Distributor question

5 years ago I bought a 69 Camaro with a 350/350AT that was is pretty decent shape. I've made a lot of changes since then and the car is in great condition, for a 40 year old car.

2 years ago, I met a guy at a car show that had a new Malory Unilite igniton and wires, in the box, that he was selling for $200. He said he would even install it for that price so I let him. Never had any problems with it until recently. The car starting misfiring then dying and eventually wouldn't start at all. I determined that it was the ignition power filter which had seen a spike and melted the resistor. I decided while I was at it, to replace all the components. Before pulling everything apart, I started by identifying #1 TDC and thats when I noticed something. The rotor was pointing at the 12:00 position. I remembered reading somewhere that the rotor should be at 6:00 on #1 TDC. I called a local mechanic and he said "don't worry about it. As long as you go in order from there, your ok". Then I read on line where someone said it does matter because of the cam's relation to the crank, especially if you have an aftermarket cam. The previous owner said it has a Street/Strip cam but I haven't confirmed that. I put everything back together as it was and the car does seem to run fine. So, I guess I'm 180 degrees out but does it really matter? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome to AF. All that matters is the rotor is pointed to #1 tower on the dist. when the piston is at tdc firing/compression, should be no need to change where it was.

To add to what Maxwedge says, the TDC "mark" is at the pointer twice in the process. Once at "compression" as said. That's where the intake valve has closed, the mixture is compressed and the spark is "thrown" to that cylinder to ignite it. The OTHER time the mark is at "0", is when it's on the "overlap" stroke, where the exhaust valve has closed and the intake valve is just beginning to open. When cylinder #1 is "up" on compressin, #6 is "up" on overlap and vice-versa.

To assure you have it at the right one, remove the spark plug from #1. Disconnect the coil. "Bump" the engine with your finger over the spark plug hole. When the pressure in the cylinder pushes your finger off the hole and the mark is close to "0". THAT'S #1 "compression". This is known in the vernacular as "blowing number 1". Have the rotor point at #1 wire pole and everything will be close enough to start it. Reset ignition timing with a light.

Jim

hi there, not that its going ot help you much, but if i owned the car i realy would go with a stock HEI setup with maybe a 454 module and a good set of wires


but thats just me

reliability and performance thats just fine


good luck