Sorry if I posted this message in the wrong spot but I hope you can help. I am lookin on instruction on the proper way to put in a distributor. I am goin to try this for the first time so if at all posible the more pictures the better thank you for your time :confused:

Find top dead center on #1. When the distributor is installed, the rotor should point roughly at cylinder #1 which is about the 5 oclock position when viewing the motor from the front. In reality, you'll have to turn the rotor slightly counter clockwise (say 4 oclock) because as the distributor meshes with the cam it will rotate clockwise. The exact position of terminal 1 is not important other than clearance of the vacuum advance canister and having your wires reach.

However you may have problems getting the distributor to sit down all the way. If so, look at how the tang for the oil pump drive lines up with the rotor. Look down inside the engine to see if the oil pump rod is roughly in line - taking the 4 oclock offset into consideration. If it isn't use a long screw driver to line it up.

Cinch the clamp down on the distributor just enough that it can be turned by hand with little effort, but not so loose it can walk around on it's own. There is a nifty little trick you can do with breaker point systems to get the timing roughly correct but here is what I do for breaker and solid state ignitions. Have someone start the motor while you manipulate the distributor to get it roughly in time. If it's too advanced, the motor will crank hard. If it's too retarted it probably will start or will seem to free wheel and never really kick off. In any event, you should be able to get it started and then set your base timing with a light. Timing isn't too critical on a free wheeling motor so don't worry too much about it during starting. You'll feel your way pretty close during the first startup.

Don't be surprised if it sputters and coughs when you try to crank it over. Keep your arm clear of the carberator in case it back fires. It's not uncommon to get cylinder #6 on TDC instead of number one. If so, simply pull the distributor, rotate the shaft 180 degrees and repeat the exercise. You shouldn't have to monkey with the oil pump shaft any more. It should kick right off provided the carberator is primed and its all ready to go.