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1974 710M-

Sorry to be the rookie... I don't do much maintenance myself, but decided to clean and check spark plug gaps. I went to put the wires back on from the distributor, connecting the cables to the spark plugs/cylinders, and realized I didn't mark them to know which cable goes to which cylinder. (stupid me)

Looking at the distributor with the cable leading in at the bottom/the coil to distributor... looking directly down from above on the distributor and the using the cable coil to distributor as the 12'oclock position -

in the 9 to 12'oclock position that is cylinder 1,
12 to 3'oclock position goes to cylinder 2,
3 to 6'oclock position goes to cylinder 3,
and 6 to 9'oclock position goes to cylinder 4,
(in a clockwise pattern)

Correct?

My book is confusing me because it says "1,2,4,3."
(but in which direction? Is that looking at the distributor from the top and reading it like a book,
top row left-1 to right-2, then second row left-4 to right-3?)

Thanks for any help

The solution to your problem is fairly easy, but the real question is does my memory serve me correctly in thinking that the rotor in the dizzy goes clockwise when running? Lets assume so for now.

The cylinders are numbered 1 in front and 4 in the rear, in order. However the FIRING order goes 1, 2, 4, then back to 3, the repeats at 1, etc. for a mechanincally smoother running engine.

1. Rotate the engine until the timing notch is lined up with the pointer. At this time the engine is either at TDC for cylinder #1 or #3. If you could pull the #1 spark plug and ensure that it is forcing air out as the timing notch lines up then you know that the valves are closed and you really are at the compression for #1; else remove the valve cover and see that both valves are closed (the rocker arms should be able to move slightly as they should have no force on them).

2. Remove the dizzy cap and see what direction the rotor is pointing. Put the #1 plug wire in the cap over where the rotor is pointing (actually, the rotor should be just past the terminal in the cap by just a bit due to the advance).

3. Assuming the rotor does rotate clockwise, put the #2 wire in the next clockwise spot in the cap, then the #4 after that (remember, it fires after #2), then the last spot should get the #3 wire.

4. Crank and try it! If you are really a redneck mechanic, you don't check anything, you just pick a spot in the cap for #1 and put all the rest in order; try it, and if it doesn't fire then just rotate the whole set of wires 1/4 turn, try again, etc. If you get a spot that sorta fires but won't run then you might have assumed the rotor rotates the wrong direction (where two sparks are in the right place); repeat the process going counter-clockwise and try it another four times. This goes much faster on a four cylinder than an 8 (please don't ask me how I know!). But you can do it by trial and error.

So the "professional" would check the rotor rotation first and determine the rotation, then ensure that cylinder #1 was at the compression stroke at TDC, then go through 1-3. This will put everything back right. On a seperate note, I've seen where the rotor end could be 1/2" away from the cap terminal and everything still works OK; that gives a big long spark inside the cap but as long as the rotor end will be closer to the correct terminal then the spark will go there, too. But you will get more spark energy to the plug if the rotor lines up pretty well with the cap terminal. This might be more of a problem with the aftermarket kits where the VW cap could possibly rotate on the adapter plate; this is less of an issue with properly keyed adapters or the stock cap.

Best of luck,