Hello Dan By now you have probably timed your mag. I hope so. If not here is a quick and easy way, provided the mag has not been opened and the internal timing altered. First identify which position on the mag is the # 1 position. In reality it does not matter, except that the existing harness will probably only fit certain plugs because of the length of the lead. If you attach the harness portion to the mag and lay the leads out to where they will be installed. You then take the mag and rotate it by hand, you will hear the impulse coupler snap and the leads will spark. Continue to rotate until the lead for the #1 cylinder sparks. You must remember that the impulse coupler is designed to retard the timing and spark at TDC and once the engine is running the timing will automatically advance to it's pre determined setting in some cases that's 26 degrees. In theory all you have to do is set the engine to #1 cyl TDC and the mag to #1 cyl TDC and install the mag, and the engine will run just right. To help install the mag in the engine without loosing the #1 TDC position, there is a feature that allows you to remove the cap with the leads attached (it only fits on one way anyway) and there is a hole in the top of the distributor cap designed to fit a small pin like tool in a hole that locks the mag in the TDC position, allowing you to put the mag on the engine without the gears inside the mag moving from the TDC position. The size of the pin is somewhere between 1/8 and 1/16 of an inch. Care must be taken with the tool inserted to insure that the coupler is not rotated because rotation with the pin in place will cause the plastic gears inside the mag to break. A tip that will help is that when the coupler snaps, it generates forward momentum due to spring action. To set TDC at the correct hole, you let it snap and then rotate it backwards just enough to get the pin to insert freely.
Although the buzz box is helpful, it is useless until the above procedures are accomplished. I have used a standard automotive timing light with equal success in fine tuning the timing. I usually do this only on an initial installation and always with the prop removed. It requires that you mark the prop flange with a TDC mart and some degree indicators. Hope this helps. If I missed something let me know. Orma Southfield, MI KR-2 N110LR 1984 See Tweety at http://www.kr-2.aviation-mechanics.com See other KR spces at www.kr-2.aviation-mechanics.com/krinfo.htm
