Contrary to what some may say, #1 can be anywhere on the cap except, of course, the center terminal. Whichever terminal the rotor lines up with when cylinder #1 is ready to fire is where the number 1 wire goes, and then the rest follow based on distributor rotation and firing order. To approximate when #1 cylinder is in firing position, pull the plugs, seal the #1 plug hole with your finger, then slowly turn the motor over by hand. You'll feel pressure build when it's coming up on compression. At this point you should be able to feel the position of the #1 piston with a carefully bent piece of wire fed through the spark plug hole. I believe on a 235 Chevy you can actually see the piston near/at TDC through the plug hole with a carefully aimed light and a sharp eye. If not, use the bent wire to keep track of where the piston is. Keep turning the motor until the piston is at the top of the cylinder. Now pull the distributor cap off, and whatever terminal the rotor is pointing to is #1. This rotor position can be changed by lifting the distributor and turning the rotor to wherever you need it to point, then dropping the distributor back in. The turn the engine over slowly by hand until the distributor drops all the way in when the oil pump tang re-engages.
checked the firing order,1 wire was crossed ,that was my popping .changed it ,filled the float bowl with gas and cranked her over spit a couple of times ,sanded points a little .tried her again,it started ,has not been started since 1972,ran until gas ran out . got 3 dead mice out of the tailpipe and a bucket of acorns and peanuts .did a couple of adjustments to the carbs and it ran on its own,did not run it to long ,no coolant ,changed the oil ,it had at 10 to 15 qts in it and a little condensation,not bad for not being started since 1972,pulling the gas tank and fuel pump tuesday ,where is the best place to get brakes ?
Some cars have a position the dist needs to be in to direct oil,which is why no 1 position is important.
you might want to use the 48' as your avitar instead of the camaro. really surprised nobody "flamed" you about it. nice camaro though.
The easy to remember this is that "fifteen is too young, thirty-six is too old and twenty-four is just right"
...plus, although it's probably a bit crusted over by now, a '48 should have the firing order cast on the front half of the exhaust manifold.
sure is! cool ride there and no chance of "flameage dude"! just hate to see a fellow hamber get torched thats all. lets see more pic's of your 48'.
True, but the position of the distributor body has no bearing on where the #1 wire goes on the cap. That is all dependent upon the meshing of the distributor gear with the cam. Hence, the #1 position is NOT important, but the positioning of the distributor body is.
The Jalopy Journal
