Distributor position

[chuck]

I got my M38 running.Timing at 5BTC ,#1 in the 5o'clock pos.
Engine runs fine but the dist. is horizontal.Every pic. that I see has it angled down so th at vent tubes can be instsalled. Whats wrong?
Chuck

[wesk]

That's because #1 belongs in the 7 O'clock position. The illustration in the M38A1 TM is wrong and was changed later with a change supplement.

The correct positioning of the distributor starts with the correct positioning of the oil pump drive. The oil pump is installed while the front valve timing marks on the crank gear and the cam gear are aligned. The engine manual shows how to do that. Then when installing the distributor turn the distributor shaft so the drive tang matches the oil pump drive slot position and install the distributor which due to it's offset drive shaft tip will only fit one way.

With the point gap set to 0.020 to time the distributor you bring #1 cylinder to TDC on compression. Then back it up to the 5 Deg BTDC. The rotor should be pointing at the location of the #1 spark plug lead tower in the cap (7 O'clock). Now if the points are closed fine if not slightly rotate the distributor body CCW until they are closed. Slip a piece of clean paper between the points and hold it with a very slight amount of pull. Now rotate the distributor housing CW until the instant the paper slips from the points. Lock the housing down with the screw underneath it.