Triumph Repair: engine, triumph spitfire 1500, preignition

Question
hi i have a triumph spitfire 1500 basically i knocked the distributor when i was replacing the oil presure plug,and my friend turned it left and then right,and pulled the rotorarm off and then put it back ,and when i started the engine it started and would not turn off ,i at to dissconect the batery,not started it since,its my first triumph,could you help.it was running fine before that,thanks

Answer
Tony, I don't think the turning the distributor back and forth can make the engine continue to run except if it make a lot of odd noises and is running very badly when the key id turned off.

If this is the running you are talking about, it is most likely detonation/preignition. Which can be caused by what he did by over advancing the timing. To find out if that is what happened you need to accurately set the ignition timing to specs. Then check it again to see if it still does it.
Howard