1972 AMC 360 Timing?

[W300]

Finally got everything put back together after addressing a leaking carb and coolant hoses (and the rabbit holes those led me too).

Fired it up and it's idling nicely, but lots of exhaust smoke.
Looking at the timing, which I haven't messed with from PO, the diagram in the TSM shows number 1 just to the right of the screw in the distributer, but mine is 2 to the right (blue tape on wire). I put a timing light on it, and adjusted it up until the timing mark was at TDC and it's at 29 degrees. I can't adjust the distributer any further back to get it lower. Is the distributer installed correctly?
I'm knowledgeable enough to be dangerous, but just need a sanity check!

[sierrablue]

Sounds to me like they put the distributor in on the right tooth, and got the firing order right, but they put that order off a spot of two on the cap. Since you found top dead center I'm guessing you pulled the cap and got the rotor pointed the way it was supposed to be for TDC. I would put it at top dead center, and then see which spot on the cap the rotor is pointing two, and put the number one plug wire there, and then just go around with the firing order. If it still has too much timing at that point, and you can't retard it anymore, I would pull the distributor and back it off a tooth.

Looking that the picture vs. the diagram, it looks like they put the wires off one spot counter clockwise from where they should be, which would give you too much timing.

You're not totally crazy. Well, not on THIS issue anyway...

[tgreese]

Jeep shows you a picture of the wire order in the cap specifically to avoid the problem you are encountering. You need to pull the distributor and "stab" it to put the wires and rotor in the suggested orientation.

Everything will work if you put the plug wires on in the right order, and the rotor points to the number 1 wire at TDC of number 1. Thus there are 8 different orientations for the distributor cap that will "work" and give you the proper timing and firing order. Use the orientation that Jeep suggests.

Turn the engine so that the timing marks are lined up with zero and the rotor points to wire 1. This is #1 TDC. Now do not turn the engine until you are finished. Pull the distributor, move the wires in the cap, and rotate to the desired position, then stab so the rotor ends up pointing at the #1 wire.

You need to line up both the helical teeth of the distributor gear, and the slotted drive at the bottom the distributor shaft that turns the oil pump. Make a guess about where the slot will be when the distributor is in, look down the distributor hole, and turn the slot with a long screwdriver to line up with your guess. Getting the helical gears and slot right will probably take a few tries.

The engine should fire; you can mess with the distributor rotation some to smooth it out before you use the timing light. A vacuum gauge might help. Button up everything and set the timing.

[will e]

I put a timing light on it, and adjusted it up until the timing mark was at TDC and it's at 29 degrees. I can't adjust the distributer any further back to get it lower. Is the distributer installed correctly?

Can you clarify what you wrote? I assume you put the timing light on the #1 wire in its current position on the distributor cap?

I don't understand what you mean when you write "adjusted it up until the timing mark was at TDC and it's at 29 degrees". It's either at TDC or 29 degrees.

[tgreese]

Maybe I misunderstood. I thought he could not turn the distributor any more because the vacuum advance can was hitting something.

I'd suppose he has a timing light that dials in the advance at the light. As I recall, you turn the dial until the strobe shows the pointer at zero, ie TDC, then read the advance on the dial.

[W300]

Exactly. Timing light hooked to number 1 spark plug wire, then I changed the advance on the light until the timing mark on the balancer was lined up with TDC mark. it took 29 degrees of advance to line it up.
Not sure if this actually helps in figuring out if it's all setup correctly.

Based on all the tape numbers all over the distributor cap, I'm assuming PO had some issues with this....

[tgreese]

Confident you will be ok if you follow the diagram in the TSM. Some effort required though.

NB you should remove the vacuum line from the distributor. You will see more advance with the vacuum line attached.

[W300]

Thanks Tim for the info, I'll take a crack at it this weekend!

[letank]

Exactly. Timing light hooked to number 1 spark plug wire, then I changed the advance on the light until the timing mark on the balancer was lined up with TDC mark. it took 29 degrees of advance to line it up.
Not sure if this actually helps in figuring out if it's all setup correctly.

Based on all the tape numbers all over the distributor cap, I'm assuming PO had some issues with this....

29° at idle, your idle speed might be a bit too high and getting extra advance... as Tim said disconnecting the vacuum line at the distributor and plugging the line with a golf T or any other appropriate plug.

A good time to invest in a vacuum gauge to check the functions of all the various coolant temperature switch.

[devildog80]

I see that your distributor vac is not directly under the power steering belt.

I did try to set my dist gear off a cog to get it out from under that belt, and had the same issue of not able to turn the distributor far enough to set timing right.

I had to restab it with the vac back under the belt, so I could adjust it properly, and that is where it lives again....as designed.

So my point....think your a cog off on the gear.

[W300]

Everything will work if you put the plug wires on in the right order, and the rotor points to the number 1 wire at TDC of number 1. Thus there are 8 different orientations for the distributor cap that will "work" and give you the proper timing and firing order. Use the orientation that Jeep suggests.

Thinking about Tim's comment here and the fact that I got it running nice and smooth as is, I decided to move on to more pressing matters, like the fuel tank that leaks only when filled over half a tank. I plan on moving to a pertronix setup or DUI in the future, so I'll leave it as is for now.

[tgreese]

You could move the rotor counter-clockwise by one gear tooth, as devildog80 suggests. As long as the order is right and the rotor points to #1 at TDC, it will work. Still requires you to pull the distributor and put it back in the new location, lining up the slot and the gears.

Make sure you have the idle speed set right and the vacuum hose disconnected when you look at the initial advance.