Yet Another TDC/Timing Mark Question Options

[RBR53]

‘75 1.8L in question. I don’t know if VW/Porsche just made a lot of varieties of fans or if there’s just an immense amount of bad information out there (probably both), but this leads me to be yet another guy confused by the TDC/Timing mark(s) on my fan. I’ve searched and searched and see no other marking on my fan besides the one shown here, a well-defined line painted red. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to represent TDC or if it’s a timing mark. I will say that I’ve been able to locate the mark on the flywheel as well, and when it is centered in the window at the top of the transmission, this mark on the fan is not showing. It’s close, but a few degrees off. That said, I found the reference photo below posted somewhere on Pelican, and the mark on my fan is in the place marked TDC in that photo. Which is to say that it’s four blades away from the wide spacer where 34 degrees is marked. Not sure if that’s gospel either, however. If anyone can offer some clarity, I’d appreciate it!

Dan

[Jack Standz]

It's probably best to just figure out where TDC is and mark it on the fan.

(Yes, the red mark might be 27 degrees BTDC, but there are other possible markings too, sometimes black. Differences between Ljet and Djet, etc.).

After you mark true TDC on the fan, then you can use a dial back timing light and run a completely centrifugal distributor if you want to (not vacuum controlled, especially since you're running carbs and don't need to run a FI distributor).

Best wishes with the new project.