Do the weights look backwards to anyone besides me?

[Hogdaddy]

The distributor turns clockwise and centrifugal force makes the weights open up for advance.

 

[mccauley444]

Correct, but this setup actually makes the timing take a nosedive on acceleration. I am guessing since I cannot see it I am assuming that these weights are having the opposite efect, since from every pic of a distributor I have seen says these are backwards..

I could be worng

 

[Twisted_Metal]

Rotation will still pull the weights outward… but probably not as well as they would if assembled correctly.

They look backwards compared to the diagram so I don’t believe the advance will be functioning.

 

[2ndGenCrazy]

The weights are opposite of the diagram. Take the bottom weight, flip it and install it on the top stud. Match the diagram. Same process for top weight.

 

[MerlinTech]

With the distributor installed & the rotor on the distributor, the rotor should rotate clockwise by hand and spring back. This will advance the timing as it is in the same action as moving the housing counter clockwise which is advancing the timing.
If it is moving clockwise by hand, it is not backwards.

 

[Doug Tenney]

This is a quicky repair distributor I got from an auto parts store I installed to get my ride going. I set the initial timing w/o the vacuum connect and went to test the centrifugal advance, only to have it retard the timing way down into retard range

Every pic I have seen the weights are the other direction as show in the diagram, vs the photo.

Am I just imagining things? Entirely possible. Been working with points since the mid 70's and I've never comes across this.

I tried reversing them but the weights will not fit.

It has been awhile but let me share some thoughts.
1) I believe that you are correct: installed in a SBC, it looks to me that the distributor in the photo will retard the timing as the weights deploy.
2) Don't over-think it. The test is simple. When you swing the weights swing out with your fingers, the eight-lobed points cam SHOULD be pushed in the direction that the distributor rotates. In a SBC, that is clockwise (CW).
3) Be advised, in at least one other GM V8 (Pontiac), the distributor rotates CCW. Obviously, everything in the distributor will be mirror-image, INCLUDING the vac advance servo (canister).
4) Thus, be careful hanging your hat on the drawing on the right. If it came from a Chilton manual, it may have been copied over from an engine whose distributor rotates CCW.
5) Another whacky variable: the cranks in some engines for BOATS rotate the opposite direction (CCW). I surmise that they did that for dual-engine configurations to cancel out the torque reaction. Not sure if those old boat distributors rotated CCW too.
6) As I recall, the boomerang weights on HEI distributors are laid out backwards from points distributors, because the mechanism is different.

This is a quicky repair distributor I got from an auto parts store I installed to get my ride going. I set the initial timing w/o the vacuum connect and went to test the centrifugal advance, only to have it retard the timing way down into retard range

Every pic I have seen the weights are the other direction as show in the diagram, vs the photo.

Am I just imagining things? Entirely possible. Been working with points since the mid 70's and I've never comes across this.

I tried reversing them but the weights will not fit.

 

[hd_cat]

This is a quicky repair distributor I got from an auto parts store I installed to get my ride going. I set the initial timing w/o the vacuum connect and went to test the centrifugal advance, only to have it retard the timing way down into retard range

Every pic I have seen the weights are the other direction as show in the diagram, vs the photo.

Am I just imagining things? Entirely possible. Been working with points since the mid 70's and I've never comes across this.

I tried reversing them but the weights will not fit.

IMHO, the weights in the photo appear to be set-up for a counter-clockwise rotation

 

[hd_cat]

This is a quicky repair distributor I got from an auto parts store I installed to get my ride going. I set the initial timing w/o the vacuum connect and went to test the centrifugal advance, only to have it retard the timing way down into retard range

Every pic I have seen the weights are the other direction as show in the diagram, vs the photo.

Am I just imagining things? Entirely possible. Been working with points since the mid 70's and I've never comes across this.

I tried reversing them but the weights will not fit.

In the diagram the relief in the center piece is by the long side of the advance weight, the tip should nest in the relief, I would flip the weights upside down and reinstall, then try again.

 

[1972CamaroSS]

Agree with hd_cat, weights in original post picture look upside down; therefore, need to be flipped over to match diagram.

 

[alt66]

I would say they are backwards looks like they just need to be flipped over to the opposite side.