Had to take the bait. As far as I know all American V8's have #1 cylinder as
the forward cylinder on the bank of cylinders that is forward of the
opposite bank(got that?). On the 383/440 that is drivers side bank fwd
cylinder. If you ever have to figure out which position on the distributor
cap is #1 from scratch well there are various methods but the one with least
effort(I think and it has worked for me many times) is pull the plug on #1,
insert finger so as to gently seal plug hole and slowly crank the engine
until you feel/hear compression building. You are real close.Use a
screwdriver or something similar(but don't let whatever you use drop inside
the cylinder)to determine if you are at TDC(is the piston right there?).
Your rotor should be pointing at #1 position on the cap. There are more
sophisticated methods to be sure and everyone has their preference but this
works with no special tools other than a little patience. Your timing marks
that you use with the timing light should also be close.
R. Giesbrecht
1972 Imperial
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