turned my distributor by accident...how to tell where to turn it back ?, My distributor is loose...how can I tell where to tighten it without a timing light? Options

[second wind]

Hello out there....due to rain and such have not driven my '73 2.0 very much lately so when my truck needed to go to the mechanic I drove my 914 around for a day or so.....I noticed it had a weird idle so I thought must be a vacuum leak.....sure enough I found the vacuum hose to the distributor had fallen off....when I went to put it back on the distributor twisted and I see it can be turned a inch in either direction....how can I determine where to tighten it without a timing light? Can I listen for a sweet spot and call it good? Do tell..?? Thank you very much!
gg

[Jack Standz]

Best wishes for a successful fix!

Not to be snarky, but, maybe ask your local Porsche guru? You can guess at it and maybe get it to run ok by turning the distributor while it's running, but that's not a good long term plan.

He/she should know. Because once you get it to the guru, what will he/she set the timing at? Maybe we're overthinking the problem, but to set the timing correctly, there's some more information needed. Unless everything was bone stock. But, we know that's not the case as the distributor is setup with electronic ignition. Maybe it's an 009 distributor? Or an 050?

As an example, our 2056cc motor runs well at 14 initial and somewhere around 28 to 30 degrees all-in. Other motors like different settings and may want a different advance curve (on Mallory distributors you change with different colored springs). Our 1.8 liter motor liked something around 8 degrees initial advance. But, gurus know all this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)