Installing a Ghibli distributor + Pertronix grand finale

This all began when I tried to install a Pertronix unit in my early Ghibli distributor ('67 car #616). The unit, against dire warnings from Pertronix, had to be drilled and modified to fit. (That should have been clue enough, but I'm so dense.) Once installed, the car never ran right and ultimately, I sent the distributor to Pertronix. Turns out that their catalogue is wrong and the correct unit for that Bosch distributor is a model #1884, NOT 1888 as claimed.

The firing order is as outlined on the car, but, unlike the owner’s manual it is clockwise, not CC. (As viewed from the front of the car.)

My first problem was that there was no marking on the flywheel for TDC, so I used the screwdriver technique, knowing that it’s only 50% accurate (can't tell if you're on the compression stroke or exhaust). However, when you pull the distributor, there’s a “0” engraved on the block and another “0” stamped in distributor hole. When these are directly across the hole from each other, the car is at TDC on the compression stroke. my screwdriver method was within one tooth of this value. Of course, for the future, I marked the flywheel with a paint stripe. The distributor bayonet tangs will not fit unless the engine is at the correct TDC position. (God knows I tried!)


As you view the distributor from the side of the car, with the car at TDC, the rotor should point to the number one tower on the cap and there’s an engraved “1”, just below the exit orifice for the Pertronix/distributor wires. Ergo, the wire exit must be at 12 o’clock, again, viewed from the passenger’s side of the car.

When you’re ready to install the distributor, all of the conditions noted above will be in force. Hold the distributor up so you can verify that the bayonet tangs will line up with their respective slots in the distributor hole. Then, hold the rotor up as you stab the distributor and when you release it, make certain it’s pointing to the engraved #1. That will put you at TDC and the car should start, if not, you’ll need to give it a slight advance (8°)...meaning the housing gets rotated CCW. I just recruited my wife to rotate the distributor and set the final intial timing while I shot my dial back light at the mark on the flywheel . Lock it down and you’re all set. steve "Never enough time to do it right, always enough time to do it over"