I also posted a similar message to the digest and got one reply....
I just got done installing a new chain on my '87 GN. When I took the car apart, I didn't notice that the Crank sensor has two grooves in it. The inner groove lines up with the ring on the damper very easily. It is not possible to cause the ring on the damper to engage the outer groove, or, at least I don't think so.
I'm 99.9% sure that I've got it correct, if anyone out there can confirm it for me, I'd appreciate it.
Lastly, a reply on the digest suggested that the second groove is for a different type of ignition which makes sense. My follow-up is: Was the stock crank sensor made with two grooves? If not, do I have a sensor that should be replaced?
Thanks
If the car runs, it's right... the other groove will not work.
The original sensor has two grooves and is an aluminum head ... replacement sensors also have two grooves, but the head is made out of a sort of black plastic.
The original ignition system was designed for the Indy cars and if you look in the old Powersource, you'll see almost all of the same components that our cars have....even the coil pack looks the very much the same, except they had knobs on the ignition module that you could turn to vary timing and such.
Pretty neat.... and the second groove is an "appendix" left over from that system, which didn't have cam sensor, but used a different triggering ring off the crank.
Bottom line, if the car is running it's fine.
Interesting, Ken, thank you. I haven't started the car yet after taking all this stuff apart but I'm pretty sure I've got it correct.