[Healeys] BJ8 timing is way off what do I do now?

[Rick Swain]

It's my understanding that the timing mark on Healey pulleys isn't all that
accurate. Mine certainly doesn't seem to be. I set my timing by adjusting
until I get the best idle with the vacuum advance disconnected. When I checked
with a strobe it looked like the engine was firing after top dead centre if
the mark was to be believed. One of these days I'll get around to accurately
marking tdc on the pulley
Rick Swain59 BN4


> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:48:42 -0700
> From: fortee9er at yahoo.com
> To: healeys at autox.team.net
> Subject: [Healeys] BJ8 timing is way off what do I do now?
>
> I have not been able to start my BJ8 since last year when I replaced the
starter. The engine cranks, the spark plugs fire, there is fuel in the carbs
and fuel lines but the car refuses to start. This has been a problem that has
plagued my car since I bought it many years ago.
> I decided to go for the basics and try to set timing manually and remove the
valve cover to check valve clearance as I rotated the engine.
> I connected a lamp at the coil and the grounded the other side. I rotated
the engine by hand to TDC - crank pulley mark matched up to timing indicator
on timing case. Turned ignition on and the light did not come on. I rotated
the engine to 10 deg BTDC (with ignition still on) and the light still did not
come on. I started rotating the engine clockwise until the light came on. This
happened when the crank pulley mark was approximately 2" past TDC.
> My question to the group is does this mean that cam timing is off (way off)
because of a problem with the timing chain which I suspect is the original
with 80k miles on it. Or is the distributor stuck in wrong? The distributor
was rebuilt a couple of years ago and reinstalled by my mechanic. It did run
after that but it was always very difficult to start.
> Thanks in advance for your help.
> Jorge
> PS - The points were replaced with a Pertronix unit a few years ago.
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