Hypoid previously posted:
"No mention of the compression stroke.
The notch lines up at the end of the compression stroke and the end of the exhaust stroke. It is very easy to install 180* out."
Agreed. I have helped more than 1 person with their distributor, which just turned out to be 180 off.
There are several different tricks to do this, some take an assistant.
1) pull the valve cover off. rotate the engine until you are at o degrees and both valves on #1 are closed
2) put a wrench on the crank bolt to manually turn it. Pull #1 plug. Put your thumb over it while the engine is being turned over. You should feel the compression on your thumb since you won't be able to hold back the PSI on the compression stroke. When it is at 0 on the pulley, you are at TDC.
3) thread in a compression tester. Similar to #2, you will see the needle move up when you are on the compression stroke. Stop at 0.
Hope that helps!