How to determine EXACTLY where TDC is?, Valve adjustment advice needed Options

[JeffBowlsby]

Eyeballing alignment of the rotor to the tick mark on the dizzy body seems so imprecise...for adjusting valves. Is there a method of locating TDC for each cyl PRECISELY?

1. I thought about making some kind of rotor replacement device with a pointer that could extend down close to the tick mark, but thats only good for cyl 1. All cylinders needed.

2. I thought about making a special trigger point plug adapter with three long wires, and attaching it to me DVM on the buzzer setting. When the trigger points would make contact, then that would indicate...? I am not sure that the trigger points make contact at TDC, I think it is at some different point in the cycle.

Any time proven methods?

[avidfanjpl]

Just went through this too. Steve Gaglione set me straight. The rotor must be pointing at #1 when it is tdc, and from there tighten the dizzy when the rotor lines up to the mark on the dizzy, but not too tight. From there, check that the points are at .017 (I had to back up about 5 feet to see the rotor line up with the dizzy mark, but it is possible without removing the engine deck lid.

Then get a dwell meter to read 44-45 degrees and you are ready to start the car and rev it to 3500 rpm, which when at that rpm (use a combo dwell/tach meter set to tach, and if it is a modern one, you have to double the V8 reading, because there are only OLD dwell meters that show 4 cylinder dwell) and turn the dizzy slowly till you get to -27 btdc. If you have the red mark on the fan, you will see it march right to the notch at 3500 rpm, and you will be done!

It was a thing of beauty, as I had the red and white marks on my 2.0, not a zero, so if you have only a zero, you need better directions than I have here.

I ended up marching the dizzy right back to the same grease pencil marking I had noted on the dizzy and the oil neck/vacuum screw lineup BEFORE I changed the points, plugs, condenser and trigger points, so there is some justice in the 914 world of self-adjustment

Good luck. If I can do it, anyone can. I spent years letting others do all the dirty work.

Now I have skinned knuckles and I know more than I should, so splitting another crankcase can't be far off!

John