Kinda new here so bear with me not sure how much detail to provide. On my 65 dodge I pulled the distributor making sure of correct rotor position in relation to #1 cyl and aligning the timing marks on dampner prior to pulling. After pulling distributor I decided to to a timing chain and gear replacement (why this is all done is a long story, don't ask). After tearing down I found the mark on the crank gear at 12:00 where it should be but no sign of the mark on the cam gear. I rotated the crank 360* which rotated the cam 180*, now the marks lined up perfect and the new set went together no problem. To compensate for this I installed the distributor 180* from the position that I removed it (or so I thought, this is the mystery) I'm not sure why the cam was 180 off to begin with I thought maybe I screwed up pulling the distributor (not). After reinstalling the distributor now the rotor is under #6 on the cap. Car is used so I thought maybe the distributor was replaced and reinstalled 180 out and plug wires were repositioned to compensate but according to my motor manual everything is correct so I repositioned the distributor back the way I orginally removed it but now I'm scratching my head because I did that 360* rotation of the crank after teardown. The way I figure the gears and chain have to be correct or they wouldnt go together (crank is keyed and cam is dowled) I havent tried to start the motor yet I'm trying to figure this out first any suggestions?

 

Install the timing set with the crank mark at 12:00 and the cam at 6:00 then rotate the crank 360* so the crank is at 12:00 and the cam at 12:00 and install the distributor with the rotor pointing to #1 You should then be at an area close to starting, rotate the dist. slowly while cranking and then use a timing light to set it

 

hello ,dont know if i understand what u did but ,the rotor should point to # 1 on compression stroke,when you took the cover off was the marks on the two gears pointing away from each other or at each other??? i have seen where the rubber on the dampner has let the outer mark move on the pully so # 1 the vibration dampner is wrong take #1 spark plug out and see if it is at the top of the cly and where your mark is on timing cover

 

340sixpack, to answer your question the marks on both crank and cam were pointing straight up (12:00 position) with the no 1 cyl at the begining of the fire stroke (TDC between compression and power) I proved this by pulling the valve cover on the left bank and watched no 1 cyl while rotating the crank sooooo..........rdrunner1974, you are correct sir, just not sure why. I'm kinda old school here but I always thought that when the timing marks line up (cam on the bottom and crank on the top) that no 1 cyl should be ready to fire but not in this case actually in this situation no 6 is ready to fire.