Inliners International Forums General Discussion Electrical In Phase or out Distributor?

hello....ok, here is basic concept-let me answer question of "..with what?"....well, this means that the rotor tip is lined up with post on cap-it is referred to as In phase when rotor tip is in exact timing with post on cap at the correct time for accurate timing( accurate timing defined as when cam gear, distro gear and pressed on plate on distro shaft are all working togther as they were designed-when just 1 of these is off your timing is "Out of Phase" as it is described by ignition experts.....and since cam distro gears are ground/cut at same place on cams, what is left to cause error is the place where the top plate is pressed on to the shaft.....when the shaft plate is not accurately pressed onto the shaft, the MOST accurate lining up of rotor tip and post on cap DOES NOT occur-however there WILL be a spark-1 that will fire the post and the correct cylinder but not as it was designed....due to absence of GOOD quality control, the place the top plate on shaft is pressed is INACCURATE-when ever an aftermarket spark box is added, the longer duartion spark can now have a better chance of being closer to accurate-but as DUI calls it-its just a band aid-ask them about this, they have been building there distros for 25 years now......

the way to check your distro -this is easier with distro out of engine but can also be in block....
what you do is line up pickup( 6 magnet points that stay stationary on distro housing) with the other 6 points that are connected to the shaft....you will feel "pull" of magnet at this point....now, pay attention to where the rotor tip is and make a mark on the housing below the edge that can be seen with the cap in place....at this ponit, you can tell if your distro is in phase or out of phase as the ignition experts refer to this condition-.....
now place cap on housing-does the mark you made(a sharpie pen works great) line up with the post on the cap ?.......

if it does your distro is "in Phase"....
if it doesnt your distro is "out of phase".....

I have been looking at a lot of these recently and alot of the Inline 6 HEI distro's are "out of phase".....
hope this helps.....