you don't have to


its not in yet.. but thats first pic I sent to J33p3r96

 

If it's not installed.........

 

technically there is a dizzy installed....

 

I mean it hasn't come to my house yet... it will soon.. and new plugs on friday.. and already have new wires.. and it'll all get done probably at the same time.

thank you so much for all your help and motivation

 

While you are waiting for the last parts, and if you have some time, it would be good to get the distributor cap off the installed distributor. You will then want to find a good landmark to point the rotor towards. The landmark needs to be something definitive and won't be disturbed by the removal of the distributor. You may have to tap the starter to move the rotor to point it towards the landmark. The landmark can be a thin piece of tape or an applied paint stripe, but it has to stay in place (there is a lot of oil and dirt on the engine). Loosen the bolt holding the distributor down, just so you know you can, but don't pull it out yet. Please take and post a picture of the rotor and the landmark once you have the rotor pointed at it.

 

ok. I can clean that ..
options include
crc brakleen
dawn
mean green industrial strength

 

There are lots of foundations and clamps to aim at, but the best might be straight at the engine between #2 and #3. There is oil there in the picture. If you pick there, CRC will blast that off good, then wipe with a towel. Tap the engine over until the rotor is pointed where you want it and then put your mark on at the center of where the rotor is pointing. It needs to be obvious. You don't want to start second guessing yourself once the new distributor is in place. Take pictures.

 

which part of the rotor am I aiming? and I see I need to clean up a bit more. found a grease pencil so will likely use that ..

 

The dot/divit at the center of the metal wiper that looks like a hammerhead shark's head,.

 

I just graduated to "Seasoned Member" (250 posts, I guess)

 

congrats!!

 

I would like you to validate that the connector coming from the new distributor will mate up with the red connector. But not to interrupt what you are doing.

 

ok. that was fun lol

 

I had to get the clip thing out of the old one.. interesting.. I had to wiggle it some. also, I did disconnect the negative cable...

 

That's perfect. Now mark it and get a reproduceable picture of it so we can compare the after installation of the original one. You see in the picture of the rotor how it looks like the rotor is not aligned with the edge of the distributor body? That is parallax, and it will change as the observation perspective changes. You can get the same problem with your landmark if you don't observe from the exact same position.