Weird issue - just reinstalled engine and had the plugs wires off by 1 - so wire #1 was in cap hole for cylinder #4. The car actually started and, of course, ran horribly. I realized my mistake and moved wires back to the correct position - it won't start. I checked that rotor pointed to the little mark on the distributor body to start out. Firing order set at 1-4-3-2 going clockwise. I'm stumped!

Distributor cap off by 180 degrees? AMHIK!
Love your car’s name. Call my 74 Zambezi Green 1.8 “Frogger”, after the video game. Glad it’s still in the family. Our son loves my car but admits he wouldn’t be able to take care of it the way it should be.

Tell your boy to make money so he can pay someone else to maintain it!

To the OP, some photos of your distributor install and the orientation of the notch on the lip of the distributor will probably solve this real quick.

When the rotor is at the notch, the timing mark on the cooling fan should be correct. In doubt? Get the fan correct and see where the rotor is pointing.

Yeah, did this. I had the fan off and assumed (that word) it only goes on one way?

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You need to make sure the engine is at TDC on the compression stroke. You'll need to pop the #1 valve cover and watch the valves move. As you turn the engine you'll see the intake valve open and close and the exhaust valve start opening as you continue to turn the engine. This is when the distributor rotor should match the piston at TDC and the mark on the distributor housing. It's also possible the distributor is not quite all the way down in the gear and just spinning due to friction.

Here's a pic - the notch is approximately where the red arrow's pointingClick to view attachment

This is so helpful!

Yeah, you are off by one! It should be pointing to the plug on the upper right.

And your engine is far too clean.

I'm off by one as in the wires all need to shift clockwise? Or the distributor needs to turn?

Lol, just cleaned it while it was out - but when it was dirty it ran!

The dizzy looks all catty wampus to me. Normally the advance is pointing towards the oil filler and that condenser is towards the firewall I think. That really shouldn't matter though if number 1 is the wire one counterclockwise from where your arrow is.

If your rotor is pointing at that red arrow when it is at tdc then something else is going on. Most parsimonious explanation would be a incorrectly seated dizzy.

Emery wins the $5 word prize of the day lol!

I had to look it up!

Is my PhD showing?

Shit, I gots one o' them too and still had to look it up!

well you did use "parsimonious" and "dizzy" in the same sentence so... I'm not sure. It looks like you got too tired after those 5 syllables and had to wave off by the time you needed to type "distributor".
Or perhaps you were just demonstrating your own personal parsimony??

This is what I got when I looked it up?!
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mmm Parsnips. I really should eat them more often.

I like parsimonious because it has that implication of correctness in choice as well as simplicity.

I love the explanation that pops on my browser, reminds me of the forums:

What is parsimony, and why is it important to scientists?
The lights went out because you pressed the switch.
The lights went out because at the exact second you pressed the light switch, there was a power outage.
The lights haven’t actually gone out since the light switch doesn’t work, but at the exact second you pressed the switch you developed a special type of vision impairment, which ...

had fun reading thru this.when i saw the title of the thread i wondered how a discussion of firing order went to2 pages so quickly, and after reading it and having a good laugh i forgot what the question was?
- you also should have a mark on the flywheel that shows up at TDC, - but if i remember correctly from reading other threads the dizzy drive gear could be off too, and then your dizzy would not lineup to correct position So anyway hope your issue is solved quickly.

No, it's not resolved and now I'm so confused I might have to start a new thread! I never removed the dizzy just rotated slightly when engine was out. Per @emerygt350 I rotated the dizzy clockwise so the arrow is pointing at the mark and cylinder #1 plug wire. No start
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That looks way wrong. I think you need to take it out and start over. Just to be sure, you do know the little notch on the edge of the distributor body we're talking about, correct? It's notched by the #1 position.

There is even more wrong than that. Where is your advance? What distributor is in that thing? Go ahead and pull it, super easy, you can't mess it up. Remove the hold down (just towards the oil filler) pull it. Check it out, we can help you with that once it is out and we know what you are dealing with.

Yeah, it's a goofy dizzy but been in the car for decades and worked fine. Here's the notch, correct?
Click to view attachment

Maybe others know more than I but goofy is definitely what we have there.the notch needs to be way back counterclockwise. I bet it isn't seated correctly. Pull it and see where the cut is in the block. I bet it was just running off friction.

And show me the trigger point wires when you pull it.

This is what I thought we were missing each other on. Continue looking clockwise down from the cutout that your pointing to and see the little notch on the lip. That’s your #1 location.

And it is a quarter turn clockwise for where it should be. The slot in the distributor drive gear shouldn't allow that so there is some weird stuff going on. Either you are 45 degrees advanced or something bad happened when they built your bottom end.

It doesn't look like a fuel injection distributor. Do you by chance have a single carburetor on your fuel injection manifold?

That was why I wanted to see the trigger points. From other photos of this car there are injectors but that doesn't mean somebody didn't replace the throttle body with a carb...

This engine is really an interesting thing...

I believe the large notch/cutout that the arrow is pointing to is the locator for the distributor cap so it only goes on one way. The 'timing notch' is actually just a thin line cut into the edge of the distributor housing. Hard to tell from the photo, but it looks to be about an inch or so clockwise from the large notch. Set TDC for number 1 using the valve train (both closed) and the fan notch. Put the rotor on and line it up with the small cut/notch on the distributor body. Put the cap on and connect the plug wires starting at that location and following the firing order. That should get you running and you can adjust from there.
If you never took the distributor out, and it ran before, then it should just be a matter of getting it rotated to the correct position.

You can also use a tdc tool (or a screwdriver) and just pull the plug on cylinder one, put it in 5th, gently nudge the car till you feel the piston is at its highest point.

However, I am really wondering how a fuel injected motor runs on that dizzy. Have you sent us a full picture of your engine yet? I have only seen bits and pieces in your posts.

Please... don't use a chopstick for this!

Hi Aaron, I do not know what you do and don't know about the ICE. A four stroke can be at TDC on the exhaust and the compression stroke. When installing a distributor, top dead center on the compression stroke is required. I will confirm compression stroke by checking the valves for lash at TDC. The valves will both be closed.

Ditto. Is it just me or is there no vacuum can? Can’t say I’ve ever seen a coil mounted in that location, either.

Yeah, I rely on the mark on the flywheel. Hate to pull those valve covers if I don't have to.

Coil is in the same location as mine. Might be an early car thing.

Yes I agree, if I'm messing with the dizzy it is a rare occasion. And I'm usually adjusting the valves. But like I said I do not know Aaron and I do not know his skill level. When I was a kid with my first VW, I set it at 180 out off the timing mark. So like I'd tell my Nephew, just check...

This is helpful and yes, car is carb'ed and dizzy is centrifugal advance

that is a stock coil location
I think only for the 1.7 motors...
as it did move to the fan housing on later years

I've seen dozens of cars with the dizzy mounted there on the tin
usually the tin work cracks at the mounting point over time
I've welded more than one piece of right hand tin to fix cracks.

Ahh, carbed! I was confusing you with those other threads from jackspratt(?). Well then, yeah, looks like you just need to try satbbing the dizzy again.

No one’s buying what you’re selling @emerygt350 … we’re all aware of your profligate word usage. No sense in trying to sound like “one of the guys” now!

Are saying plug for #1 should be at timing notch?

You need to take the distributor out, set the engine to TDC on #1, and put the distributor back in aligned for #1.
And yes, you are correct, the #1 plug should be where that little notch is and then clockwise around should follow 1-4-3-2.

I can try!

I hate to even ask this... what happens when you try to turn the rotor by hand?

If it does not move (more than the centrifugal advance allows) does the rotor move when you turn the engine over?