Kevin, I can relate. A couple years ago, I was trying to explain to a young fellow by E-mail how to static time an engine out in a farmer's field after pulling the distributor and replacing it along with a new cap, rotor and plug wires.Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:20 amMost recently, Samantha met a young woman who was wearing an analog watch (i.e. having a dial). She had to count the positions to determine the time as she was never taught to do this at a glance in school or by her parents. Apparently the local schools are now all using digital numeric displays. From personal experience I can assure you that local hospitals and other medical facilities still use analog clocks on the walls.
How absolutely mind-boggling scary is that?
Walked him through pulling #1 plug (after removing coil wire), having a buddy bump the engine over a few degrees at a time until pressure blew his thumb off the empty spark plug hole (he was mortified at the thought of this) and then (with coil wire removed and ignition switched off) either rocking the car in gear or grabbing the fan belt and rotating the crankshaft back to where the timing mark was where he wanted it (10 degrees BTDC in this instance).
This engine had breaker points. So once he had the crankshaft on compression stroke for #1 piston and at his desired timing...... I had him (with coil wire still removed) turn ignition switch on and rotate the distributor against the direction the rotor turned (to take up any slack in timing chain) and when the points opened, to tighten down the distributor where the points arced, then turn ignition switch off again. Later, I wondered how he had managed this, but more about that further on.
We got through that OK, so after replacing #1 plug, the next step was going to be putting the new plug wires on. I had him make a mark on the distributor where the rotor was pointing and install the cap. Then make the hole nearest his mark #1 and run his first plug wire from there to #1 plug.
So far, so good. Explained how the cylinders were numbered and had him mark them with a pencil on his valve covers. Told him to read the firing order (it was stamped on his intake manifold) and begin placing his wires in the same rotational direction as his rotor turned.
That's when everything went to crap. He hadn't paid attention to which way the rotor turned. So I told him it was a Chevy and his rotor would turn in a clockwise direction...... And to just follow the firing order and put his plug wires on in that rotational direction. Went over it several times. Even went far afield and got into why water will rotate in one direction going down a drain in the Northern hemisphere and in the opposite direction in the Southern hemisphere. Just couldn't get through to him.
](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
Finally had him look at a clock on the wall and told him to follow the direction the second hand rotated. Still no go. He asked me what a second hand was. Thought 'second hand' meant something old or previously used. Which it does, but that is not what I meant.
Only then did I understand that he had only seen clocks and watches with digital numeric displays. He had no idea what I was talking about when I said 'clockwise' or 'counterclockwise'. Once I figured that out, I had him pull his coil wire and his distributor cap again and have his buddy bump the engine over a few degrees so he could see which direction the rotor turned. Distributor was locked down and he had #1 plug wire terminal marked already, so no harm done rotating engine.
Following that, he wired it up and it fired up straight away. Then checked timing with a light and was within 2 degrees of where he wanted it. But man...... I was beginning to wonder if I had gotten so old that I had lost the ability to make myself understood in English any longer!
Best regards,
Harry
