distributor 180 degrees out?

my 1st car

Low Mileage
Hi all, first time posting here. Been reading much and thanks for all the help. I just bought a dist. cap to replace what I thought was not an original. So, looking at pics of others I see I have the right one, but it does not fit properly, the fingers face the firewall. Looks like the dist is 180 deg out yet it still starts. Haven't drove it yet, just bought it. Any advise as to how it will start if it's out 180 degrees, thanks.
 
Did the old one face the wrong way???

If you are saying the new cap only seats in a position that is 180 degrees off of the old caps position, then you have a difference between your two caps.

Making the car run with the distributor "180 degrees out" is as simple as moving all the spark plug wires over 2 positions. But I don't think that's your problem at this point. I question whether the two caps match.

Pete
 
Can you post some photos? There are several different styles of distributor over the years, some of them will accept a cap that was intended for a different type, Fiat was not especially consistent about which ones went into which model years, and evil previous owners have swapped parts in and out rather promiscuously.

Show us what you have and tell us what motor is in your car, and one of us will be able to help (I'll be useless unless it's an early 1300).
 
original cap

The existing cap has all it fingers facing up, I bought one for my 79 which looks like it's the right type. I asked about the 180 deg out because also the vacuum adv is facing the eng block and I've seen others facing the firewall. When I tried to install the dist cap there is no room for the wires to fit. The dist. looks like it's installed 180 out, thanks
 
The distributor does not have to be in

any particular position for the engine to operate. In other words, the cap can "point" in any direction and you can make the engine run.

What is crucial, however, is that the rotor is properly oriented with the cap.

Since the cap only fits one way on the distributor body, you will have to rotate the distributor body until the cap is pointed in the "right" direction. By right direction, I mean any direction where the cap does not hit anything and you have good access to the wires.

To rotate the distributor body, you can just loosen the clamp-down bolt next to the base of the distributor. You can then rotate the body to any orientation you wish.

However, you must then rotate the rotor by a like amount. To do that, you will have to take the distributor clamp-down bolt off, and pull the entire distributor body up by about an inch. This will free the driven gear at the bottom of the rotor shaft from its drive gear. Then you can re-orient the rotor by the desired amount and re-seat the distributor.

Note that because the gear is helical, the rotor shaft will turn somewhat when you re-seat. You'll need to take that rotation into account when you do this.

But I would only advise doing all that if absolutely necessary. If the cap doesn't contact anything in the "wrong" position it's in now, then just route the #1 wire to the #1 cap terminal, #2 to #2, and so on. Assuming the wires are long enough, you should be fine. Of course, this also assumes that the #1 wire went to the #1 cap terminal on the old cap. If the previous owner had done some creative re-routing, you will have to follow the same pattern on the new cap.

Pete
 
Very helpful

Thanks Pete, I thought distributors could only work in one orientation, I'm sure the previous owner had it turned. The cap when correctly positioned on the dist. faces the firewall, leaving no room for the wires. So, I'll try turning and making sure rotor points to # 4 cyl and all the timing marks line up, thanks.
 
Welcome also...

I see you have no name but hail from Oregon...

We have LOTS of PNW folks up there that could possibly lend you a hand.

But while you are taking fotos of this cap... do take some of the dizzy as well as the UNDERSIDE of the cap so we can see where the KEY is located on its perimeter as well. Then we can make some intelligent statements as to what is going on here. I'm amazed it runs with these very two distinct configurations... but as others have stated, a dizzy and the wiring can be configured in almost any position so long as the firing order is correct.

Take some fotos of the rest of the car as well while yur at it... and again, welcome to the addiction!
 
A big thanks

Thanks again Pete, I was able to lift the dist. up and rotate it into a much better position to get the wires to properly fit. Your help was greatly appreciated. :woot:
 
Glad to help...

Thanks again Pete, I was able to lift the dist. up and rotate it into a much better position to get the wires to properly fit. Your help was greatly appreciated. :woot:

I assume you have a timing light and can reset the timing to factory specs?

Pete
 
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