Harmonic balancer / timing trouble

[Hobart]

Just a heads up in case anyone else hits a snag like this. I had pulled the distributor out of the 364 in my '60 LeSabre when I detailed the engine compartment. I went to install it after rotating the motor to TDC compression-stroke on cylinder 1. Set the timing right at 12d BTDC, and dropped the distributor in with the rotor pointing at #1 plug wire. Went to fire it up and could barely get it to run, and couldn't get the timing mark anywhere near the tab. I kept checking and rechecking my firing order, etc. and couldn't figure it out. Finally, I thought maybe the timing chain had jumped, it was the only thing left I could think of. Pulled the cover off and discovered that with the the balancer & tag marks lined up, the cam and crank marks didn't line up - and the chain was fine. What happened was the outer ring on the balancer spun! I spent a lot of time figuring that one out! Hope this helps someone else in the future.

[Airy Cat]

That has happened to me also, but on a 455 cid.