Crankshaft Pulley Timing Marks

[ians]

Firstly I didn’t put this engine together!

 

The car runs fine(ish) however for some time now I have been thinking about accurately setting the timing but there has always been something more pressing to do, you know how it is.

 

Today I finally found the timing strobe and a couple of hours. Fire up the car attach the pickup to number one and the strobe shows the marks way after TDC and moving back towards TDC as I increase revs. WTF?

 

Scratch head and other parts of anatomy. If I rotate distributor to manually set No 1 points the vacuum advance unit virtually touches the block. Check pictures on Google and this doesn’t appear to be right.

 

Start looking for reasons. Eventually decide to remove plugs and turn over engine so that no 1 piston is at TDC to discover that marks are way out. Study manual and drawings and generate hypothesis. Unfortunately none of the pictures clearly shows whether the pulley is actually keyed. (original wide belt)

 

So the question is –

As it is bolted together using 6 nuts and bolts is it possible to assemble the crankshaft pulley so that the timing marks are 60 degrees out?

[RogerH]

Hi Ian,

I'm sure it is possible. When I rebuilt my 4A engine in the 90's I succeeded in getting it 180' out.

 

Roger

[TR24178]

Just had a quick look at my dissembled pulley and extension, yes it would be easy to assemble it with the timing marks 60deg out

 

John

[ians]

Thanks John. Now I have to pull half the car apart to correct it. B****r

[Kiwifrog]

You know where TDC is why not just remark the pully with a dab of white paint in the correct place. Easier than pulling the front of the car off to move the pulley

 

Cheers

 

Alan

[ians]

I have never found it very easy to identify TDC accuarately with the engine assembled so if someone (John) can tell me the outside diameter then I can calculate the distance from the existing mark.

 

I can then file an indent and infill this with paint.

 

Ian

[TR24178]

51/2 inches

[ians]

Thanks John

 

Ian

[whiteone]

I found my timing mark to be 60 degrees (1 hole) out. Remedy - I measured the pulley diameter and using a compass cut-out a sheet of card to fit over half of the outside of the pulley. Using a protractor I then made two timing marks 60 degrees apart and used this template to add a spot of white paint at TDC. Big question now - did whoever assembled the pulley wrongly use the incorrect TDC mark to set the camshaft timing and how much would this affect the engine performance, idle, etc ? It seems impossible to set the idle on my car to a satisfactory lean idle.

 

 

.

[littlejim]

 

So the question is –

As it is bolted together using 6 nuts and bolts is it possible to assemble the crankshaft pulley so that the timing marks are 60 degrees out?

 

 

I'm sure it is. Plus if the bloke cutting the slot for the key was having a bad day it won't be accurate. Even if spot on, the size of the hole gives you a fair bit of room for error.

 

The pointer could be another source of error too if the welder onner was a bit sloppy.

I followed the NZ amphibian's policy and made my own (thinner) mark using TDC on piston #1.