engine timing

[38plymouth]

I noticed my engine was detonating the other day. I recently put on an aluminum head and I have never touched the timing since I got this car. My manual tells what the timing should be but not how to check it. I read a little on here about the subject and decided to try what I read. I hooked up my 12 volt timing light to a 12 volt battery and hooked up the light to what I "thought" was the number 1 cylinder. I used the front cylinder closest to the radiator. I couldn't see any timing mark on the pully but I can see the timing pointer. Am I on the number 1 cylinder? What on earth does the mark on the pully look like? I don't see anything on the pully and nothing showed up on the light. Please school me on how to check this so I can solve my detonation problem.

[Normspeed]

#1 is the front cylinder. You might need to clean or lightly sand the pulley to bring out the timing marks. Meanwhile, I would suggest loosening and turning the distrib clockwise a tad to get rid of the detonation. Not good for pistons, wrist pin bushings and rod bearings.

[38plymouth]

Is it just a small line cut into the pully like most engines have? I can't see or feel anything there.

[Normspeed]

Not sure how it looks on a 38. On my 53 it's a series of numbers and lines stamped into the metal. Kind of faint, so a little cleanup and a dot of white or silver paint help make it visible.

[Don Coatney]

As you have never adjusted the timing on your car it may be that your distributor is 180 degrees out. Try this. Connect the timing light lead to your coil wire as opposed to the #1 spark plug wire. You will be able to time your engine with your timing light connected this way. Only difference is your timing light will fire on all 6 cylinders as opposed to only firing on one cylinder.

[Lou Earle]

To find # 1 cyl on the distributor trace the #1 plug wire back to the dist. That will tell you where #i is located say between 6 and 7 pm or around or between 1 and 2pm Or even elsewhere. Now remove the Distributor cap and bring the rotor around to the location of # 1 and that should - if the mark is right -should now be close to the pointer.

Actually the prior advice about rotating the dist is a good - very good- suggestion.

Lou