cylinder #1?

[thomas renner]

Is the cylinder closest to the radiator #1? What else do I need to know if I am putting in a new distributor?

[brute4c]

The cylinders are numbered from front to back...so #1 is by the radiator and #6 is by the firewall.

The spark plug wires go on the distributor counterclockwise.

The bottom end of the distributor shaft has one end wider than the other...it only goes in one way...make sure to get it the right way...

Before you put it in, put a coat of anti seize compound on the part of the ignitor housing, thats the military name for the coil/distributor combo, where that housing touches the timing cover. Since the timing cover is aluminum and the ignitor is steel, they like to corrode together and make setting timing at a later date a pain.

It would be a good idea to make sure that both the timing cover and ignitor are free of corrosion in the area here they meet before putting the anti seize on...I used light sandpaper to clean them...I also used a hose connected to my shop vac to vacuum out the dust and junk inside the timing cover "spout" that he ignitor goes in to make sure the grit wouldnt work its way into something and make matters worse.

Thats all I can think of right now...

[thomas renner]

Thanks

[rboltz]

Good idea to make sure the slot the ignitor "blade" fits into is at the 9 O'clock and 3 O'clock position with the #1 piston at TDC and the timing mark at "0". Many trucks have had the oil pump removed and put back in at the wrong position. You can still compensate for this in some cases but since the gear is 12 teeth, 30 degrees each, and if you are off by an odd number of teeth, you can't get the timing set properly because you are off by 30 degrees. Then you don't have enough adjustment. If off by an even number of teeth, just move the plug wires around. This is another topic you can find here if you search as others, including myself, have found when we bought our trucks.