Is my distributor off a tooth?

[MrSony]

I needed to change the o-ring on my 429's distributor (yes, a ford on a gbody forum. Thunderbird says hello) and after taking it in and out (hehe) several times, I finally got it to start, idle, and rev up nicely. BUT, I think it is a tooth off. In the picture, that is BEFORE I took it out. Car ran fine, idled at ~800 and had plenty of power, even with that old rotted vacuum advance line collapsing. Now, the body (cansiter position wise) is pointed all the way to the left and if I rotate it counter clockwise, to the right, it starts to sputter, pop and die. So, is it a tooth off or am I nuts?

 

[pontiacgp]

why not take the distributor out and move it one tooth or you can check it by putting number 1 piston at tdc on the compression stroke and see if the rotor is pointing at number 1 on the cap

 

[87BlazeLS]

Jim I'm not a rocket scientist I'm a doctor, but I think he needs a timing light.

marks on balancer will be way off.

 

[pontiacgp]

Jim I'm not a rocket scientist I'm a doctor, but I think he needs a timing light.

marks on balancer will be way off.

if it's off a tooth you wont see any timing marks....the vacuum advance on the distributor on a 429 prevents you to turn the distributor enough to being it in range for a timing gun.

 

[MrSony]

Like I said, it runs, idles and revs up fine, but there is NO room for adjustment with the vac. advance canister all the way to the passenger side. If I move it even a little towards the middle (original position), it starts to sputter and pop.

 

[pontiacgp]

If you are turning it counter clockwise it's retarding the timing. I would take the distributor out and turn it back one tooth which should give you room to adjust it.

 

[87BlazeLS]

Your a tooth off. Do what he said. Life is short. Driving a 429 is sweet. Don't waste it.....

 

[MrSony]

Your a tooth off. Do what he said. Life is short. Driving a 429 is sweet. Don't waste it.....

I hear ya. Just putting this thing around the block to test new suspension (balljoints) out is really fun. SO much torque down low. That 2.5 inch flowmaster manifold-back exhaust helps too 😀

 

[pontiacgp]

I hear ya. Just putting this thing around the block to test new suspension (balljoints) out is really fun. SO much torque down low. That 2.5 inch flowmaster manifold-back exhaust helps too 😀

decades ago I worked on a Thunderbird with the 429, that thing was a torque monster.

 

[MrSony]

decades ago I worked on a Thunderbird with the 429, that thing was a torque monster.

480lbft of awesome. For a 4500lb boat WITH suicide doors, that ting hauls some serious *ss. Mine included.