distributor turns by hand. Help!

[myraley]

Thanks guys. I will try that. With all the 4 wheeling around here and the nice weather, there must be some good shops I dont know about. My brother in law is coming over to help me with the timing light. I have the tab on the engine. Just to confirm, I need to paint the groove in the damper white, correct? That is what lines up with the hole in the tab for the light to flash? Someone said something about getting it 180 degrees off, but thats when doing this by hand, not with the timing light, correct? If I can get my wifes digital camera to work, I'll take some photos of the transfer case and driveshaft and get your opinion. Thanks for all your help. Seriously.

 

[myraley]

Hey, here's a photo I had already taken that shows the transfer case and the spacers used in the crossmember. Looks like the crossmember is dropped about two inches. It should be flush against the bottom of the frame, right? It doesnt go on the inside does it?

 

[myraley]

Hey, we got it timed. You;re right, that is easy to do! But I started off at wayyyy before top dead center, like 15 or more instead of 8 which is what it is supposed to be. Guess what? That makes fire come out of the carburetor when you start it! Anyway, its done and now I just need to fix the problem long term, which means lowering the GMC a little so the engine can be level again, and then maybe still go with an MSD distributor or move the engine forward. What do you guys think?

 

[YZEATER]

the x-member should sit flat against the frame. the way it is now, the front driveshaft angle is worse then it should be. the rear shaft may need to be lengthened after you raise the t-case. i've never heard anyone moving the engine forward to fix this. that would be way to complicated to just gain room around the distibuter.

 

[ryoken]

Hey, we got it timed. You;re right, that is easy to do! But I started off at wayyyy before top dead center, like 15 or more instead of 8 which is what it is supposed to be. Guess what? That makes fire come out of the carburetor when you start it! Anyway, its done and now I just need to fix the problem long term, which means lowering the GMC a little so the engine can be level again, and then maybe still go with an MSD distributor or move the engine forward. What do you guys think?

a 1" bodylift will help the clearance issue too....

 

[myraley]

With how much the frame already flexes, I'm scared to do a body lift. I think I could wind up horizontal with all 4 wheels still on the ground. I was thinking I would start by taking out the bottom, thick, leaf on the rear springs. Its probably 1/2 inches by itself...

 

[pvfjr]

Well good job getting the timing fixed. Looks like you just learned another important engine maintenance skill.

As far as tuning your suspension goes, why don't you take a bunch of pics of what you've got? Show us your springs, shackles, blocks, hangers, etc. Then everyone can try to guess at what you got to work with here. Then you can let us know how much you'd like to lower it, and we can figure out the best way to go about it.