1981 timing

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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Schaubb
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:48 pm
Your car is a: 1981 fiat spider

1981 timing

Post by Schaubb »

I recently performed a top end service to a spider I bought a few years ago. It was last inspected in 2002 so I'm guessing that was the last time it ran. I removed the head, completely disassembled it and thoroughly cleaned it. The cylinders looked great. I installed new valve seals, lapped the valves, and reassembled the head/ cam boxes. I changed the water pump and idler pulley while I had it all apart. My question involves proper timing. When I look online it seems to show the timing mark on the crank at the 1 o'clock position. However when #4 cyl is at TDC mine is approx at 11 o'clock. There is also a metal timing tab similar to what I've seen on a small block Chevy that lines up perfectly is this correct? I have some more things to complete before I try to start it and would like to make sure this is correct before I do. My past experience had been x/19's and MG's so this is new territory for me. Any help is appreciated!

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