odd fire 225 timing problem - or maybe not

i just picked up a 69 jeepster that is all original with an odd fire 225 in it. when it brought it home it was running but not all that well. i have been tinkering with it trying to get it to run better.

i ordered an hei distributor for an oddfire 231. i skipped the steps of getting the engine to TDC prior to removing the old distributor. however i did mark how the rotor was lined up. i installed the hei (after grinding the manifold) and oriented the rotor in the new distributor in the same spot. i chose what i think is the number one spot and wired the engine. i say think since the new hei has the 2 blank spots, but i am pretty sure that i'm right.

fired up the jeep and it ran great. then i got out the timing light and hooked it up. needed to turn the dial quite a bit. it shows about 55 or 60 degrees advance. i thought "wow this is odd" and clocked the distributor so i could try to bring the timing back. but then it would not run at all.

do i have something hooked up incorrectly? Could the harmonic balancer have shifted? Is that something that is common on this engine? Seems to run good as it is but i do want to time it correctly. i do not want to risk buring something up in it. Also all of the photos that i have seen have the vacuum advance facing the front of the vehicle, mine is pointed to the passenger fender. can i be 90 degrees off and still run? Is that possible?
any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks. Steve

 

I can't answer your question myself as mine was already HEI when I got it, but a quick search of the forum came up with this thread:

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79486&highlight=HEI+Installation

 

That link is for a straight six HEI. There used to be an excellent web site that described the how and why of the odd fire but all the links I had for it are dead. There are a couple of sites if you google "understanding the oddfire v6" but they really don't give much information and most of them reference the same dead link I have. Maybe somebody saved the text, I hope??? If I was there working on your Jeep I could show you, but to try describe how to do it, different story. Guess that's why I was a mechanic and not a teacher . I'll keep looking for that web site but I have a feeling it's gone far away.
Not what I was searching for and not sure if this link will work, American Jeepster Club you may have to sign up at Offroad.com and go to the jeepster section.

 

I have the same set up and my vacuum advance points forward. Viewed from the top of cap and going clockwise the cylinder numbers starting with #1 being inline with the left edge of the vacuum advance bracket and then #6 on the right edge of vacuum advance bracket, then #5, then #4, then blank post, then #3, then #2, then blank post. Sure you have the timing light on #1 and your advance dial is correct? I would think if you were that far advanced the starter motor would have a hard time cranking it over. I have the HEI for 225 write up printed off if need more help.

 

Thanks for the links. Definately a good read on how the odd fire works. It really makes sense about why you cannot clock an odd fire distributor. I think that i am starting to think that there is either the mark on the harmonic balancer is wrong or has moved or my timing light is jacked. As i said before the engine runs great. I am sure that it would run like crap is something were wrong. How common is it for the harmonic balancer with the mark to shift on these engines?

Thanks

 

here is a pic. like i said it runs great at this position.

 

A bad harmonic balancer is not really that common. The few bad ones I've seen over the years on any vehicle usually results in almost if not total separating of the outer hub from the inner. It is worth taking the time to check it though. Two other possibilities are that it's not the original harmonic or not the original font cover. Later odd and even fire 231 parts interchange on the 225. I'd pull #1 plug, bring it up on compression stroke and see where the timing mark lines up in relation to the indicator on the cover and where the rotor lines up to the cap.

 

Whoops. Sorry for the wrong link, I looked throug the thread again and saw that it was for a straight 6.

 

Might want to check out timing cover, the 231 and other buick v8 covers will fit, but timing marks are different than the 225.

 

Set you timing light dial to zero and adjust timing to 5* BTDC at below 700 RPM. Vacuum disconnected from dist and plugged.

 

I figured out the problem. The mark that i was looking at on the harmonic balancer was wrong. Figured it out by getting #1 to TDC and checking where everything was. Cleaned the harmonic balancer in that area and found the correct mark.

Thanks for all of the help and suggestions.

Next project is a rebuild of a spare carb that i have.

 

Well that'll do it . At least it wasn't anything real bad.

 

Glad you didn't start to change the muffler bearings before you cleaned the off the balancer. R)

 

actually the muffler bearings were just freshly packed.