I need help with my starb.dist.cap I have a crab style cap elec. ign. I am trying to figure where the plug wires go? the coil is ovious but #1-8 I cant figure it out? after the coil wire where is #1 etc. Ive tried it the way the book says to do it but no luck. This is all thats left to do. I put new heads, hoses clamps etc. It would sure be nice to here it run. Any help would be great Thanks in advance. David

If you have the wires presently wired up correctly and the motor will not fire, I would think you have the crankshaft 180 degrees off, just my hunch.



Look closely at this diagram. Ford lists their cylinders 1,2, 3, 4, right down one side of the motor, while GM crosses over from one side to another.

Also note the distributor is turning the same direction on both the RH and LH motors, this is accomplished because the gear on the cam is cut accordingly on the RH and LH motors to make the distributor run the same direction, thereby alleviating the need for rotation specific distributors. All that is needed is a rotation specific gear on the bottom to match the cam.

Look closely at the RH and LH firing order. They are obviously different from one another.

From there, you wire the crab cap accordingly.



In order to get the crank and the ignition in sync, you'll have to find TDC (top dead center). This should help.

The dimple on the 427 flywheel is not the TDC mark, it is actually set at 10-degrees BTDC at the centerline. That is where the motor should be timed at 500 RPM. Very important to use the Chris Craft specs when timing a --->STOCK<--- marine 427 solid lifter Chris Craft motor! I've tried various other means, including the ole twist and listen method we all used to use back when we were probably out on the streets with some sort of a hot rod, but there is no substitute for getting these motors right on the mark intended for the marine stage of tune. Automotive guys won't know this, neither will Chevy shops! <br>

Dr. Tim Toth has offered the following expert information:

The dimple has a range of 9.5 to 10.5 from side to side, and it is recommended that the setting be at 10.5 or the leading edge of the dimple.




From the Chris Craft 427 Owners Manual:

To set the ignition timing use a timing light. The flywheel is provided with timing mark on it's rim and an ignition timing indicator is positioned over the flywheel ring gear. With the timing light connected to the battery and No. 1 spark plug (starboard side at the front end) and the engine running at idle (500 RPM in gear) rotate the distru8butor so that the timing light shows the flywheel timing mark directly in line with the ignition timing indicator. Recheck ignition timing after tightening the distributor to be sure it is properly set.

And of course, if you do this in gear at the docks, be extra double sure you have plenty of lines attached to lots of hardware, because if the big dogs rip the hardware off and your boat lurches forward in gear, you could be in big trouble. I do not (NOT) recommending doing this with the boat in gear tied to the docks for this reason, it is very hard on hardware, and it is also potentially dangerous.

Regards,

Paul