TIMMING 22* OFF?

[arcticmopar]

2 yrs and a rebuilt motor I,m right back were I lfet off, the timming seems to have 22* too many. The engine will start only if you retard the dist then advance when it catches. On the damper it shows 46* @2500rpm and idles (very ruff) 34* @900rpm it dies and will not restart below 30* or above 50* The 0 mark on the damper is below and way to the left(when facing motor) of the marks on the cover when running.
 I first took the dist out etc to paint/detail the motor without touching anything else. I didnt even turn the motor over while dist was out or touch the drive gear. Just put dist back in (got it 180 out the first time) and this is how it ran. This time only the dist was reused but is was check out and said ok just a fast advance curve is all. The cam was degreed and was only 1/2 a deg. out. The piston was left at TDC and the oil pump drive slot was alighned parallel with the crankshaft, dist rotor was pointing to #1 cyl wire and rest of plug wires were checked and rechecked. When I tried to fire it it just backfired, pulled dist, rotated rotor shaft 180,reinstalled and the motor fired but 22* out!
 I have a mechanic coming over this week and HE will start from scratch and see if we can find where I've gone wrong, any ideas?
 

[71chally416]

When you say the piston is at TDC when you align the rotor with #1 on the cap, is that on the compression stroke, or the exhaust stroke? Compression stroke is when air is shooting out of the plug hole with the piston coming up. You must then verify that the mark on your timing cover is actually aligning with the mark on the dampner right. Sometimes old dampner rings will spin on the hub and not be aligned right.

Get the piston a TDC on the compression stroke with the timing marks lied up on the dampner/timing cover, and then stick a thin wooden dowel in the spark plug hole while somebody slowly turns the motor each way with a socket on the dampner bolt while you verify for sure it's at TDC and the timing marks are actually right. The piston should be at it's highest point when it gets to TDC zero degrees. If that all checks out move the dampner mark to about 10/14 degrees advanced and the rotor should then align with #1 on the cap. If it fails to start and run there, you have some other problem than timing.

[LAA66]

 What size and year engine? The 70 340 has the timing marks on the right facing from the front of the motor.

[71chally416]

There are different timing covers....

[Chryco Psycho]

turn the crank back & forward , you will feel if the chain is loose at the load will increase as the cam is turned , if it is loose the chain may have jumped

[arcticmopar]

Hello again and thanks for the help so far. Well we confirmed the #1 piston @TDC on comp. stroke and damper mark was spot on 0. Advanced damper 10* and ign rotor was lined up to #1 wire. Motor fired right away but timming light showed 34* at idle, and 50* at 2500rpm and barley enough power to get in and out of garage.
 Just the distributor and drive gear,plus carb and intake to replace now, that and the car!
To fill in others it's a 383. The balancer is a new 440source unit with a stock cover. The marks on cover matched the chrome cover and tab I got from 440source. the chain and gears are a new billet unit and the cam has been degreed.

[71chally416]

Sounds like you maybe have a spring broke inside the distributor and the timing is swinging full advance when it starts up. Take the plate off the top and see what you find.

[Bullitt-]

vacuum advance connected to manifold vacuum rather than metered.

[arcticmopar]

 Havn't even tried the vacum advance yet. The dist. ya say...wouldnt you know that was the first thing I had a shop check out 2yrs ago when this happend. Well it's certainly something to look at tonight. By the way, for the vacume advance which of the two ports should I use on my EDDE CARB, the pass side one or drivers side which is a little lower? I ant remeber from 2yrs ago and thanks again everyone.

[RaptorF229]

I had the problem of wrong vacuum port on mine. Quick swap and my probllem was solved.

[71chally416]

If you install the distributor at like 10* advance and it's suddenly 50* advanced when you start it, I know of nothing else that could cause that but a bad mechanical advance mechanism, unless your timing light is just screwed and you have some other problem you're erroneously blaming on the distributor. 

[Supercuda]

Or, he could be running the distributor advance off of manifold vacuum. The port you are looking for is the higher of the two, and should have no vacuum present at idle. If the ignition advance swings to such a high number on just the centrifugal advance, the curve might be too aggressive, whether the springs are bad, or not. Still, if it happens without the advance can hooked up, it is a mechanical problem in the distributor or its drive; if it happens when the advance can is hooked up, then there is vacuum where it shouldn't be.

[71chally416]

Havn't even tried the vacum advance yet.

 

[arcticmopar]

If you install the distributor at like 10* advance and it's suddenly 50* advanced when you start it, I know of nothing else that could cause that but a bad mechanical advance mechanism, unless your timing light is just screwed and you have some other problem you're erroneously blaming on the distributor. 

 I have thought of that so I tried two diffrent lights,mine and a freinds and same results. I did set it to 10*adv then at start up it goes to like 34-36* @ idle and 50-60*@2500rpm. The dist is a stock unit from chrysler or mopar but its at least 20yrs old so it wont break my heart to replace it.

[RaptorF229]

have you done it without the vacuum for the distr. plugged in?