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I'll repeat a story I've told before, just for 'color.'<br>
<br>
I once knew an aircraft mechanic who used this 'technique' to find
TDC on an aircraft engine. He bumped the starter just a tad too much
and ripped all the flesh off the end of his thumb (to be fair,
aircraft spark plugs and hence their holes are a bit larger than
auto plugs).<br>
<br>
Bob<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/15/2023 9:19 AM, john harper
wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">I have an interesting story along the same lines
where a distributor worked loose and jumped out of mesh. This
had an early single bolt fixing to the block and these were
prone to slipping.
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<div>The timing was therefore completely out and I needed to get
the distributor lining up with the number one cylinder. I then
used an old trick to get the engine on TDC on the
compression stroke. The trick is to remove the spark plug from
the number one cylinder and place the thumb over the hole.
After a few attempts engaging the starter it was possible to
judge when to stop cranking on the compression stroke. After
replacing the plug and making sure that the distributor rotor
was pointing at the correct plug lead the distributor was
replaced: allowing for the spiral action as it was inserted.
Fortunately, the engine then started and approximately the
correct timing was managed by turning to get the best idle.</div>
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<div>This got me home</div>
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<div>All the best</div>
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<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, 15 Jun 2023 at 12:11,
Simon Lachlan via Healeys <<a
href="mailto:healeys@autox.team.net" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">healeys@autox.team.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You may recall that I asked if
there was an easy method of swapping distributors ie
doing it at the roadside without being overly troubled
by timing issues.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Replies varied.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the end, I bought another base
plate which I put onto my spare Lucas (points).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I marked the base plate of the 123
and the top of the turret upon which it sat. ie so
there was a datum(?) point to which to return. Used a
Dremel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did the same for the Lucas after
getting it timed. I made the marks on the other side
ie to the left of the distributor.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I removed the Lucas, located the
123 back on its mark and, hey presto, it works.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One surprise…in my ignorance, I
thought that, if the 123’s rotor arm faced at, say, 12
o’clock, then so would the Lucas’. Both could only
align one way with their gears’ physical connection to
the turret upon which they sit?? Well, yes, the gears
could only align identically but the rotor arms were
about 30° out. ie 123’s at 12 o’clock and the Lucas’
at +/- 2 o’clock. Both are working at 15°/idle…….Who’d
have guessed it? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One other thing…..I was going to
put my Pertronix back into the Lucas. Can’t have two
electronic ignitions fail in one day, can you?
However, it seems that I’d put points back in because
I’d lost the collar (“magnetic ring”). Actually, I
forget what I did, but it’s gone anyhow. Like my
memory perhaps. My unit is marked LU-165. I don’t
suppose anyone has a spare one?? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Simon</p>
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