dist

[poppa]

What is distributor phasing? I hope I got that right.

[Cooter]

Depends on what your referring to in the distributor.

I know one term of 'phasing' can be how you have the wires and whether or not number one wire actually points to number one cylinder or not.
Also, I have taken Small block dist. apart and used the electronic guts to convert a BB 440 distributor over to electronic, and when this is done, there are TWO (2) line-up notches on the reluctor wheel [little thingy with all 8 points on it that spins by the hall effect switch]. If these are not 'phased' correctly, your timing will forever be off and poss. won't start.

[John_Kunkel]

Basic phasing means that the rotor is lined up with the wire terminal in the cap within a few degrees so that the spark doesn't have to jump a large gap. As the vacuum advance and/or the centrifugal advance changes the relationship between the two, the phase angle changes and the spark has to jump a larger gap.

The traditional way to check phasing is to drill a 1/2" hole in the distributor cap between the coil terminal and a spark plug terminal so the rotor can be seen through the hole; then use a timing light to view the rotor position as the advance changes.