Cannot edit my post whthout paying I guess.

Exhaust cam lobe, lifter, rocker, spring or pushrod will contribute to popping out the carb.

Not being able to correct spelling really sucks

The reason you do not stab the distributor at TDC is because it does not fire at TDC. It firea somewhere around 32ish degrees before TDC. That is where you should stab it if you like them straight.

It bugs me to death if my distributor is not straight.

When the cam is at 6:00 and the crank is at 12:00, the #6 is in firing position, not #1.

***Update***

Checked compression, all cylinders hitting at 150, except one at 148-150.

Good compression, no glitter or film in the oil filter...I think the cam lobes are fine?

My rotor is spinning to the right. According to the selco Mercuiser manual, a right hand rotation calls for firing order of diagram "B" below. is that correct? We had the firing order per "A" and the boat ran.

Could it be 180 out and runnig since we had firing order A?

Tomorrow it's going in the shop, plus I don't have the time or knowledge to dial in the carb before the Heatwave poker run at Havasu.

A.
3 6
4 5
8 7
1 2




B. 27563481

***Update***

Checked compression, all cylinders hitting at 150, except one at 148-150.

Good compression, no glitter or film in the oil filter...I think the cam lobes are fine?

My rotor is spinning to the right. According to the selco Mercuiser manual, a right hand rotation calls for firing order of diagram "B" below. is that correct? We had the firing order per "A" and the boat ran.

Could it be 180 out and runnig since we had firing order A?

Tomorrow it's going in the shop, plus I don't have the time or knowledge to dial in the carb before the Heatwave poker run at Havasu.

A.
3 6
4 5
8 7
1 2




B. 27563481

DAMMIT

Couldn't edit

Fig. B


5 6
7 3
2 4
1 8

Interesting. A standard rotation bbc distributor rotates clockwise. Firing order 18436572. If by going to the right you mean the distributor is rotating ccw and the firing order is reversed? Never owned a reverse rotation engine so I cannot say, but why wouldn't it still use 18436572 as the firing order? Wouldn't the plug wires just go the opposite way around on the cap? Why do you have a reverse rotation engine? Very interesting indeed!

BT

Yep, firing order should be the same (18436572) for reverse or normal rotation. Here's what I would do.

1. remove coil wire
2. remove dist cap.
3. crank engine and note which way dist. rotor spins.
4. Find #1 TDC compression (12:00/12:00, or pressure pushing your finger out of #1 hole).
5. Once #1 TDC compression is found, set static timing to somewhere around 10* BTDC (use the pointer and the damper).
6. drop in the distributor so that the rotor is pointing generall at the #1 cylinder. (that way the plug wire lengths work out ok)
7.put the #1 wire on the cap post over the rotor tip.
8.put the remaining wires in the firing order based on the rotation you saw above and the coil wire
9. If should fire up.
10. adjust timing to spec and see what happens

And just in case, and dont holler at me if you know this, but the cylinder locations are

front of engine

1 2
3 4
5 6
7 dist 8

And you need a timing light, one that you can read the full advance is prefered, or use a timing tape on the harmonic balancer.

go for the sledge hammer...it is easier