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well i've never actually done this with my timing cover off i put it on and then adjust the chain that way i can use the pully mark to find tdc as for the dot on the cam, mine has a dot too, but i was told to use the line on the raised portion of the cam. so the dot maybe what lines up at btc #1 but i would go by tdc. i did it wrong and bent all 4 of my intake valves it's ok though cus that got me lookin at my exhaust valves wich were almost toast if you have a spec sheet showing it that way it's probly ok i'd turn the engine over by hand to make sure nothing hits. then go ahead and start it and if it runs fine than you did it right and if it lacks power or backfires or something like that then you can try it my way well the way i was told by a real luv guru

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1980 luv 1.8 finally running!!!...... and then like a moron i sold it
got another one!!! 1980 mikado. v8 swap here we come... nope divorce and cross country move happened.
got another one!!! 1980 4x4 mikado sport. rusty beater for now...

I'll give it a shot fuferman...Thanks

Hey Jingles, I can throw in my 2 cents, I am no expert, but can tell you how I did it. If anyone else out there thinks that anything I am saying doesn't sound quite right, please say something, thanks! So, the Chilton manual in this case wasn't too helpful. The Haynes and Clymer ones are better and have nice pictures. They both say to have the crank shaft key turned upward toward the cylinder head (12:00). They say this is TDC for 1 and 4. The #1 piston is the one closest to the radiator by the way. The picture shows this too. This sounds 180 degrees off from what your spec sheet shows. They also talk about the mark plates on the chain to use as guides for getting the chain on properly (which it sounds like you don't have, I feel dumb asking, but you looked at both sides of the chain, right?). So, if you don't have the marks, try this. Line the crank key to 12:00 and the cam gear so that the hole that the pin on the camshaft goes into is at 12:00 too (this is how the picture shows it.) There are two marks on the cam gear at about 11:00. I counted the number of links on the chain from the picture and there are 26 going from the very bottom of the crank (6:00), going counterclockwise past the chain guide to the two marks on the cam gear that are at about 11:00 (this may be the arrow you were talking about, I don't have mine in front of me right now, but I think it was the arrow). The 26 includes both the very bottom link and the one that covers the two marks on the cam gear at 11:00 (arrow). Hopefully that should get your chain on properly. If your camshaft and rockers are still on, I'd say turn the cam shaft untill line the pin that holds the cam gear in place lines up with the pin at 12:00. Once it is on, ziptie or wrap a few wires on there so it doesn't slip off the gear.

Also check out what 800 XL said earlier in this post about lining everything up. That may be helpful.

Also, when you are about to put your timing cover on, try a dry fit before you put you gasket and sealer on. This is to double check that the center groove on the oil pump shaft that the distruibutor rod fits into is lined up properly with the groove parallel to the front of truck with the narrow side of it towards the front of the truck) I screwed this up and wound up rotating my distributor about 90 degrees to make up for it (not a big deal, but it was confusing later). good luck!

That answered alot of questions, thanks Dottie. I have a Haynes manual ordered, just don't know when it'll be here. Guess I need to pull the rocker assembly off and spin my crank around to where the key is at 12 o'clock to keep from bending any valves...Also, I definetly looked at the chain really good and had my wife look at it too, she knows my eyes are failing in my old age(42)... There are no marks on this chain at all...

that Haynes manual should help a lot!

I wound up taking off the head completely. I wasn't sure that my head gasket would still hold because it sticks out a couple inches in between the head and timing cover. I had just replaced it 2 months ago, so it sucked to do it again (yours, I assume is pretty new too). It seemed in hindsight when I took it off that it likely would have been OK if I didn't replace it, but who knows.

Taking the rocker arm assembly was easier than I thought it would be, and is likely a good idea if you are worried about bending valves. Though it sounds like two valves are already bent from the chain breaking from your earlier post, so have you replaced them already?

Sorry about the chain not having marks, it was pretty obvious on mine that did have them. Once you have that Haynes manual, you'll be able to see the set up better from the picture. You could take a sharpie marker and color two links that have 24 links between them (including the two that you mark, that would be the 26 links I was talking about earlier.) I counted the links from the picture which is pretty small, but I think it is right.

Have fun!

I had the valves replaced already and installed the head...Put the manifolds on yesterday, I installed the new crank pulley and started to put the chain on but I stopped right there and went ahead and removed the rocker assembly...That is as far as I got, timing should be here in the next hour or so, but I'm really waiting on that Haynes manual before I proceed any further...Since I have the rocker assembly off I think I'll spin the crank over to #1 TDC like you explained Dottie and see what I've got there....Thanks again for your help, I hope to have her running by this weekend...

Got her running yesterday afternoon, amazingly it turned over about 8 times and fired up, kept messing with to where it would idle and then put the timing light on it, it doesn't miss but it has no power at all...It is extremely weak, I don't know why it's so weak, the motor sounds good and it revs up without a miss...I got tired of messing with it last night....I'm assuming I got the plug wires in the correct position on the distributor with #1 being over the advance valve....Any suggestions are greatly welcome and thanks for everyones help so far, I couldn't have done it without you!!!! Oh yeah timing is right at 6 degrees BTDC....

Double check the firing order, make sure your plug wires on the dizzy are correct. Someone else recently had a similar situation. The truck would start up, but no power. Two of the wires on the cap were reversed.

Firing order 1-3-4-2, rotor spins counter clockwise when looking down at it.

The position of the distributor is relative to everything else in the system being correct. When in doubt, start with the basics: Get number one cylinder to TDC on the compression stroke. This should also get your timing mark to zero, give or take a degree. If not, you have other issues.

Where ever the rotor is pointing, make that the number one spot, and hook up the rest of the wires from there.

All that being said, here is how mine is oriented. ( Not sure if it is factory. I know others have had their hands in this engine.)

Imagine the face of a clock laid over the top of the distributor. My number one would be in the 4 o'clock position, and the vacuum advance port would be about the 9 o'clock position, facing the firewall.

Good luck.

Thanks arty, on mine if you're looking down at the dizzy my #1 is at about 8 o'clock #3 at 11 o'clock #4 at 1 o'clock and #2 at 4 o'clock...Sounds like I have everything backwards. When I set the oil pump up I put the slot straight up and down with the narrow side of the slot towards the front of the engine and that is with the crank and cam at #1 TDC, thats what put my rotor pointing at the plug at 8 o'clock so I plugged that one into #1 plug. I thought maybe I had #2 & #3 backwards so I swapped them and it wouldn't hit a lick so I changed them back...I didn't swap #1 and #4 yet....I don't know what else to try.... Also for some reason I thought it spun Clockwise....But you're right, it's CCW...

Hey Jingles!
good job gettin her goin! I know how that feels! When mine started, it was weak too. I tried pulling each wire off the plug one at a time to see if there was a change in the sound of the engine. Sure enough, 2 and 3 were not doing anything. I switched them on the dist cap it sounded back to normal! I have mine at 6 degrees before TDC too. I'll check back atcha later!

Thanks Dottie, I tried changing those two yesterday but then it wouldn't start at all, of course I think there was another issue causing it not to start then...I was getting pretty tired by then and figured it was probably best to leave it alone for the time being...I'm going to give it a try again this evening......Thanks for everyones help on this, I have definetly learned alot about these little jewels since this project started and hope I can pass along the experience to someone else in need !!! I'm going to try an get some pix up soon, hopefully not of it burning.

Jingles, it sounds like your's is right. I just did the oil pump this weekend, and my slot was horizontal, not vertical. The narrow part was on top. If my slot had been vertical like yours, my #1 would have been in the 8 o'clock position like yours.

I'm wondering if your timing might be off. When you set your initial timing, did you disconnect the vacuum advance?

yeah, try swappin 1 and 4!

That got it!!! I swapped #1 and #4 and it's running better than I think it ever has. I had to retard the timing back down alittle also. Man I can't thank all of you enough... I test drove it around the yard some to make sure there were no leaks, checked the oil and water levels then took off to the beer store... I'm going to run it a few miles and then change the oil and check the valve lash again, it has a very vague dieseling sound, it's really not that noticable unless you're use to the trucks original sound....I set the slot on the oil pump/dizzy shaft exactly like the Haynes manual said but that's obviously 180 out....Oh well. I didn't disconnect the vacuum advance the first time arty but I did this time around !!!

Dottie I didn't mean to hijack your thread here but you all have made my day big time !!! Now back to the body work !!!

It is surprising how well these motors run on two cylinders. It can make it tough to diagnose your problem as you look at it idling away and think, its just running a little rough, couldn't be missing on 2 out of 4 cylinders.

For the valves, I always readust them not long after doing any kind of head work. If you pull the rockers and cam off it might take a few hot/cold cycles for everything to settle back into place. My strategy is get it pretty close and get the motor running again, then after I've tinkered with it a few days and have at least a half dozen heat/cool cycles in it, I go back and really carefully adjust the valves. It also makes a big difference if you adjust them cold or hot. I think the numbers in the Haynes manual are for cold adjustments.

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

Don't mean to double hijack, gotta question on valve adjustment. I adjusted mine cold, with specs that were supposed to be from the actual LUV manual. I actually ended up adding a little more gap, and the thing clatters like a diesel.

Where have you had the best adjustment success, cold or hot?

Also, I'm considering setting them with the engine running. Besides being messy, any comments?

I set mine cold to factory spec out of the Haynes manual like 800xl said, it calls for .006 intakes/.010 exhaust....Thanks everyone,I think what surprized me more than anything is that nothing is leaking, I've never had that much luck with gaskets, but that thick black rubber oil pan gasket I think is well worth the extra $$$

From someone who sells heavy duty truck parts, let me tell you that spending the extra money on gaskets pays off. Cheap gaskets = more time and money in the near future.

--
Timmay

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2.3 Liters of Isuzu Glory!!!

Valve adjustment: I think I've always done mine cold. It is sort of a black art, getting them adjusted right and getting the lock nuts tight without changing the adjustment. I have it down now, but I recall doing a lot of rechecking after tightening the nut and finding things had changed when I first started working on my truck. So the sequence is set 'em, tighten lock nut, check 'em, set them again because they are wrong again, repeat until satisfied.

Gaskets: A good gasket is worth the extra price, especially head gaskets. As my Ag teacher in high school said "If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how the heck are you gonna find time to do it over again?"

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

Hey all! no worries on hijackin' the post, I like the direction it has gone! I had all my questions answered as I needed the help and it is good to help too and see related stuff! I am about to adjust my valves too, so this is good advice. Congrats Jingles! That is great you got her runnin'! I don't know what I did to get #s 2 and 3 swapped during the process, but she runs good now! I have gone 500 miles so far since replacing the chain. Thanks again to all who helped make it happen!