounds exactly like me trying to get the distributor in my rat rod installed correctly! Glad I found the info. Hope it helps.
Wish I could have linked up with you when I lived in Utah. We just left in 2019 after being there for 10 years. We lived in Ogden, best wishes, and great video's!
Yeah sounds like about the same time we were there.
Good job in explaining in plain language and thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
I'll do this tomorrow and will then check back in with my results.Thanks!
Thanks you are soo good at showing the details of what to do thanks again
You're welcome!
Got my engine to fire up after watching this video thanks alot man
Awesome!
What an excellent video sir. I will be sending this to a couple of guys I know. Heck even a caveman can do it or an overthinker. That's pretty much how I do it. 😊
This helped me out alot ...thank you
Thank u sir it was so helpful,I did that on my 1969 caddy
Great detailed instructions. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for your video it was a big help I hope it works on my 87 Corvette as well
Good luck!
Good job explaining 👏
Thanks dad you just helped me. And took the mystery out of the problem thanks
You're welcome!
You make it much easier but still good and I like it thanks.
Happy to help
Thanks you are a big help... I did it thanks to you...👍
Thanks! Glad I could be of some help!
Thank you for the best Chevy timing video i have ever seen big 👍
Wow, thanks! Glad it helped!
Excellent this is what I got right now thanks
Welcome!
You can also use a shop style paper towel put into #1 cylinder. When the pressure builds up will push the paper towel out. Don't even need fingers.
Hey, I like that! Live and learn!
Great information thank you very much sir
I KNEW THIS GUY WAS THE REAL DEAL WHEN I SAW COB WEBS ON THE ENGINE! MY TYPE OF GUY.
Thank you for this video. You helped me out
Glad I could be of service!
Great info video! I have to do this same thing to my 1984 chevy 1 ton dually BBL. Thanks....
Good luck! Helped me a ton to know this. My truck runs like a top now!
Awsome video thanks for posting
Glad you enjoyed it!
It definitely works tried ran perfectly
Yeah, I was ready to pull my hair out before someone taught me this!
Agree 100% also excellent video always and helpfull too!
Thanks!
Great video,great help thank you
Welcome!
Thanks buddy one of the best video thanks 👍
Hope it was helpful!
Can it be done on a 265 V8 Small block Chevy Bel-Air
Thank you for goin in depth on it- I just did this to mine and the starter locked up immeadiately, Idk what else to do
Great video! Thank you!
Welcome!
Thank god i found this video, ive been at it for over 2 days. I made the mistake of pulling the distributer without marking anything. I pulled it trying to troubleshoot a backfire out of the carb, hopefully it takes car of that.
Sounds pretty much like my experience!
Thank, this Really helped
Really glad to hear that!
Amazing you are the best 👍
Thank you so much 😀
Thanks that's awesome really helpful
Glad it was helpful!
UnA information muy Bien explicada gracias por El vidio
Thank you man you helped me out Big time
Thanks! Always glad to pass on a little experience!
@@crazydadsgarage2344 that was my brother, he is working on his car now it's up and running thanks to you :D
UA-cam Emmy award 🏆🏆🏆🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thanks!
Thanks i will try your method it seems to make better or a less complicated process
Hope it works well for you. Sure helped me!
Thank u sir great vid
Thanks for taking a minute to respond. Hope it was helpful!
Can't wait to try it out.. here I come my 1978 chev silverado c10..
Good luck!
Great video
Thanks Man!
if you cant get the oil pump drive lined up, just set the distributor in place and crank the engine over. it will drop in. make sure gasket is seated properly, aftermarket manifolds have too big a hole, allowing distrubutor to be cocked to one side, not compressing the gasket well enough. it will leak there.
Thanks crazy Dad!
You bet!
How would you advance the timing say 8 degrees? This video shows TDC and zero on the balancer, but what if I wanted to advance it? Could I get it set at 0 on the tab, then just clock it back to 8 without removing or fooling with the distributor?
Thank you, for real
Very welcome!
And how did he get the rotor from pointing thing at that bolt to pointing at the cylinder one?
THANK YOU!!!!
Very welcome!
Thank you!!
You're welcome!
Thanks, for all the details ( in the past 40 + years a Ford / Dodge guy ) first Chevy this part always trouble mostly can't see Cevrolet in the rear ??? anyway Many many thanks, got a new rebuilt block in basement, going to try ( first time chevy ) but got 3 Chevys now. Jason ( going into a 1985 C10 upgrade 305 to a 350 yea ). J.
Good luck and have fun!
If I'm just replacing the springs in the distributor, I don't need TDC, right? Since it's going directly back in?
If you can get it back in exactly the same spot then sure that would work. But why not set it at tdc before you take it out anyway just to give yourself some room for error in case something happens. By the way I think I would have done exactly what you are asking about myself before I found out how simple this process is. Good luck and enjoy your chevy!
Where did you get your exhaust manifold plugs? Did you have to cross thread them?
The plugs are available at any hardware or plumbing store. They are just 1/4" pipe plugs for standard plumbing pipe and they screw right in. Just snug them down and you're there.
My 454 is the same way #8 is first . Could the timing chain have slipped a tooth or was it just the previous owner didn't do the timing right? It runs but I feel it could run better
I don't have a definitive answer for you on that one except that I do know that it is possible to put the distributor in more than one way and have your wires on different posts and still have it perfectly run perfectly fine. I doubt if your chain has jumped a tooth. That usually puts it so far out of time that it will barely run if at all.
Hello I have an oldsmobile 307 it is the same ??
for the distributor it's different
That depends on whether it is actually an Olds 307 or a chevy 307 that was used in many GM cars back in the 70's. If it was the chevy motor, then it should be the same. If it was the true Olds 307, then I'm not sure, sorry.
Great video.. How do i install a locked distributor for 36 degrees? No videos about it.. is it the same way?
Honestly don't know the answer to that one sorry!
Having trouble getting my small block timed up every time I drop the distributor in I wanted up having to turn my distributor palm around to the firewall and I’ve got a 500 lift cam in it and I don’t know if that’s what it is or if I’m just off
Sorry not much help on that one. I just know that this procedure completely solved the problem on my stock engine.
Why does it hurt to set up on exhaust stroke? Doesnt plug fire on both strokes ?
No, the cam and distributor only spin at half the speed of the crankshaft, so the distributor only fires on the compression stroke.
Firing order really don’t matter as long as you got them right but usually number 1 is the second terminal clockwise from the tach terminal.
Thanks for your input!
So, just checking my thinking (excellent video by the way), if a person does it this way, then the engine is timed with “0” degrees (TDC) correct? So, to my way of thinking, once this is done, a person can turn the crankshaft until the mark on the harmonic balancer is pointing at the desired advance - say 12 degrees on the engine timing cover mark. Then, if you gently rotate the distributor housing until the rotor is again pointing right at the number 1 wire (lifting the distributor cap so you can see where the rotor is now pointing as needed), then your engine is “statically” timed at 10 degrees advance - am I correct on my thinking? I am about to fire up a freshly rebuilt small block Chevy, and as it has a new cam and lifters, I’ve got to get it to 2,000rpm as fast as I can, and hold it for about 20 minutes. It’s been years since I did this, and everyone has me all nervous about ruining the cam 😱. Please advise, and I’m just trying to get this right in my mind and don’t want to have a problem at start up, if I can help it. Thanks!
I said 10 degrees, I meant 12 - whoops!
I 'm not sure as to the exact answer to your question. However, I did it exactly as described in this video and my engine fired right up and worked perfectly. The timing was exactly where it was supposed to be and it has run perfectly for about 10k miles now with no adjusting. As for worrying about your camshaft, I believe that the real answer to breaking it in properly is to have it thoroughly lubed up with a camshaft assembly lube when assembling and make sure you use a zinc additive for older engines in your oil all the time.
I'm getting a misfire after adjusting timing on my 350....any help?
Aside from making sure that you followed this procedure, my next question would be do you have any worn out parts like a harmonic balancer that has slipped the ring so the timing mark is in the wrong place! Are you sure that you have your cylinders numbered correctly? check for a video on that. Those are just a couple of my thoughts. Good luck!
How do I time a 94 Chevrolet four-wheel drive giant pickup
Sorry, unless it has this same motor, I'm not your answer guy. Good luck!
My distributor doesn't have the vacuum advance, what do you recommend...?
From my understanding (and I don't consider myself an expert) in most situations you need a vacuum advance on a carbureted engine that doesn't have boost. Do a little more research to determine if that is correct. If so, you can get a new HEI distributor online fairly inexpensively.
@@crazydadsgarage2344 I followed your steps and I got my 85 El Camino running again, thanks.
Can anyone show me how to do it by myself I have a 89 Chevy 5.7 they say unplug the timing advance off the fire wall the go through with what your doing
To do what I'm describing here you need to have everything unhooked from the distributor, vacuum advance hose, control wires, distributor cap and spark plug wires.
Is it the same for an Oldsmobile 307 5.0 or is it different?
I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but my guess would be that they are different because they are not the same engine family.
Would this work on 96 Tahoe 5.7 vortec??
Not sure. If it has a distributor, then probably it would work. But I'm just not sure about something that new.
I did that once and for some reason did not run, I had to turn an extra tooth clockwise then it was fine new balancer as well
Interesting. I'm sure there are other factors that can come into play, but at least this will help most of us get it right. Good luck!
Will this work for dodge? I have a 360 Dodge ram 82
Haven't tried it sorry.
Greetings my UA-cam brother I hope you are well, I will get straight to the point I know how precious our time is , 4 years ago my place burnt to the ground I lost everything cars drones my cats, I'm grateful to be alive,fast forward to today I have a job my own little place, again I'm very grateful, I'm buying an older car and I'm wondering if I get in a bind trying to bring her to life, may I ask your guidance? Thank you for your time
Sorry to hear about your loss. Good luck as you move forward. Realistically, I don't get on here to check out my comments as often as I should. I'd love to help, but don't forget the wealth of knowledge that all of us You-Tubers combined can bring to your project!
Where at in Utah are you??
Price!
So I think there is an error in the position of your rotor in this video. If you are installing an HEI (like the one in your video) the rotor will point to #1 at about the 6:30ish position, not 5:30 as you show. On classic chevy small block engines that use ignition breaker points (points) instead of electronic ignitions, the number one cylinder is the one immediately clockwise of the small metal sash cover on the distributor cap. There is no sash cover on the distributor cap for GM HEI electronic ignitions, and the firing order is the same, but starting at the 5:30 position for the points distributor like what you show in the video.
So I'm really grateful for your detailed explanation and you may be right. I'm definitely not going to argue the point, but this process has worked perfectly for me the two different times I have done it and judging by the number of positive comments I've been getting, I think it is working for most people. Could it be that we are each just using a different pole on the distributor cap as our starting point? Not sure but thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.
@@crazydadsgarage2344 well actually on can really make the #1 theoretically any of them so you are also right!
Bout to try this right now I might need help
Sure helped me to figure this out. Had to share!
Distributor time for 1 1rz distributor timing mark
?????
Compression strock I just can't find it by myself no one to help
You literally have to take out your #1 spark plug and put your finger over the hole while you turn the front of the crankshaft clockwise with a large socket and ratchet. When you feel pressure starting to build, you are on the compression stroke. Finish turning it until your timing mark lines up with the pointer.
@@crazydadsgarage2344 you can plug the spark plug hole with a paper towel and the compression will spit it out when it's on compression stroke.
Another option to finding TDC is pull the drivers side valve cover off. Both valves will be relaxed when on compression stroke. Otherwise if you are 360 off your exaust valve will be compressed (open)
Just stuff a rag in there or a plastic plug it's pops out far
My friend pounded his distributor into his engine with a hammer. Would go in any other way. Its a Caddy 500 engine
Sounds scarey to me!
, ,,, ,
?????
😅vnnvbnv
Altho i think the vacuum canister broke off the carb or its not attached to the distrubuter but sitting behind it.