That actually works, as long as the person that installed the dist drive put it in the correct place. If you every had one someone had taken the dist drive out of to run the oil pump, then just put the drive back in any way they choose, trying to get #1 on compression using just the dist drive slot won't work. The dist drive can be dropped in at any of the drive gear teeth, and will drop into the oil pump with a slight crank turn (it only has to match up with the hex drive in the oil pump). When someone is not concerned where the slot on the drive points, and was willing to move the wires on the cap to line up with the rotor when pointing at a plug wire terminal when #1 is on compression, will sure mess up determining #1 compression by the direction the dist slot faces. You better have a backup plan.

Bringing #1 up on compression with your finger covering the #1 plug hole works every time, as long as the guy doesn't crank the motor over past tdc when it blows his finger off the plug hole and then turns it to the next tdc. Been there too. Probably 1/2 of the people I've helped with no starts was getting #1 on compression and getting the firing order correct from there.

Pull # 1 plug. Put your finger over the hole. Bump the motor over a little at a time until the pressure in the cylinder starts to lift your finger off the hole. Turn the crank the very short distance to line up the timing marks on 0 at TDC (The guy that said a motor won't start and run a 0 degrees TDC is full of crap! Might not run its best, but will definitely run). with the timing marks set at 0 degrees TDC (top Dead Center), lift the cap to see where the rotor is pointing, it should be pointing towards one of the plug wire terminals in the cap (which one doesn't really matter as far as the motor running, but extreme running has higher requirements). At this point, if the distributor is loose and turns freely, you need to turn it so the rotor is pointing directly at a plug terminal, and any vacuumed canister can be moved in both directions about a 1/2" without bumping into something, and tighten the distributor down so it doesn't move without effort. If it is still tightened down and the rotor is pointing at a plug terminal, don't worry about it right now. The terminal where the rotor is pointing will be the place where the number 1 plug wire needs to go. Mark that spot on the distributor so you can see your mark with the cap on.

At this point there are 4 things you need to know. 1) Which direction the rotor turns. If your not sure, have someone crank the motor with the starter and watch which direction it turns. 2) The distributor cap only fits one way on the distributor. There is a notch in the cap that fits over a step in the top surface of the distributor ( or it could be a pin, or just the way the cap is held onto the dist). Be sure the cap fits down flat against the top of the distributor and doesn't turn. 3) The firing order of the motor. That would be the way the plug wires are plugged into the cap, and to which plugs they go to. 4) which cylinders are what number. It may sound dumb to some, but different motors count the cylinders differently. You need to know which cylinder number a plug fills, in order to have the spark arrive at the correct cylinder at the correct time. You need to know which plug is in # 2 cylinder, and which plug is in # 4 cylinder and so on with each cylinder you have.

Now you are ready to put the plug wires in the correct firing order. Lets say your firing order is 1, 8, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7, 2. You know where #1 wire connects on the cap, and you know where # 1 plug is. Put #1 wire in its place. You know which direction the rotor turns, so you know where the wire for the next cylinder to fire goes on the cap, and you know which plug is in the #8 cylinder. Put # 8 wire in its place. The process is repeated with each plug wire. Move from one side of the motor to the other to continue around the cap putting each wire on its proper plug. Might sound dumb, most just want to stay on the same side and hook each wires from one side at a time. There are two plug wires on each side that are next to each other on the motor and next to each other in the cap. Would you like to know how often those two sets of wires gets crossed? You get a miss and an occasional backfire! Wire each plug wire from start to finish before starting on the next one.

Once the motor starts and runs, you adjust the timing for best motor operation of your motor. They are all different, the timing numbers in the books are starting points, do not assume they are the it all and be all. Adjust to what your motor wants.

At least now, the spark (if you have one) should be getting to the correct plug at the correct time that cylinder is on compression. Then all you need is the correct amount of gas that actually burns.

They don't teach this stuff in school anymore, they assume everyone knows it. Here it is for those of you that missed the class.

This time you have gotten real world experiences. See what you learned today? Gene