First off, I did something stupid not too long ago. I changed my plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor because my car hit 140K and it had been awhile since these items were replaced. While replacing the rotor I had to rotate it while on the distributor shaft in order to access the set screw.

Unfortunately, I neglected to mark the relationship between the rotor and the distributor housing before rotating it. It was only after I put the new one on did I realize my mistake. It was too late then as I had no idea where to rotate the rotor/shaft back to.

Ever since, my idle has been rough and the car now reqiures mid-grade gas to run without predetonation.

My question is how do I go about returning the rotor to its proper position. Do I have to have the timing adjusted or can I use the following procedure:

Turn the crankshaft until I see a white dot between the timing marker. This would indicate the #1 piston would be top dead center. Then I would rotate the rotor/dist shaft until the rotor points towards the #1 plug.

Would this work? Or would this make things worse? If it would work, how would I know if I'm 180 degrees off (meaning how would I determine if I'm on the compression or the exhaust stroke after rotating the rotor?).

Thanks!

 

"Turn the crankshaft until I see a white dot between the timing marker. This would indicate the #1 piston would be top dead center. Then I would rotate the rotor/dist shaft until the rotor points towards the #1 plug."

Yes this would work but make sure you u are not 180 degrees off. U can make sure by checking and making sure that the rocker arms for your #1 piston is loose (valves closed).

After you got your tdc, point rotor to #1 terminal on your dizzy cap and ur good to go. I'm not sure about this but I think u might need a timing light to make the timing even more accurate. Tell me how it goes.

 

The distributor is indexed to the cam meaning it can only go on one way. The rotor likewise can only go on one way onto the distributor shaft.
Did you install the plug wires onto the correct terminals on the cap?
You might have bad wires or plugs. Ys, they're new, but I've seen new parts be bad right out of the box.