318 problem

[patrick66]

I'm replacing the timing set on my '68 318 in a D100. There are TWO timing tabs on the front of the engine! One is the cast indicator on the passenger side of the front cover, and the other is a timing tab that attaches with the bottom two bolts on the water pump. I'll take a couple of pics here in a few minutes, but I have never seen a 318 with two timing sets. How do I know which is the correct set of marks? Right now, I have it set at TDC and the balancer mark points to the cast 0* point on the cast timing cover, so I'm guessing that is the correct timing mark. The engine jumped time a while back, and it's sat until this afternoon, when I had the time to get everything off but the balancer and the timing cover. Ideas?

 

[monaco66coupe]

It sounds like you are good to me Patrick. If you have compression on #1 and top dead center with the harmonic on the cover, you should be good. Now, on the old 64-66 273, Mopar did bolt a tab attached with two bolts to match the Balancer, but the cover didn't
have any marks. The later 67-69 did. I hope that helps.
Sorry, I am assuming you are working on the LA 273-318 engine, not the Poly engine?

 

[jimt1971rr]

I used to have a 68 Barracuda with a 318. When my timing cover went bad and I had to replace it, the only timing covers I could find had the cast marks on the drivers side where as mine had the bolt on marker on the passenger side. I just re-used the bolt on timing marker, especially since the cast one was on the wrong side of the car. If it is a '68 318 I would take an educated guess that the bolt on one is the more accurate and original.

 

[patrick66]

It's an LA318, yes. I figured with the piston on TDC and the mark on the balancer pointing to that mark on the cover, that should be right. I don't understand why someone would've bolted the other indicator on, though. Weird.

 

[440roadrunner]

This is easy. Buy or make yourself a piston stop. I ALWAYS check TDC when doing something like a cam change, because it's always possible the balancer slipped. I used to find this fairly common on the older Ferd 352/ 390 stuff "in a previous life"

Also, you may or may not be aware, that when you install a cam "by the book" with the dots meeting, that is NOT no1 ready to fire, but rather no6. So if you don't rotate the engine between then and dropping the dist. back in, point the rotor at no6, or rotate the crank one turn before dropping it in.

 

[Cranky]

The timing marks on small blocks (just 318's?) went from one side to the other but don't remember what year it took place nor what side they were when the change was made. A lot of years ago I knew but rarely mess with small blocks and I'm getting old timers I do know that some early LA engines had the timing mark on the passengers side.....

 

[monaco66coupe]

The 64-69 273-340 timing mark was passenger side , and 70 up Ole mopar switched the small block to the Driver side. so the Harmonic balancer was changed as well, to have the mark align on the correct timing cover. I believe 71' or 72 the big blocks followed.

 

[patrick66]

Found out why this had the timing tab that was bolted on - it was bolted on backwards!!! Meaning that the tab was facing the block and was reversed! Once I flipped that around, the marks were in the same place as the cast-in marks on the timing cover. The water pump was replaced a while back by the PO, so I think he stuck that on there backwards by mistake. Either way, that tab is staying off the engine when I get everything reassembled. Crisis averted.

 

[monaco66coupe]

There you go! Now if I just had time to put my exhaust manifold assy on my slant six Demon, all would be good with the world!
Never enough time.