If i just did a valve adjustment on a 74 1.8l with l-jet, and i did not have a mirror handy. I set 2 cilnders to the red mark and the other 2 the po made a nice white mark at 180 degree(thanks)

now i have an adjustable timing light. What do i turn the knob to. since the red 7degree line is now 0.

am i f#$% up this job or what. i am learning... one blown engine at a time

You blew it. You used the 7.5 degree mark for two cylinders and the TDC mark for two cylinders if I understand you.

The valves on any cylinder are set when the piston is on TDC firing stroke. That means if you lined up the white mark, you have to look at the dizzy to see what cylinder the rotor is pointed at. There are other methods ... search for Cap'n Krusty's method of valve adjustment.

When you time the engine, you use the red 7.5 degree mark or, as you said that you have an adjustable timing light, you use the white TDC mark with the timing light set at 7.5 degrees.

i didnt blow that much, i looked at the dizzy is facing number one tower, and lines up with the slit on the distributor. the red mark is there in the window. the 1.8 dosnt have any other marks at all. the previous owner had put a mark when i rotate the wheel to the next cilinder i see the white mark as it faces the next cilinder.

The the red and white marks are 180 degrees from each other (that's the info you left out). You should have another mark for actual TDC that is 14.6 mm to the left of the red mark as you are facing the fan. It can be a hash mark or a 0 stamped into the housing.

The red mark is where your ignition is supposed to fire, not TDC.

But in the end, setting the valves at 7.5 degrees before TDC might be ok. I don't know. I just make sure the lifter is on the base circle of the cam when I set the valves.

i almost feel like i had more power befor tonights timing adjustment. I unplugged both vacume lines from the can and plugged them. then i set up my adjustable timing light to the number 7 mark. then i twisted the distributor untill the red line was in the window at 900rpm.

if that is wrong please let me know. (mike i could not keep the car at 3500 rpm all by my lonesome)

On a 1.8L, you don't set the timing at 3500 RPM. Set it to idle at 900 RPM and set the timing to 7.5 degrees with both vacuum hoses off and plugged. I use a digital advance timing light and set it to 8 degrees because my light doesn't do anything less than 1 degree increments.

And like the nasty California Gnome said, make sure you use the Top Dead Center mark to set the timing if you are using an advance light.

Joe, if you set your timing light at 7 and then timed to the red mark, you would actually have 14.5 degrees initial advance. Your car should have increased idle speed as it has to much inital advance per factory specification.

One of the first things I do is verify what the marks are. All factory impellers (supposedly) had TDC marked if nothing else. On a 1.8, the timing mark is 14.3 mm to the right of the TDC mark. On a 2.0, the timing mark is 55.5 mm to the right of TDC. This measurement is facing the fan.

The above is why I said to look for a 0 or hash mark 14 mm to the left of the red mark on your car (facing the fan), which should be true TDC.

Alternatively, there is a hash mark on the flywheel that lines up with the split in the case for TDC. You can't see it from the top of the engine, but it can be seen through the hole in the tranny from the bottom. If this were lined up with the split in the case at the bottom, and the PO had made the white mark 180 degrees from the red mark ... you would see the white mark in the window on top.

That said, in my experience, I have seen where the flywheel TDC mark and the impeller TDC mark did not line up as they should have. Can't tell you why, but I have seen that. I wish I could be there to help.

And for that really short guy from Texas, Randy Neuman said it best when he said they have tiny little feet, tiny little hands and a nasty attitude.

Joe, do you know how to set valves w/o looking at timing marks? There is a thread on it in the classics section. It makes setting valves MUCH easier. I don't know that your valves are wrong, but since you used the 7 degree mark to set valves, I don't know that they are right either.

A little mirror costs maybe $2.00 at any FLAPS around us. use one for setting timing. Find the TDC mark and set your gun for 7.5 degrees advance. As Slits said, you can't "make" the red 7degree mark a new TDC. Your timing will be way off.

I have found that if you set the mirror so you can see the notch and the TDC line, you can flash the timing light at the mirror and get a great view.

Zach