Need some timing help, almost there!!

The engine ran today after i swapped in the 305 distrib. But it would fight the starter, run for 5 seconds, then stall out. Also, gas would try to spit out the carb. So i set #1 cylinder to TDC, then aligned the rotor to it. I go to start the car, nothing really happens. Start it again and the exhaust gurgled a little but thats it. It was too late to make any more noise, had to throw in the towel for the night. One thing i'd like to note, when i first set cylinder 1 to TDC and looked at the rotor, it was facing the wrong side of the engine, around cylinder #2. I'm hoping i didn't make the timing worse, but at least it wasn't fighting the starter so i think i got somewhere.


I'll try again in the morning, just wanted to see if i could get any advice before then. Thanks in advance.

it sounds like timing is off.recheck with a fresh mind.good luck

Sounds like your dist is 180 degrees out.
Lift it out and rotate the dist 180 and drop it back in and see where the rotor lines up.

The engine ran today after i swapped in the 305 distrib. But it would fight the starter, run for 5 seconds, then stall out. Also, gas would try to spit out the carb. So i set #1 cylinder to TDC, then aligned the rotor to it. I go to start the car, nothing really happens. Start it again and the exhaust gurgled a little but thats it. It was too late to make any more noise, had to throw in the towel for the night. One thing i'd like to note, when i first set cylinder 1 to TDC and looked at the rotor, it was facing the wrong side of the engine, around cylinder #2. I'm hoping i didn't make the timing worse, but at least it wasn't fighting the starter so i think i got somewhere.


I'll try again in the morning, just wanted to see if i could get any advice before then. Thanks in advance.


rotate the engine till the #1 cyl is up and the timing mark is at 0 ..then install the distributor to #1 ..

use some white paint to highlight the correct timing mark, and the cut mark on the crankshaft..

If the plugs get too wet with fuel you may need to remove them to clean off ..

rotate the engine till the #1 cyl is up and the timing mark is at 0 ..then install the distributor to #1 ..

use some white paint to highlight the correct timing mark, and the cut mark on the crankshaft..

If the plugs get too wet with fuel you may need to remove them to clean off ..

Been tinkering all day. Got the timing right..according to my strobe light thing. And the engine idles nicely, other than the fact that it shakes a lot. If i step the RPM up to say 1100 it seems to smooth out. I'm thinking this could be a few things: A/F mixture, since i have the check engine light on maybe the ECU is causing the shaking. Or there could be something more serious that i don't know of just yet. I'm making a new post soon about the carb tuning with a video to show the symptoms.

The ECM will not cause anything since it is no longer doing anything. If you don't have an EST module and EST distributor and don't have the E4ME carb installed the ECM isn't controlling anything but the TCC. Without a TPS input it probably won't even do that.