MSD distributor rotor position at TDC

[1950split]

Hi!

I have now fitted my new MSD dizzy in my 2276 engine at TDC on cylinder 1 with the rotor pointing to the mag pick-up module.

What I find odd is that at TDC on cylinder 1 the rotor is not lining up with terminal 1 on the cap. It points to a position between terminal 1 and 4.

Is this OK? When i have my 010 in the engine, rotor, mark on the body of the distributor and terminal 1 of the the cap are lining up.

I have swapped the blue bushing for the black one but I guess that when doing this mistakes seem to be quite diffucult to make.

Thanks for your help!

Phil

[Glenn]

Set the engine so it's at TDC on #1. Install the distributor, rotate the body so the #1 mark on the body is lined up with the rotor. Start the engine and set the timing.

It doesn't matter where #1 is as long as its lined up with TDC on #1.

_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[j-dub]

1950,
Don't worry as much about where the rotor is pointing but where the paddle on the reluctor wheel is pointing, make one of them point right at the pickup coil when the ignition rotor is approximately where you want it.
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"POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN ... Cops have nothing to go on."

[tattooed_pariah]

if your distributor is installed incorrectly, it will still run, you just have a different location for #1.. you can pull the distributor and reinstall, or leave it as is, but for the love of god, document it!

Years ago I must have been distracted while bend building an engine.. I wound up realizing after installing it and hooking it up, that my distributor was 180 off. once I figured that out, i was able to get it running, and wound up just leaving it (i know, i know..).

fast forward a couple of years and I went to do some maintenance and had forgot my faux pas.. took a while to figure out what was wrong and remember my earlier mistake.. haha
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-pariah (just a novice from "that other VW site")
'72 Volksrod "Effigy"

"Never worry about stepping on people's toes. People who get their toes stepped on are either sitting down, or standing still on the job."
-Admiral Arleigh Burke, USN(ret.)

[1950split]

Thanks for your replies.

Just to clarify, the distributor gear is fitted correctly and with a Bosch distributor (009/010) I don’t have this isssue.

I always thought that at TDC the rotor should point to the terminal in the cap and not be in between two cap terminals. Will this not generate misfiring?

[Glenn]

It should.

So are you say the #1 mark on the body is not at one of the terminals?
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[1950split]

I have not seen any mark on the body and the instructions are not mentionning anything about it. They just say turn crankshaft to TDC on cylinders 1 and plug the dizzy to sum them up.

Maybe I do not understand something about how to set-up a msd distributor or it would mean that something really went wrong in the production of my distributor.

[jeffrey8164]

Everything about a distributor is based on a circle. It doesn’t really matter which way everything mounts. The cap only goes on one way so we all know where the #1 plug wire should be.
Pull out a test light connect it to coil- and ground, set the motor at 7.5 degrees aTDC, then rotate the distributor and watch the test light light up. Wire the Cap accordingly. Start and tune.
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Turning owners into mechanics since 1938.

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[David_nc_72std]

Have you actually set the static timing yet? Just because the rotor is pointing to the pickup module, that doesn't mean it actually in firing position.

[Dale M.]

MSD electronic distributor should set timing same as points distributor.... #1 is 7.5° before TDC and rotor points to #1 tower, it will run well enough to get timing light on it...

Don't know of you can use test light as with points or with points replacement module....IF you have CDI box, probably not

Dale
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============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[tattooed_pariah]

I didn't think a test light worked without points? have I been misinformed all these years?
_________________
-pariah (just a novice from "that other VW site")
'72 Volksrod "Effigy"

"Never worry about stepping on people's toes. People who get their toes stepped on are either sitting down, or standing still on the job."
-Admiral Arleigh Burke, USN(ret.)

[Dale M.]

[tattooed_pariah]

[1950split]

Thanks for your help!

Having used a Mallory utilite with mag pick-up I assumed that the module inside the body has to be lining up at TDC with terminal 1 of the cap.

But perhaps it is not the case with the MSD distributor. The instructions say to ensure that the rotor is pointing to terminal 1 in the cap.

I will do that without taking into consideration the alignment of the module and fire up the engine.

[mark tucker]

WOW