i just bought an elec. dist. conv. kit today for my 73 dodge challanger 318. i was installing it and i have a little problem, i had the old dist. rotor pointing towards the firewall (12 o clock) when removing it and when i put the new dist. in, the rotor was facing left (9 o clock). when i removed it to compare it to the old dist. i noticed that the piece at the bottom that connects to the oil pump is facing like this | on the old one and like this - on the new one while the top rotor is facing the same way. what do i do? its going to mess with the firing order.

 

I think you can use a large screwdriver and use it to turn the slot (counter-clockwise I believe) . It will lift the gear up and you can put the slot where you want it. The slot is attached to the oil pump drive shaft and the gear that spins the distributor is also attached to this. So, make sure that when you turn the slot and the gear lifts, do this slow so that you do not disengage the oil pump from the shaft. (even if you do, its not that hard to line it back up). Turn it the other way and it will not budge because the gears are spiral cut.

 

what if i just switch the spark plug wires on the distributor? example= if the number one spark plug is facing the fire wall, just switch it to face 9 o clock and do the same to all the others. sorry if i suck at describing.

 

i tried starting her today and all i got was detonation. after a few adjustments it started spraying gas out of the carb. =( so i guess i need to take it to the mechanics.
im pretty sure how to do it i just dont have the tools for it.

 

It sounds like your timing is off. Are you sure that the wires went back to the same positions? Do you have a diagram of how it should be that you can follow?

 

you can take off your #1 spark plug and put a straw or a soft piece of metal in it. turn the crank pulley till the straw is at the top. there is a long timing mark that should be about lined up. this would be the top dead center. if its a short timing mark its probably on the exhaust stroke. well when you get it lined up on top dead center you can put the rotor where you want it and put the number one plug wire there. then when you get them all on it should fire up and then just set the timing. i had a similar problem with my 318 when i changed it. hope this helps.

 

yes, the kit came with a diagram and i quadruple checked to make sure it was right.
i have yet to try putting it to TDC, i dont have a timing gun so im going to have to take it to someone to get a complete timing adjustment.
thanks for all the help.

 

thank you guys for the help, i finally got her started today and is running alot better than before.

 

good to hear