Setting the timing

ervinn · Post by **ervinn** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:26 pm

Hello, my first post here. I am restoring a 1976 Fiat Spider 124 1800. This car does not have a timing belt cover. What I've read about setting the timing on this car recommends the use of the timing belt cover. I hope to get a timing belt cover, if I can find one, before I start to drive this car. In the meantime, can someone please help me to set up the timing so I can hear the engine running?

azruss · Post by **azruss** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:09 am

rotate your motor so the cams are at the pointers. look to see if the rotor is pointing toward the #4 contact in the dizzy cap. If it is pointing toward #1, rotate the motor another full turn. you can locate the dizzy accurately by aligning the mag pickup point with the dizzy shaft star. This should be 0 TDC. now you can rotate the cap CCW 10 degrees and this should get you pretty close. you can also make a mark on the front of the block across from the mark on the crank pulley when it is at TDC. now make another mark about an 1" ccw and you should have 10 BTDC pretty close. From here you can use a timing light to get the crank pulley and your 10 BTDC mark to line up.

maytag · Post by **maytag** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:58 am

azruss wrote:rotate your motor so the cams are at the pointers. look to see if the rotor is pointing toward the #4 contact in the dizzy cap. If it is pointing toward #1, rotate the motor another full turn.

just a clarification: the distributor is driven from the cam, so rotating the motor one full turn, or 25 full turns won;t have any impact on the relationship of which wire it points to when the cam marks are lined-up.
The crank turns at twice the speed of the cams. So if you rotate the cams one full revolution, your crank has rotated twice. So if you line-up the marks on the cams to their pointers, you should be firing the #4.
As for the rest of the recommendation, this'll get you close. But you really should come up with a way to get an accurate TDC mark that you can hit with a timing light, and then you can buy a dial-back light to set it accurately.

Fi8spider · Post by **Fi8spider** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:03 am

maytag wrote:But you really should come up with a way to get an accurate TDC mark that you can hit with a timing light.

maytag · Post by **maytag** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:08 am

Fi8spider wrote:
maytag wrote:But you really should come up with a way to get an accurate TDC mark that you can hit with a timing light.

i know, i know.
that's definitely the downside.

I had to build a bracket on mine.

FiatBen · Post by **FiatBen** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:36 am

ervinn wrote:Hello, my first post here. I am restoring a 1976 Fiat Spider 124 1800. This car does not have a timing belt cover. What I've read about setting the timing on this car recommends the use of the timing belt cover. I hope to get a timing belt cover, if I can find one, before I start to drive this car. In the meantime, can someone please help me to set up the timing so I can hear the engine running?

I'm sure I've got a couple of extra covers out in my barn. Where are you located?

ervinn · Post by **ervinn** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:40 pm

I'm located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Let me know if you've got one. Thanks.

chico · Post by **chico** » Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:44 am

If you need a timing cover I have a spare from a 72 spider. It's metal not plastic and seems bigger than my 78's, but it should fit. Let me know it your interested. Rob

Setting the timing

Setting the timing

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Re: Setting the timing

Re: Setting the timing

Re: Setting the timing

Re: Setting the timing