Well I have an IT manual but it doesn't go into great detail about some items I have come across. The inspection plate it talks about under the clutch area to view the Fire mark 'F'. Is that inspection plate 11in by 7in? Another thing, I took the Rotor cap off the magneto cap and there was a gear that turns the rotor. The book mentions nothing about this rotor gear. When you get TDC on the number 1 cylinder with the timing mark "F" on the flywheel centered in inspection plate, is that when you install the rotor cap with the rotor pointed at number one cylinder? This is also when the points should be just starting to open? Does the mag also fire at this time when number one is at TDC? I just got this engine unstuck and so I am now taking the next step towards firing her up. Needed to go thru the ignition, and found alot of corroded sparkplug wire ends. I just want to make sure I install the rotor cap and mag cap correctly so I am not chasing a problem that I actually created from not knowing how to set the components back into proper positioning.

Thanks.

Scott,
If you don't find the timing mark when #1 is at the top of the compression stroke, turn it 1/2 turn and if it shows up then, it has to be timed from the top. Timing a mag.
1. If you have taken the Mag. apart, the internal gears need to be timed. (Set points at .020)
2. Remove the large cap and line the C mark on the fiber gear with the marked tooth on the steel gear. Tip- turn the engine backwards to get the steel gear tooth to stop straight up and position the C mark on the fiber gear straight down. This times the rotor to the points. It is pretty simple in theory. Like all four cycles, the piston comes to TDC (top dead center) twice for every time the magneto or distributor rotor goes around. The left side of the engine has a hole in the bell housing where you can see the timing mark on the flywheel.("B"&"C") ("WC","WD" &" WD45" The timing mark is found by looking under the flywheel housing for a small hole possibly covered by a small plate held with two wing bolts. The FIRE mark and the TDC mark are located on the flywheel through this hole. Use a little light colored paint to make seeing them much easier). 3. Take out the #1 spark plug, and put your thumb over the hole while hand cranking the engine(best to have all the plug wires off while doing this so the tractor doesn't try to fire) , the cylinder will force air past your finger on the compression stroke. (The other FIRE is the exhaust stroke and has the exhaust valves open so no air will come out of the plug hole).
4. When you feel the air coming past your thumb, look for the FIRE mark on the flywheel. When this mark is centered in the hole, the rotor on the mag should be just lower than the #1 lug on the mag. Looking at it as a clock, #1 lug should be near 10:00. Just before the lug is a plastic stud called the timing stud. Perfect timing is when the rotor points to the timing stud while the FIRE mark on the flywheel is centered in the hole. 5. If your rotor points to 5:00 your mag is 180 degrees off and needs to be removed and the coupling turned till you achieve 10:00. If it is not right on the timing stud, you can loosen the mag and rotate it until it is. 6. Put it all back together and time your spark plug wires 1-2-4-3 clockwise on the magneto cap. Duey

Scott, sent you an E-mail. My answer was too long winded for here.

Butch

hey scott, if it is fairbanks morse it is .020, if it is bendix itis .012. bring your no. 1 piston up on compression and then set your mag. it has a lag angle on it. in other words it will retard firing until it hits higher rpm. the lag is 30 degrees. just restored a 37 wc with spokes, it fires on the second crank. when I bought it some one worked real hard on getting her going, come to find out the impulse spring was broke. good luck. steve