Morris Minor Owners Club

How the heck are you supposed to dial in the timing when the marks are underneath the car my timing light leads arnt long enough to go around the outside and my arms are to fat to fit up the side of the engine to turn the dizzy from below, I,m thinking of a way to replicate the marks above then I can at least see them with out lying on my back.

I have the same issue. I don't know why the marks are underneath, either.

I run the timing light wires up beside the engine so they reach. Then your choices are:

Two people? One to operate the light and spot the timing marks and one to twist the distibutor until they're in the right place.

Trial and error? Under the car to squint at the timing marks, then up to turn the distibutor a bit in the right direction, then back under to see what effect that had, and so on, until the marks are in the right place or your back gives out .

just mind the wires on the exhaust i did that the other day and melted it slightly just noticed in time luckily

I put them up on the distributor side, behind the alternator, so there's no chance of them getting caught in the fan belt or fan.

Er very easy, you put a mirror under the car

tried that but it was a bit like trying to cut your own hair still couldnt point the strobe at the marks steady enough to set the dizzy, I,m not very co-ordinated at the best of times

how about doing it like i did without a light?the old fashioned way?
no problems then,though i have to say i could only just get my head under the car without having it jacked up!

Helps if you have a high power Xenon Timing Light, a clean mirror, and a dab of white paint on the timing marks and the notch in the crank pulley. Need to be carefull not to stick the timing light into the fan. Takes a bit of practice to learn where to shine the light onto the mirror, but easy once you've done in a couple of times.

Result!! set it by ear with the engine running and after a couple of over enthusiastic adjustments of the dizzy untill I got the feel of how much it took to turn, then out for a test drive to check for pinking, a couple of runs and tweeks later and... wait for it ....I got a chirp from the inside tyre turning right out a junction my first ever minor based wheelspin!! alright I was nailing it more than normal, now I reckon I,d better buy a couple of halfshafts for when the inevitable happens, thanks to everybody who responded, old school is best sometimes I guess.
Still dont know why the marks are under the engine, did Morris have a special timing proceedure involving a pit or lift and two mechanics?

i just painted the notch in the pulley with white paint,turned the engine till it was on the right piston/valve etc,handle in pulley,lie underneath,turn handle gently till the notch lines up with the right timing mark,get back up,fag paper between contacts,move dizzy till the paper falls out.easy!

This is plan B on mine. I too find the marks underneath hard to use. So far this setup works well. Be careful of the fan though.

I just drop the timing light down by the dynamo, and jack the car up so that I can see the timing marks clearly. I've never had a problem.

I killed two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Timing chain rattled like mad. So I found a mini in scrapyard, took of large damper pulley,enlarged timing cover, and timing chain tensioner. Fitted the lot to Minor, with new timing chain and new tensioner pad. Now have no rattle AND timing marks on top of pulley, not underneath.

*tiptoes into Forum again after long absence *

Hmm, was wondering where to post this query, and the title of this thread seems to fit the bill...

I've been chugging along with the timing adjusted by the "back-it-off-from-pinking" method for aaages. It's been a while since I last tinkered with it, but the engine has been running a bit hot and sluggish lately and I thought it was well past time to have another look.

Since I've got a rather nice strobe thing lying around, I thought I'd see what the dynamic timing actually looked like in action.

Started the engine, lay there underneath it watching the disco effect for a while. Nothing. Apart from spots before my eyes...

Finally spotted the newly-tippexed pulley timing mark somewhere to leeward of the TDC lug. Like, over 90 degrees or so.

So I checked the timing mark against TDC in the front cylinder using a pencil down the spark plug hole to find TDC.

At TDC, the timing mark is at the twelve o'clock position.

So... can the pulley have been put on 180 degrees out, do you suppose? -or am I just being stupid yet again?

it try it on a different lead till its close to the marks. I wouldnt imagine that it would run particularly well 90 deg out!

No - pulley only goes on one way - it doesn't matter where the timing is set -as long as it sparks at or near TDC when that piston has it's valves closed! The dizzy drive must be wrongly placed - but it doesn't matter!

Thanks for the input... I guess I'll have to make my own timing mark on the pulley. The existing notch is apparently right at the top at the same time as no. 1 cylinder is TDC, so presumably <i>something</i> was put in back to front. Hardly a reassuring thought.

You think you've got problems. Try lining up the timing marks on a late side valve engine fitted with a water pump. Impossible. The only way to do it is to take the engine out. Just settle for fastest tickover and a little either side

There is no possible way to put anything in 'back to front' -only explanation is that the pulley is for another era of car where timing mark indicators are on the timing chain cover. But - as I siad before - they don't matter - you really don't need any 'timing' marks - I never ever use them.

OK, I'll try to stop worrying, though it would have been nice to have been able to play with the funky strobe thing