Nate58

i recently finished rebuilding the 352 in our 58 Skyliner, and a friend asked if i had lined up the dots on the cam and crank sprockets to 3 o'clock, or facing each other. i put them facing each other, he says they were supposed to be 3 o' clock. does anybody know what the proper alignment is?
thanks!

chipset

I sure hope you haven't turned that engine over. If you did you probably bent all the
valves and cut up a few pistons. Your friend is wrong. the timing marks are cam down
crank up. 6 0clock on the cam. !2 Oclock on the crank.

jwko

Hope this helps

Nate58

so, you're saying, dot up on the crank, dot down on the cam is correct, yes? that is how i installed it. i did not count links between the dots. that picture shows both timing marks off to the side, with 12 links between which is how my friend explained it, not lined up dot to dot. i'm feeling like there is conflicting information....
i have turned the engine over by hand, it turns freely and has consistent compression, which i would not think would be the case if the cam timing were off right? i'v visually checked cam timing with a valve cover off and #1 spark plug out and everything seems right, exhaust and intake rock right as the piston reaches TDC.
during the rebuild i replaced the timing sprockets and chain, could the new set have different timing marks then factory?

Nate58

ok ok, i see what's up. the diagram above is for a Y-block, not an FE. *sigh of relief*. jwko, do you happen to have part 4 of that shop manual? another ford guru friend of ours confirmed the dot do dot alignment, and that the 3 o' clock, 12 link alignment was for Y blocks.

jwko

I learn something new everyday.

Nate58

thanks so much! now i can sleep soundly again!