[mikeb]

Actually, they are the same. I fought this myself; the markings aren't exactly clear.

If you look at the timing set on the right the alignment "dot" is to the left of the actual keyway. The dot you use is the one that is closest to the tooth.

On the set on the left (going by memory here) the keyway shape corresponds to "A" for advanced, squared for retarded, or rounded for straight up. The rounded keyway on that set is about at 2 oclock in your pic, and the dot is at about 12 oclock.

So, if you "rotated" the crank gear on the right to where the "dot" next to the tooth is at 12 oclock the corresponding keyway would also be at 2 oclock, the same as the crank gear on the left.

On the edelbrock set use the rounded keyway and the round dot, with the cam gear dot at 6 oclock and the crank gear at 12 (with the round circle marking) and I think you'll be good.

[elohssa]

Ok guy's I am going round and roundin circles grappling with this thing Here is a picture of the edelbrock set as it was installed in the engine i think the problem is in how I aligned the marks on the crank sprocket Are you supposed to align the keyway with the dot on the camm gear or do you use the dot on the tooth of the crank sprocket You would think these things would be straight forward but somehow they always find a way to complicate things by putting extra marks where they don't need to be! grrrr

[thumper78]

Have to agree with mikeb.

My Comp Cams timing set had multiple keyways. They marked each keyway with a different symbol.

The mark for lining up the sprockets is at the base of the tooth, counterclockwise from the keyway with the dot or circle.

And as Pontiac Dude says, line up dots at 6 & 12. Easier to be sure of correct position. Doesn't matter to distributor, as long as the piston is at TDC and both valves are closed when you set the distributor in. Remember, crank turns over 2 times for 1 turn of the cam.

BTW, are those treaded rocker studs in there. If they are, go get some polylocks and stop messin with that 'torque the rocker nuts to 22 lbs' garbage. Zero lash em and preload between 1/4 and 1/2 turn.

[mikeb]

The alignment looks OK in that pic if you used the "rounded" keyway in the crank gear. It's hard to tell from that pic if in fact that's where the key is. I'm guessing you used the square keyway and aligned with the dot for the round keyway.

[elohssa]

Mikeb, that's exactly what I did don't know why I couldn't see it yesterday but this mornig it is obvious from that pic that the dots are aligned but the crank is in the retarded keyway. thanks for all your replies, now on to another question that I have been wondering about Do you really need to change out the stock tapered studs when installing a mild cam? Is an adjustable valvetrain really necessary with this cam? At the very least couldn't I just get a set of locking nuts and zero lash adjust using the stock studs? a few months ago I installed a set of comp roller tip rockers on my 1976 T/A 455 and the instructions didn't say anything about installing new studs they just called for a zero lash adjust using the supplied lock nuts Which I did and the car has been running great all summer