Distributor, Cap and Wires 180° out - Runs okay...

[Gaugster]

I was going to throw some stones and hijack My427stang's post but figured I'd just swipe one of the pics from it instead. Based on the scenario below should I reorientate my mechanical advance distributor? When I bought my Cougar it ran but was in a state of disrepair. Vacuum leaks galore, corroded cap & rotor etc...When I bought the car my distributor was wired completely 180° different than what I find on-line for firing order. Seeing the recent dyno motor pics reminded me to inquire with the experts. Here's my old 390 with a new QF 680 carb that I recently installed. My plug wires are routed basically 180° from what is normal. The engine has always had a slight sputter at cruising speeds of 45-50mph. A very notable drop off in torque after 4500 rpm. This was true with both the old and new carb. I have always attributed these to an old tired engine. The carb was changed as I suspected the throttle body and butterflies of the old carb to be worn. It was a 1st generation Demon 650 and no proper throttle stop had been installed.

[blykins]

As long as the firing order is correct and the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug wire at TDC of the compression stroke, it will run.  Doesn't matter at all if the #1 plug wire is on the cap facing the rear of the cap or at the front.

[fryedaddy]

when i got my 428 out of the machine shop it was 180 off.i didnt know so i wired it up correctly,pointing at no 1.it would not start,so i lifted the dist out and spun it 1/2 turn and dropped it in and it fired right up

[turbohunter]

I kinda enjoy seeing where folks put no.1 then checking how clear there runs are. Ross has a nice clean set of runs there.

[Gaugster]

Thanks all for the input. I too like to check out they lay of plug wires but it's apples to oranges for my motor currently. In my case it's easy to keep #7 and #8 apart.

[Nightmist66]

As Brent said, the engine doesn't care where #1 is, as long as you time the rotor on TDC compression and the rest of the firing order is correct. Here's my junk: