Triumph Repair: distributor and firing order, coat hanger, timing specs

Question
I need to know the distributor placement and the firing order

Answer
Hi Steve,
It does not matter how the distributor is installed as long as the correct plug wire is in the correct position.

The best method is to remove all the plugs and put the car in 4th gear (brake off) Now hold you thumb over number one plug hole and have someone role the car forward and stop as soon as you feel compression on your thumb. Now put a coat hanger or thin rod in the plug hole to feel the top of the piston and roll the car slowly forward until you find the TDC (top dead center) and look at the contact points and turn the distributor clockwise until the points are just about to open and stop there and look at where the rotor is pointing. That is number one cylinder plug wire. Then put the other wires in the cap in a counter clockwise order of 3, 4 and 2. Now the engine is roughly timed. Now you need to look up the timing specs and either use a timing light or a static test light to set the ignition timing exactly.
Howard