QUOTE(scottb @ Nov 16 2003, 07:14 AM)
any suggestions on pulling the dizzy, installing the new system and reinstalling the dizzy so the little beast still runs?
i just finished this in my 6-cyl car but the fundamentals are the same. i need to put this together into a full technical article with some pictures and such, but that won't be for a little while yet...
distributor R&R is covered in the Haynes; brush up on that. get a new dizzy shaft O-ring. turn the engine so that it's at TDC #1. leave it there. find out what you have to do to unfasten the dizzy from the case; it's been too long since i've seen a /4, i wouldn't presume to remember or speculate; it's in the books...
the thing that frustrated me was that you just get a bag of parts and no actual descriptions, instructions, or pictures showing how stuff goes in after you've removed the points. i learned the hard and frustrating way that the new parts don't go in the way the points were mounted. take one of the Z-brackets and point it toward the dizzy body so the curvy bracket that holds the trigger block is running right around the body. i had to do a bit of fitting on the Z-bracket to get it to fit, and my car has no vacuum advance so i didn't have to worry about a movable breaker plate - you probably will ... just make sure there is no binding...
pick a shutter wheel that fits your dizzy shaft, and make sure you can fit the rotor in place with all the parts mounted. plan on it taking -many- trial assemblies and don't tighten stuff down too much too early... maybe it'll go together easier for you than me, but that's my advice. the points "open" at the leading edge of the slot in the shutter wheel.
point the dizzy shaft at the #1 mark, and rough-time the dizzy on the bench by adjusting the location of the trigger block so that the leading edge of the slot is exposed there. fine-tune in the car.
the /4 dizzy re-installs "only one way" (you can get it in 180-out if you're really determined but you have to work at it) so lining it back up at #1 shoud get you right on the money if the engine hasn't moved. get something like a bit of wood in case you need to apply some force to get the new O-ring-ed shaft into its bore. make sure it's all the way seated.
hook it up as indicated (black to ground, red to switched +12VDC, white to where the points went) time per the book and be on your way.