How to re-time a chevy nova 307?

Question

I have 1971 Chevy nova with sbc 307. I am a little bit of newbie and I was wondering how to time the car. the deal is I replace the distributor and droped a s***w down the hole and grabed a magnet to pull it out when i did this a 4-5 inch long rod came out and I could not get it back the exact same way ( it was turned a litle more than before wen I got it back in). and know my car will not start and I think it is because it is not timed right know any ideas on how to fix this just enought to get it started? thanks all answers very aprciated.

Chris

Answer 1

That rod was the shaft that drives the oil pump and has no effect on timing. Just make sure it is back in. Next, rotate the engine until the TDC (top dead center) mark on the timing pointer is lined up with the 0 degree mark on the balancer. Now, install the distribuiter and turn it so that the tip on the rotor is directly lined up with the #1 spark plug wire when the cap is installed. If the engine starts all is good. If the engine coughs and sputters but won't start, it's probably 180 degrees out of time. If so, pull the distribuiter again and rotate the engine one turn back to the timing marks as earlier, and reinstall the distribuiter lining up the rotor with the #1 plug wire again. It should start and now you will need to properly set the timing with a timing light. Also, the #1 cylinder will be the front one on the side that sticks forward a little more than the other side.

Answer 2

this should help, but you probably should get a repair manual for that car.

http://www.boxwrench.net/specs/chevy_sb....

  the engine should be set so the front pointer is at the TDC on pulley, then you need to set the oil pump drive rod in and set, then drop in the distributor with the rotor pointed like the photos show.  if it doesn't fire right, it may be 180 out, so turn it over one time and reset the distributor..

Answer 3

no