1972 beetle distributor won’t line up! Help?

[DnS421]

I’ve been trying to fix up my wifes 1972 beetle and got around to the new distributor and when set to tdc it won’t line up to set it correctly, it sets in with the vacuum advance against the fuel pump and I can’t get enough timing out of it to start the car. The old distributor will go right in place correctly, nothing seems different about the two distributors. What do I do?

[ashman40]

Did you rotate your engine so it was at the end of the #1 cylinder compression stroke and the rotor was pointing to the #1 spark plug wire on the distributor cap before you removed the old distributor? This way when you installed the new distributor you know that wherever the rotor is pointing is where the #1 plug wire is installed on the cap?

Let's assume you missed this step. Here is Speedy Jim's page on troubleshooting a No Start condition: https://www.speedyjim.net/htm/eng_strt.htm
Scroll down to the section titled "The Test" and follow these instructions. It walks you thru confirming your engine is at TDC AND the #1 cylinder valves are both CLOSED. When both of these conditions are true your engine is at the end of the #1 compression stroke and ready to delver a spark to the #1 spark plug.
Rotate the body of your distributor (not the crank) so the notch on the rim of the distributor is under the rotor tip. This makes the notch on the rim of the distributor a #1 plug wire mark for future tune ups.
Set the point gap and static time the engine to 7BTDC just to get it running.
Install the #1 plug wire over the rotor tip so the distributor actually sends a spark to the #1 spark plug (because #1 cylinder is at the end of its compression stroke). Install the remaining spark plug wires CW around the cap in the 1-4-3-2 firing order.


Also a note on rotor position when at #1 plug wire post... this differs with different model distributors. Here is a pic from glutamodo or Glenn(?) that shows the #1 plug wire notch and how different model distributors place the mark at different positions around the rim:

Post pics of how your distributor is oriented. Post a pic showing what the top of the distributor drive gear down in the case looks like when the engine is at the end of the #1 compression stroke. It should look like this pic from glutamodo:

Post a pic of the bottoms of both distributors. The cog at the bottom of the distributor is held in place with a pin. The cog can be installed in two different position that could rotate the rotor 180deg from where it should be. Compare how they are mounted on your two different distributors.

_________________
AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[bsairhead]

[ashman40]

[tasb]

Good suggestions so far. We need to know the part numbers of the old and new distributors to help you much further.
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Roads Scholar
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[Cusser]

[heimlich]

Find TDC. Install your distributor. Now rotate it to how you like it in 90 degree increments. You can think of this as quarter turns if 90 degrees doesn't stand out to you. Install the wires. The wire above where the rotor is will be your #1. #1 is always above the rotor at TDC. Orient the other wires based on where you put #1.

The end result will be your distributor in the correct orientation as you expect with a stock setup. The wires will look like they are oriented incorrectly but they will be correct based on TDC.
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[bsairhead]