Here's what you do:
(I'm assuming the engine is already at TDC )
>Rotate the cam so both #1 lobes are facing up.
>Make sure the timing mark (on the crank pulley) reads '0' degrees
>Pick one of the outer perimeter timing marks. Dont worry about the dowel hole. There are 3 marks to choose from. There are three cause you have to account for chain stretch on an old chain. (that's right folks, a stretched chain doesn't mean replace, it means adjust )
> with the bright link lined up with the selected timing mark (start with #1 for simplicity) try to slide the gear back into place and insert the dowel through a hole. If the chain has too much slack then you can remove and rotate the cam gear to align the second mark with the bright link. Repeat these steps til you find one that works. You shouldn't have any slack on the straight side of the chain or you'll end up chain slap. Also, the timing mark on the cam gear and the bright link should line up at about 2 o'clock position when facing the engine from the front of the car. If it's not then somethings wrong with your chain alignment on the crank or you're not at TDC.

 

After talking to bleach for a good while I've come to the conclusion that Im going to have to pull the front cover, funny thing is I've had to do so much work on this car that pulling the front cover doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. I lined the timing mark #3 up with the bright link per bleach's request but, the dowel is 180 degrees off from the hole so there is no way in hell that I'd be able to move the cam a little bit to fit it on. I suppose the only solution here is to pull the front cover again but, it's not that big of a deal really I figured I would have to anyway.

 

If the dowel is 180 degrees off then try lining it up with #1. That should be about 180degrees from timing mark #3. (whats this obsession with #3 anyways? I've got mine at #2 and my car runs fine. Before that it was at #1 and it ran fine. And dont worry about lining up the # of the timing mark with the number of the dowel hole (if they even have numbers).

THE ONLY THING THAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT YOUR ENGINE IS AT TDC AND THAT THE CAM GEAR TIMING MARK IS AT 2 O'CLOCK WHEN THE LINKS ARE LINED UP. PERIOD. DONT WORRY ABOUT WHAT NUMBER ON THE GEAR YOU'RE USING AS LONG AS THAT MARK IS AT 2 O'CLOCK WITH THE ENGINE AT TDC. IF THIS ALL LINES UP THEN VALVE TIMING IS NOT YOUR ISSUE

So for the last time. Put the engien at TDC (timing mark on crank pulley at 0 degrees. This cant be messed up so it IS accurate). Now is the bright link on you timing chain lined up with a mark on your cam gear? Is this link/mark at 2 o'clock? If so then your valve timing is fine. If its not at two o'clock, or the mark and link aren't lined up then you've got a problem with your valve timing.

 

And I should point out that I think you've gone through all this in vain as well. Cause judging from your pictures you posted, you're cam timing was dead on. Was the engine at TDC when you snapped those pics? If it was then you went through all this removal crap for nothing cause you were ignoring what I was telling you


Alls you probably needed to do was drop the oil pump and turn the oil pump a little. I bet you just lined up the oil pump driveshaft incorrectly and so you're timing is so far out of whack the car wont start.

 

I do appreciate all of your help but apparently you weren't listening to what I was saying. Yes the car is at PERFECT TDC on the compression stroke, yes I lined up the oil pump PERFECTLY several times but, each time the rotor was NOT pointing towards the #1 tower on the distributor. I have talked to bleach several times already about this and we confirmed that I installed the timing chain incorrectly. I know the markings are important otherwise they wouldn't be there.

Edit: and the reason I posted those pictures is because the first one clearly shows that the first two lobes are not in the position they should be in.

 

First of all, in your pics, the cam lobes are fine. It sounds to me like your problem is the oil pump shaft. If it's not installed right then the rotor wont point to #1. The camshaft position has NOTHING to do with where the rotor will point. That should be the first tip off. If your rotor is not pointing at #1 with the engine at TDC then the oil pump shaft WAS NOT installed correctly. And moving the cam sprocket around isn't going to correct your rotor position at TDC. Get what I'm saying.

And yes the markings are important. No disrespect to your's or Bleach's opinions but I'm looking at your pics and I see the camshaft is in the correct position and I see that the timing mark on your sprocket lines up with the bright link on the chain and that that link/mark is at 2 o'clock. That tells me that your timing chain is on correctly and that your valve timing is correct. Your problem is the distributor/oil pump driveshaft if anything.

So you've already answered your own question. The ROTOR was NOT pointing at #1 at TDC. Come on now. If either you or Bleach can tell me what that has to do with valve timing then by all means please do so. Drop the oil pump and rotate the shaft until the rotor lines up with #1 and reinstall the oil pump. Hook everything back up and start your car and set your timing.

 

Here's an illustration of what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter which of the timing marks lines up at 2 o'clock just so long as one of them does. Using a different mark just changes the timing a bit, but it's not something that is going to prevent the car from running. Look at my diagram and then look at your pics and you'll see that you did in fact have everything setup correctly. Setting the valve timing and setting the distributor timing are independent of each other and you can't look at them as the same procedure. So like I said: Your cam lobes not pointing straight up is not going to affect where you set the distributor to. And no where in any literature does it say the cam lobes should be pointing at a specific angle upward. Just that both valves are closed. You set the lobes pointing straight up to give yourself somewhere to start with. When you finally get the sprocket installed the cam lobes will no point straight up. This is a procedure I'm familiar with and have performed more than a few times. I've yet to have a car not start on me after a little tweaking. The oil pump shaft doesn't always go right in the way it's supposed to.

 

Oh and if you want some advice on clocking the oil pump shaft without completely removing the oil pump let me know.

 

Okay all of that was very informative and like I said before I do appreciate it and your words have been a big help along the way. The thing is though that the bright link was not at the 2:00 position, it was at a 9:00 and was two links away from lining up with a timing mark.

I've installed the oil pump on this car several times now, each time making sure that both the oil hole on the pump and punch mark on the shaft were lined up correctly yet still the rotor did not point towards the #1 tower. I then proceeded to adjust the shaft ignoring the two notches so that the rotor would point to the #1 tower and the car still did not start but, I suppose it's possible that it was not on the compression stroke who knows. This whole project has been a huge learning experience for me because before now I've never gone past adjusting valves, replacing external parts and whatnot.

 

Well I was going by this pick:


You said the engine was at TDC and that link looks to be at 2 o'clock to me.

 

Ah, that's not the bright link. I think that was just the flash from the camera or something.

Edit 1: I will double check just to be sure though, just for you haha

Edit 2: Just got back from the shop, I wiped off the chain so it was clean and the bright link is definitely at the 9:00 position.

 

Alright, that explains it then. Sorry if I came off so rash then. Thats why I kept asking where the bright link was and then when you took that pic it looked like it was in the right spot. Alright then. Yeah just set it up like it looks in the the diagram I posted above and you'll be good.

 

I looked at the pic again and I think I can see it now. The second to last link you can see on the left side of the pic there. If thats the link then yeah, thats definitely out of alignment. And that's almost 180 degrees off.

 

So what should my game plan be? Do you think I'll need to pull the front cover? Im just trying to get all the information together before I mess anything else up LOL

 

Try reinstalling the cam gear first. If the timing mark (any one) on the cam gear lines up with the bright link of the chain at 2 o'clock while it's installed then you dont need to remove the cover. If it wont line up right though at that position then that means your chain is on the crank sprocket incorrectly as well and you'll need to pull the cover to reset the chain. If you want to be absolutely sure of everything then go ahead and remove the cover. Especially if this is your first time. That way you can make a mental reference of how everything is supposed to line up. It always helps to see it yourself.

EDIT: And you'll want to make sure the taught side of the chain doesn't have any excessive slack. Thats what the timing marks are for. To take up that slack.

 

I get mostly what you're saying but, once again Im lost by your reference to the 2:00. If the bright link is currently at 9:00 then what am I supposed to do? Are you saying that I should put it back together and rotate the motor one more time so that the bright link is on that side of the engine?

Or

Could I rotate the motor one more time which will still be TDC but, not the compression stroke but, the bright link should be in the right spot.

Then I could take off the cam gear and rotate it back 180 so the motor would be like it is now but, the bright link would be in the proper spot. Would this work?

 

The motor has to be at TDC on the compression stroke. Since your chain was so far off you'll probably have to pull the front cover cause it sounds like you installed everything with the engine at TDC on the exhaust stroke. That would put the link 180 degrees off (which it pretty much is). So put the engine at TDC compression (if it's not already) and pull the cover off. The 2 o'clock is just a reference point so you know you've done it right.

See when everything is put together correctly and the engine is at TDC the link and timing mark on the cam gear will be at 2 o'clock. Your's is at 9, so you know its off. With the crank gear, the timing mark should be at 4 o'clock when the engine is at TDC on compression. So if your marks/links line up with those two references when all is said and done then you know its all correct and you can reinstall the cover.

So when you get everything off: the chain will have two bright links. Put one of the bright links on the crankshaft gear so it lines up with the timing mark. Then the other bright link goes on the camshaft gear and lines up with a timing mark. If your chain is new, then take your pick as to which mark. If your chain has a lot of miles on it then you may need to go to 2 or 3 on the sprocket to take up slack.

You'll notice that the two bright links are not evenly spaced. The shorter distance between the links should go on the taught (driver side) of the gears. Now try to install the gears. I install the crank gear first then line up the chain and then do the cam gear. An adjustable wrench will help here so you can rotate the cam by it's flat spot in the center of it to get it so the dowel will line up with the gear.

Once you get the cam gear installed the taught side of the chain shouldn't have any slack. If it does then you need to rotate the timing gear to the next mark up till the slack is gone.

Now look at your installed timing set and the bright links should be at 2 o'clock on the cam and 4 o'clock on the crank.

 

Well now it sounds like I have an attack plan, thanks again J. I just have to get ahold of a 27mm socket

 

yeah I apologize for getting heated before. I've just been stressed lately and then I came on here and thought I saw one thing and started to get irritated cause I was sure that's what I was seeing. But in reality I wasn't seeing what I thought I was. That's my bad entirely. I just hope this gets you all straightened out so you can get that thing running.

 

dont forget those little dips in the oil drive gears are there to help you, by messing with it to make it run like before that may have been the first sign of something wrong. start from scratch and youll do just fine.

 

Hey, there's no need for apologies Im sure I came off quite rude at first but, that's only because Im used to other car forums in which there is always constant flaming so I try and keep my guard up to protect myself from e-thugs, internet warriors, and the like. I really do appreciate all the help from Bleach, J, and Shady because of you guys I have a much better chance at getting this car back on the road. It hasn't moved under it's own power in over a year and I think this Z deserves to take the curves once again.

 

hey you got a manual to help yourself out? the haynes one has good pictures. pictures are good, reading was never my strong suit

 

Yeah I have two haynes manuals. One of which is in five pieces haha I use it a lot

 

Yeah I think I'm due for a new one. It's come down to where I can just grab the chapter I need cause it's in that many pieces. I lost about 90% of my wiring diagrams though. So I'm due for a new one.

 

i got an original 79 factory service manual. it has a full color wiring diagram thats all one page. and it has neat stuff you just dont get in the other manuals, like dynamic checks of the sensors, with out removing them, right from the computer. with a full checklist and stuff.