Triumphrat

razman

my engine is a 1966 TR6...however it has a later primary cover (70'?) on it, so i have a timing cover i can remove. i found factory mark on rotor, and timing cover has a pointer near bottom of opening....is this pointer still gonna work even though the engine is earlier model? when these two marks are lined up, am i at TDC or 38 degrees BTDC? i watched Lunmads vid on youtube, and he makes a mark at nearest bolt hole (counterclockwise) to establish 38 BTDC, but i read somewhere in manual that the pointer and mark on rotor are already at 38 BTDC....maybe it makes a difference on DU# mine is 43,XXX......also one other curious thing about my bike, when i remove the bolt directly behind cylinder jugs in order to locate holes in flywheel, there are NO HOLES in flywheel....aftermarket parts? previous owner told me that engine had 750 kit upgrade at re-build, but he was kinda flakey, so i'm not sure about that......would that affect timing goal? thanks, Rick

Redmoggy

The later type cover should work fine and the pointer is at 38 degrees BTDC. Your engine should have provision for the TDC pin, however it is not a hole but a slot milled into the flywheel. Pull a plug so you can raise a piston and double check, if it's not there it just means you may have an early crank which will work fine.

Rod

razman

well, i pulled the bolt out, and used the tool to locate TDC slot, put bike in 4th gear with plugs pulled and rotated rear wheel slowly....no slot? anyway, thanks for the info on timing marks, so with external battery, i should be able to hook up timing light to #1 plug wire and start engine and rev enough to get auto advance engaged, and marks should line up....correct? thanks again, Rick

razman

oh, one more question..do you normally set timing first and then check gap on points?

Mr.Pete

Chances are that you can only go by the timing mark on the rotor,which should be 38 degrees.To check its accuracy,you may need a degree wheel.

'67 used a timing plug at the front of the crankcase,for 38 degrees.You probably haven't got the flywheel notch to suit this.Unless you have '68 Mk 3 flywheel,or later,you won't locate 38 degrees with a timing plug behind the cylinder barrel.

38 degrees is about the maximum safe advance.35 degrees (rotor mark 0.075" right of pointer),is a little safer and less likely to cause detonation.

Set the points gaps first.Adjust the timing on one cylinder.With 4CA breaker plate,you can only adjust timing on the other cylinder by changing the points gap.

razman

thanks a bunch guys! i really appreciate the input...Rick

razman

well, i hooked up my timing light to the battery on my harley, hooked the lead up to #1 cylinder....i put a little white paint on rotor factory 38 degree mark, then put another mark .075" to the right (retarded) of the factory mark, which should be about 35 degress BTDC.....started up the Triumph, revved it up til advance peaked out, and BLAMMO, right on the 35 degree mark! so just for grins, i put lead on #2 cylinder, and fired it up again, and danged if it wasn't **** on 35 degrees BTDC also!!! ( i know the only way to adjust timing on #2 cylinder with the 4CA points is to adjust #2 set of points, but fortunately i won't need to do that...i think i'll leave her just where she is!!!

btw, a friend of mine came over a couple of weeks ago and set points gap and then timing (static) using his "old school" method. (i'm not even sure what he was doing actually, but it did involve a meter stick down in the plug hole.....after he set it, the bike started and ran like a champ, but i wanted to learn how to use the strobe light on it so i could check it myself in the future. he was actually shooting for 38 degrees BTDC, but missed by a couple of degrees in my favor, as i was wanting to set it at 35 degrees! life is good.....

many thanks to Redmoggy and Mr Pete for walking me through this!!

Rick

Mr.Pete

If the rotor mark is at 38 degrees when it lines up with the pointer;then it will be at 35 degrees when it's 0.075" past the pointer.
When the rotor mark lines up at the pointer,is you new mark left or right of the pointer?

razman

to the right of the pointer.075", that's right isn't it? (counter clockwise from 38 degree mark)

Mr.Pete

If the new mark is counter-clockwise from the standard rotor mark,the new mark would give you 41 degrees.
It is lining up 3 degrees before the 38 mark lines up.