Is it ok to run a distributor 180 degrees off?

My transam distributor firing order starts at 6 oclock instead of 2 clock.  This is 180 degrees off compared to the diagrams I have seen.  

I built my engine years ago and think I may have not lined up the timing chain dots correctly.  

The car seemed to run fine this way.  I even ran some high 13 second quarter mile times last year.  
   

Questions:

1.) Can running the distrubtor this cause any problems?
2.) Is there an easy way to fix this issue?


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

-Todd  

This has been one of the most confusing issues to me since the first time I started rebuilding  Trans Am's 20 years ago. As bad as I hate to admit it, I would take your car to a "really reputable" speed shop or Pontiac guru, and have them check it out. Here's just a few ideas where to start:

1. The timing dots have to line up or nothing else matters. On your next oil change go ahead and pull off the timing cover (I know it's a hassle with the pwr steering pump , fan and everything - but until you determine if the timing dots are lined up correctly nothing else can be be set right). This is also a good time to get a fresh timing chain and lube it well.

2. There are several things that can make the firing order wrong. I've had Pontiac, Chevy, and Oldsmobile engines in Trans Am's, and they all have a different firing order - the way you advance the distributer is even ass backwards on some engines.

3. I've always heard that you aim the distributor rotor toward the number one
cylinder when the engine is at "Top Dead Center". It was always confusing to me when the number one cylinder was at TDC or number six was. It would start either way and sometimes run relativly well.

4. The distributer can be placed in it's hole a tooth or two off, and it will further confuse the issue. Bottom line, let somebody with a fancy scope see what's up. With mine, simply looking at a Pontiac diagram instead of an Olds diagram helped. First off, you point the rotor to the number one plug terminal on the distributor, not at the number one engine cylinder. This alone turned on my light bulb. Once I had that right, the car started easier and kept doing donuts.

Brazil  

I'll probably be made fun of on that last thing, but I really didn't know.
But as Farneybarmula says, "just trying to help".

I'd like to hear the diagnosis.  

it really does not matter which way the distributer rotor points in this application..     its just that the factory length spark plug wires won't line up properly.. some will be too long.. some too short...




the why... it does not matter on this one..    

many newer cars have multiple sensors built into the distributer..  so they have to be pointing the exact direction specified.. when the number one piston is at the top of the compression stroke.. and the timing marks line up at 0...


i have a way to get it in right .. and time it.

pull the number one spark plug...   with a remote starter switch ... bump the motor around till the compression starts coming out of the spark plug hole..    that usually indicates that piston is coming up and the valves are closed..  i then bring the timing mark to what ever the base timing should be..    6 btdc.. 8 tdc... 15 btdc on later fuel injected motors..

drop the distributer in ... so the rotor points toward the diagram direction..  if it does not fall all the way in..  you will have to pull it and position the oil pump shaft...  or bump the motor around.. and it will drop...  bring the timing mark back up to the base timing ... with the compression on number one..     if the distributer has dropped to the flange..   install the hold down clamp... pull the rotor...  turn the housing so the reluctor teeth and the pick up coil teeth line up... lock the distributer down there..    put the rotor back on.. the cap..  the wires need to start where the number one rotor is now pointing..

this whole process takes just a few minutes...  it took 3 times longer to write and read it .. than it does to do it..

and when you turn the key.. the engine will start without having to turn the distributer housing to get it running..   when they start with the first turn of the key.. on the first try... it makes you look like a magician/ mechanic..  

Thanks so much for the advice!  Got it right on the first try! For TDC, I put my finger on the #1 hole until the air pushed it off.  I then had a friend slowly crank the engine by hand while I used a long paper clip (Bent at the end so it could not fall in) to feel when the piston was at the top.  The rotor pointed directly at the proper terminal.  I then wired my way around the cap using the proper firing order.  Runs like a champ! :O)  

Just as a side note, a Sharpie felt tip marker is useful for setting a cylinder to TDC. They are just the right size to fit in the spark plug hole without sacrificing a finger tip, and they stick up far enough to see when it's all the way at the top and  starts back down. Mine came alive too when I got the thing right. It's a nice feeling to be able to go to the next thing.